David Bransdon – file photo

Victorian David Bransdon’s best finish of his rookie PGA Tour Champions season at this week’s Dominion Energy Classic in Richmond Virginia could not have come at a better time.

His 4th top ten of the season and the resultant US$165,000 will see the 50 year old jump 21 places to 35th in the Charles Schwab standings and ensure he makes it to the penultimate event of the season this week in Arkansas.

Beginning the week in 56th place and with only the leading 54 advancing to this coming week’s event, Bransdon needed a solid performance. He got not only that but his best of the season to ensure his 2024 season will be extended. If he can retain a place inside the top 36 by next Sunday he will have made it to the Tour Championship in early November.

Bransdon was delighted with his effort given what another good week would mean to him in terms of retaining his full status on the Champions Tour.

The 50 year old was one of four Australians to earn their PGA Tour Champions cards via the Tour School last December and talked about the camaraderie involved.

“It’s awesome because we’ve got a bit of a bond going because from Q-School with all four of us getting through. It’s huge and it means a lot. It hasn’t sunk in yet, but yeah, like I said, there’s still some work to do, but I’m pretty damn happy with myself right now.

“I can plan that now. I didn’t have a flight booked, didn’t have a hotel booked. I didn’t want to forward think, so I left everything — didn’t book a thing. I looked once about four days ago for flights, but that was it. I didn’t book anything. As I said yesterday, I’ve wanted to let it, whatever happened, happened. If I had to change stuff, more than happy to do it. Now I get to do it for a really good reason.”

“I guess the 36 was a goal,” added Bransdon when asked what his goal had been after earning the right to play on the PGA Tour Champions.

“Then once I started to play, I wanted to win. Then towards the end of the season, the last few weeks my game was sort of not where I wanted it to be. My family had gone home and I was on my own in hotel rooms and it gets pretty lonely.

“I had that in Covid in ’21 when I was stuck in Japan for five-and-a-half months without my family. I was on a bad run then. I was starting to be on a bad run then, but I said to myself, c’mon, let’s just work through it. I did and I’ve exceeded what I thought I could do this week.

“I don’t want to put a damper on it, but if I had shot 75 today, I’d have been on a flight home to Australia in the next two days. It was a pretty important round of golf today and I was pretty proud of myself to stay out of my own way and let it happen. It was one of my better rounds this year, that’s for sure.”

Also making it to the event in Little Rock this week by being inside the top 54 in the standings are Steve Alker, Richard Green, Greg Chalmers, Mark Hensby, Stuart Appleby, Rod Pampling, Steve Allan, Cameron Percy and Michael Wright.

This week’s results 

Charles Schwab Cup