Andrew Evans – photo courtesy of Golf Australia
The PGA Tour of Australasia has conducted six events to date in 2021, four of those resulting in first time winners on that tour.
Today Andrew Evans added his name to the list of Chris Wood, Bryden Macpherson and Andrew Martin who have taken their careers to another level courtesy of the events conducted under the somewhat restrictive nature of the current world environment.
The 35 year old New South Welshman won the Isuzu Queensland Open at Pelican Waters on the Sunshine Coast by two shots over Deyen Lawson, Bryden Macpherson and Blake Windred, reversing a trend which had seen him miss eight of his last nine cuts in events on recognised tours, those results including a missed cut in this event last year.
The highlight of Evans career until now has no doubt been his runner-up finish to Peter Senior at the 2015 Australian Masters at Huntingdale Golf Club but despite today’s victory being worth considerably less monetarily, the actual win and the manner in which he did so will stand him in good stead for what lies ahead.
“This is unreal…I never thought this day would happen,” said the winner.
“I try not to look at leaderboards but I had a guy with a mobile leaderboard 50m ahead of me the whole day so I had to try hard to stay doing my own thing.
“I think I’m a good player but without something like this to your career you are kinda just another player. It’s pretty sweet to get over the line.”
The victory jumps him from just outside the top 1800 in the world to just inside the top 700 but the cheque for $18,750 gives him security of tenure on the PGA Tour of Australasia as the 2020 / 2021 season looks to wind up at the NSW Open in two weeks’ time.
This week’s result moves him to 35th in the Order of Merit rankings which, given how things were looking just a few days ago, is a big relief for him and provides a place to play in the upcoming PGA Tour of Australasia.
“I missed a lot of cuts last year and three in Victoria to start this year and absolutely I was worried about keeping my card to stay on the tour,” Evans added..
Evans was locked in a tight battle with as many as five or six players throughout much of his final round today and he led through 9 holes over American Derek Ackerman and Christopher Wood.
Others began to emerge as threats but brilliant iron shots to his 15th and 16th holes resulted in birdies which allowed him a two-shot cushion playing the final two holes, providing him the luxury of an important gap under the most intense of pressure.
Lawson produced the equal best round of the day almost under the radar as he played some 30 minutes ahead of the final group. The limited televised coverage missed his brilliant finish, but the result tied Lawson’s previous best on the PGA Tour of Australasia.
Macpherson continued his recent good play, which included a victory in Victoria, as did Windred, who is relatively new to professional golf but is showing signs of a promising career.
Defending champion, Anthony Quayle, was one of three players who tied for 5th.
The PGA Tour of Australasia will wind up its delayed 2020 / 2021 season with the playing of the NSW Open at the Concord Golf Club in Sydney beginning on March 25th.
