MASTERS AND APPRENTICE
MASTERS champion Adam Scott will have a target on his head at the Australian PGA Championship on the Gold Coast this week – but he probably never thought one of the golfers chasing him would be his own coach. Scott’s Gold Coast-based short game coach, Matthew Ballard, could yet qualify.
ADAM Scott’s bid to win a second Australian PGA Championship may be brought undone by his own coach who has his sights set on winning the title for himself.
Scott’s Gold Coast-based short game coach, Matthew Ballard, is hoping to secure his place in the field for the PGA today when he plays in a prequalifier at Surfers Paradise that will grant the top three finishers a spot at the Royal Pines event.
The Burleigh resident was a tour player for 14 years before he opted to become a coach full-time at the end of 2015.
A host of his top clients will be playing in the PGA Championship from Thursday including US Masters winner Scott, Michael Sim, Adam Bland and Sam Brazel.
Ballard, 40, has decided he doesn’t want to miss out on the action.
Ballard, who was among the final groups of the 2013 event, revealed a photo from one of his appearances sparked his decision to attempt to play in the tournament again.
“Someone sent me a picture the other day of me getting interviewed after I was playing well about four years ago and I had a flashback more than anything,” he said.
“That night I jumped online and entered.
“I’m a player at heart and the last few years I have been coaching and spending more time at home with a young family.
“The event is at home and only one week. It would be nice to play. I know the course pretty well and I still play a little bit.
“It may be a long shot … but we will see how I go.”
If successful, Ballard would have one of the busiest schedules of any person in the field, splitting his time between coaching in the morning and playing in the afternoon, depending on his tee-off times.
Ballard linked with Scott in February and has helped Bland, Sim and Brazel to all enhance their games in 2017.
Sim won the Queensland Open in October, Bland is third on the Order of Merit after success on the Japanese Tour and Brazel has played a season in Europe after winning last year’s Hong Kong Open.