Chisnall out in first round

Ryan Chisnall’s Australian Amateur dream is over after he was knocked out in the first round of match play in Melbourne yesterday.

The Tasman golfer started the tournament in hot form, ending the first day with a threeway share of the lead.

But a nail-biting first round of match play fixture against Australian Travis Smyth saw his tournament come to an early end.

The duo were all-square after 18 holes, so had to have a play-off 19th hole to decide who would advance to the round of 16. Smyth won so Chisnall was eliminated. It was also bad news for the two other Kiwis left in the field.

Nick Coxon lost to Englishman Alfie Plant 2 and 1 and Matty Tiplady lost to Korean Seung-taek Oh 4 and 3.

Meanwhile, just two New Zealanders sit inside the top-30 at the Australasian PGA q-school with just one round remaining.

Players need to finish within the top-30 to pick up a category 13 exemption for the 2017 tour.

Ashburton’s Daniel Pearce remains a chance for a top-five finish, which would elevate him to a category 10 exemption - the lower the number exemption a player has, the more likely they are gain entry into events. Pearce sits tied for sixth at nine-under. He shot a one-under round of 71 on Thursday, following up back-to-back fourunder rounds of 68.

But he still remains seven shot behind leader Taylor Macdonald who is 16-under.

The only other Kiwi inside the top-30 is amateur Luke Toomey.

Toomey’s two-under round of 70 helped left him to a tie for 25th at one-under for the tournament.

Aucklander Fraser Wilkin is one shot off the pace, sitting even par after the three rounds.

Harry Bateman is one-over, Tae Koh twoover while Campbell Rawson and Lachie McDonald are four-over.