Stakes raised for final roll of the dice in Macao
Boosted prize pool adds extra intrigue to Chinese tour’s money-list battle
The stakes are high as the PGA Tour Series-China enters its 13th and final event of 2019.
Organizers have raised the purse of the Macao Championship to a record 2.1 million yuan ($294,000), giving players extra motivation to try to earn Korn Ferry Tour membership en route to the goal of playing on the PGA Tour proper.
With a winner’s check of 378,000 yuan up for grabs, the pressure is on as players look to finish inside the top 10 on the order of merit.
The No 1 finisher on the money list after this week will earn full playing rights for the 2020 Korn Ferry Tour, while finishers 2-5 will earn basic memberships.
Players 6-10 will bypass the second stage of the Korn Ferry Tour qualifying tournament and earn direct entry into the final stage in Florida in December.
This week’s field is capped at 118 players at Caesars Golf Macao, with backdrops of huge, five-star resorts and casinos.
The course is short but offers a links-style test with no tree lines, which can be extremely challenging when the wind picks up.
As it stands, American Max McGreevy has a 177,258 yuan lead on the money list over compatriot Trevor Sluman, but as the tour’s 2018 finale showed, nothing is guaranteed.
At last year’s final event, Charlie Saxon also held a big lead over Callum Tarren before the Englishman fired a final-round 62 to finish solo second in the tournament and steal the No 1 spot.
However, a similar scenario appears unlikely as McGreevy, who played at the University of Oklahoma with Saxon, has been the most consistent player of the year with nine top-10 finishes. He now looks primed to return to the Korn Ferry Tour, where he played a full season in 2018.
Behind McGreevy and Sluman on the order of merit are American David Kocher (755,640 yuan), South Korea’s Luke Kwon (594, 597 yuan) and France’s Cyril Bouniol (574,168 yuan).
Kocher or Kwon could end up taking the No 1 position, while Bouniol cannot mathematically catch McGreevy and will focus on trying to keep his spot inside the top five.
The 6—10 players include Bai Zhengkai (535,085 yuan), Yuwa Kosaihira (529,298), Kevin Techanaknokboon (480,931), Joey Lane (465,328) and Richard Jung (465,244).
In 2018, Canada’s Jung was 10th on the order of merit heading into the final event but finished the season at No 11. Now he’s again in the vulnerable 10th spot, meaning a bad week could result in more heartache.
At the other end of the money list, players will be battling to retain their PGA Tour-Series China cards. Finishing outside the top 50 could mean a trip to Q-School at the start of 2020.
Currently Australian Kevin Yuan sits 50th on the order of merit while Jason Hak and Matthew Cheung, from Hong Kong, sit 53rd and 60th, respectively.
Cheung finished solo fourth at the Tour’s last event, in Zhuzhou, and he will be hoping for a clutch finish to end his first season as a professional.