Dobbelaar and Yeo lead NZPGA Championship
Louis Dobbelaar – file photo
With just three more events on the 2022/2023 PGA Tour of Australasia schedule to be completed before the all-important Order of Merit is decided, every dollar or point counts in the race for the significant pathways and exemptions on offer for various milestones.
This week’s New Zealand PGA Championship at Gulf Harbour on the Whangaparoa Peninsula just north of Auckland, might carry one of the smallest purses of the season but it might yet have an influence on just where the careers of several might head at the completion of the season in early April.
At the halfway stage of the 72 hole event, Queensland’s Louis Dobbelaar shares the lead with local golfer, Sun Jin Yeo, the pair three ahead of the field as the weekend looms.
Dobbelaar who last season starred in his rookie season on the PGA Tour of Australasia including a 3rd place finish at the Australian PGA Championship, has struggled this season to the point where he has yet to record a finish inside the top 30, his 30th place finish at last week’s New Zealand Open his best to date.
Dobbelaaar is currently 100th on the Order of Merit and will need a big finish to the season if he is to regain playing privileges for next season.
No-one is more aware of his predicament than Dobbelaar himself.
“When you’re in a bit of a situation, you have more reason to focus,” Dobbelaar said of his position on the leaderboard.
“That definitely engages me a bit more but I’ve been trying to be like that from the start of events lately and been playing a bit more solid.
“Just keep that engagement from the start and hit as many good shots as possible.
“The last few weeks I’ve definitely found a bit of momentum, not so much in my game, more so mindset-wise.
“It’s been an interesting start to my career but I’m just playing the way I’ve always felt I can play.”
Yeo is a former New Zealand Junior Champion who plays at nearby North Shore Golf Club and used his local knowledge of the Robert Trent Jones designed layout which was used for the 1998 World Cup and two previous New Zealand Opens to assist his cause.
There are Order of Merit implications further down the leaderboard with Vic Open winner Michael Hendry (currently 6th on the OOM) in a tie for 14th at five-under and Vic PGA champion Andrew Martin (currently 4th) in a tie for 22nd one stroke further back.
