PGA the next big target

Order of Merit leader chases payday on the Coast

JAKE McLeod has won $156,000, his first tournament and a British Open spot in the hottest fortnight of his professional golf career yet the biggest bonus may still be ahead.

The young Brisbane golfer’s form has catapulted him to the top of the Australasian Tour Order of Merit and in tantalising reach of a career-changing course.

If he can keep that spot with a big result at the season-ending Australian PGA on the Gold Coast from Thursday week it will earn him playing rights on the rich European Tour.

McLeod ($240,473) has a skinny lead over Dan Nisbet ($225,982) yet any one of a dozen pros could grab top spot with a win and the right cascade of finishing positions.

McLeod knows the “prize” at stake. “I was going to play up in Asia next year but I think if I get that (Order of Merit), I’ll be going to Europe instead,” McLeod, 23, said.

“It was a good year and turning a lot better now.”

Finishing the Australian Open in Sydney last Sunday with a fine 66 beside PGA Tour pro Byeong Hun An and Mikko Ilonen, an 18-year figure on the European Tour, was a boost too.

“It was nice to sort of compare games with some really good players and I think I’m pretty close, so yeah, it was good,” McLeod said.

It’s a wonderful sign of the Australian PGA’s appeal when a top American seeks a start like Harold Varner III.

The popular “HV3” so revelled in his first pro victory at Royal Pines in 2016 and three visits to the Gold Coast that he wants more. Varner jumped the gun on any “official” announcement by announcing his start on Twitter.

GOLD Coaster Karis Davidson (66-71-71-69) has finished a superb rookie season on the Japanese LPGA Tour with a joint 15th in Matsuyama.

Davidson, 20, earned a cool $329,619 for the season, a tick under that of Perth’s highly touted Hannah Green as a rookie on the US-based LPGA.