Aaron Wilkin survives playoff for breakthrough QLD PGA win
Aaron Wilkin enjoying his breakthrough win – photo PGA of Australia
In his nearly seven years as a professional, 29-year-old Brisbane golfer, Aaron Wilkin, has battled away in an attempt to sustain himself in a career where he has shown the occasional glimpses of his capabilities but nowhere near enough to be confident about his future.
There has been the occasional good finish including a runner-up finish in a PGA Tour of Australasia event in Papua New Guinea in his first year in the paid ranks and a couple of top five finishes in China but today might just have been the catalyst for a significant change of future fortunes.
Wilkin won a two hole playoff against talented New South Wales golfer, Justin Warren, to win the Queensland PGA Championship at the Nudgee Golf Club adjacent to the Brisbane airport and not only will the $45,000 be a godsend, so too will the confidence of knowing he can win and win in a tight finish where several players still had chances to win over the closing stages.
Wilkin and Warren finished the 72 holes tied at 4 under and one ahead of the man who lead virtually throughout the event until he double bogeyed the dangerous par 3 final hole, Jak Carter, to finish one shot out of the playoff which would have also given him his first win on the PGA Tour of Australasia.
Both Wilkin and Warren bogeyed the 18th at the first playoff hole but after missing the green the second time around, Warren was unable to match the two putt par of Wilkin’s and the title went to the Queenslander.
“It’s just the monkey off the back,” Wilkin told the PGA of Australia. “I’m definitely good enough, I just needed to do something like this maybe. It lets me know that I can do it.
“I didn’t know four (under) was going to be enough but I thought if I got myself to four (under) I’d be a chance.
“I’ve been in that position before, coming down the last with the lead and I’ve screwed it up so I knew it wasn’t going to be easy for Jak.
“I wouldn’t say I’ve been knocking at the door but I’ve just been wanting to win for a while. It’s good to do it in front of my family and friends.”
For Warren who finished 4th in this event at this venue in January, it was a close call and although the elusive first win on the PGA Tour of Australasia evaded him again, there is an element of class about his game and if he was the break though this summer it would be no surprise.
“One of us had to win, one of us had to lose, either way it was going to be a good result for us so happy to see him win,” said Warren.
“This week was pretty tough conditions, tough course, tough set-up, just pretty brutal but I was really proud of the way I fought back yesterday.
“I had a good back nine and played phenomenal today. I could sit here in hindsight and pick out the ones I left out there and obviously had a putt on the first playoff hole to get it done but the 18th hole with that wind is tricky.
“All I can do is focus on the positives. I shot one of the lowest scores on the course today, I clutched up and stepped up in some tough conditions and was able to put myself in contention and had a shot there in the playoff.”
The PGA Tour of Australasia now joins forces with the DP World Tour for this coming week’s Australian PGA Championship at the nearby Royal Queensland Golf Club where so many of Australia’s current leading players will compete, including Open Champion and two time winner of the event, Cameron Smith and another two time winner, Adam Scott.
