Aphibarnrat holds his nerve to see off Quayle and seal final Perth berth
Kiradech Aphibarnrat was the last man to book his place in today’s match-play finale after seeing off Anthony Quayle on the fourth play-off hole on day three of the ISPS HANDA World Super 6 Perth.
With the top 24 players after 54 holes of stroke play qualifying for the match play, a play-off was required to decide who would take the final eight berths after nine players finished in a tie for 17th on five-under-par.
Andrea Pavan, Yikeun Chang, Callan O’reilly, Poom Saksansin, Zander Lombard, Stephen Leaney and Satoshi Kodaira all carded pars at the first play-off hole, leaving Quayle and Aphibarnrat to head back to the 18th tee after they made bogeys.
Two good up-and-downs on the next two play-off holes kept Aphibarnrat in the contest and after home hope Quayle failed to make par at the fourth extra hole, the 28-year-old calmly tapped in from close range to clinch the final spot.
Thailand’s Prom Meesawat finished two shots clear at the top of the leaderboard after three rounds at Lake Karrinyup Country Club after signing for a 67 on day three.
Sean Crocker, Lucas Herbert and Thorbjorn Olesen were in a tie for second on 10-under-par, with Englishman Sam Horsfield another two strokes back in joint-fifth.
Scotland’s Grant Forrest also made it through to the match-play phase after finishing in share of ninth place.
Lee Westwood missed out after posting a third-round 78 to slip to two under overall. n North Berwick’s Clara Young, Scottish women’s amateur champion at Monifieth in 2015 and beaten by Connie Jaffrey in last year’s final at Royal Aberdeen, finished joint third in the Florida State Match-up US women’s college tournament at Don Veller Seminole course, Tallahassee, Florida.
Clara, a student at the University of Missouri, had scores of 69, 72 and 68 for a seven-under-par total of 209. She birdied four par-5 holes, the fourth, ninth, 10th and 15th, in a bogeyfree final round.
Clara finished three strokes behind the winner, Ainhoa Olarra (South Carolina), who had scores of 66, 69 and 71 for a 10-under 206. Team-mate Emma Allen, from Southampton, finished joint 12th on 215 with scores of 71, 70 and 74. n Minjee Lee produced the lowest round of her career to earn a three-stroke lead heading into the final day of the Actewagl Canberra Classic in Australia.
The 21-year-old from Perth fired a stunning nine-under-par 63 at Royal Canberra Golf Club.