[Photo: Asia-Pacific Amateur]
Australian Harry Takis made a spectacular eagle at the final hole to finish fourth at the Asia-Pacific Amateur championship at the Emirates Golf Club in Dubai, while fellow Queenslander Billy Dowling shared fifth after a heartbreaking final hole.
The event for amateur golfers from the Asia-Pacific region is jointly by Augusta National and the R&A, which awarded winner Fifa Laopakdee starts in the 2026 Masters and Open Championship.
Takis obliterated a drive over the corner at the par-5 18th and struck his second shot to three feet. He calmly made the eagle to shoot 70 and finish solo fourth at 12-under-par – three shots back of a play-off between Laopakdee and Japan’s Taisei Nagasaki at 15-under. Laopakdee won with a birdie on the third extra hole to earn an invitation to Augusta National and the 154th Open at Royal Birkdale.
Takis lamented not making a move sooner than the final hole. “Yeah, [the eagle] was nice [but] I wish it would’ve come sooner,” Takis said after the round. “I felt like I was waiting all day for something like that to happen.”
He finished as the top Australian among a contingent of six, following rounds of 67, 66, 73, 70. The San Diego State college golfer, who won the recent Singapore Open Amateur by 11 shots, was in contention all week in Dubai and continues to build his reputation as one of Australia’s most promising amateurs. The 20-year-old was left wondering what could have been having made a quadruple-bogey 8 at the par-4 fifth on day three, which included two horrible breaks when a ball wasn’t seen landing in the rough and then a second tee shot stuck inside a palm tree.
Still, the tall, big-hitting Takis said he learned plenty from contending for a win that would have sent him to Augusta National and the Open Championship. “It was great and I played really well all week,” Takis said. “Obviously it was unfortunate [having a quadruple-bogey] yesterday and I feel like that really hurt my chances, but proud of the way I bounced back today and hung in there. I wasn’t really going my way. I think that’s a big part of me learning and getting better as a player is trying to bounce back from those bad breaks. It’s all development.”
Dowling, who was two shots back with two to play, was shattered when he laid up from the rough but with a club that reached the water short of the 18th green. He made a bogey 6 to shoot 71 and finished T-5 at 11-under with rounds of 66, 72, 68, 71.
“We had [175 metres] to the water and it was into the wind,” Dowling said. “We were between 8-iron and 7-iron and I said to my caddy, ‘I think I’m just going to go 8; play it safe that way I don’t have to think about it.’ I just flushed it and it came out like fire and one bounce straight in [the water]. So it was a bit disappointing. I would’ve liked to keep myself a burning chance and just finish off the round nicely, but that’s okay. It was still a good tournament.
“I’m pretty proud of my efforts this week. I felt like I left a lot of shots out there and I mean I’m sure everyone else did, but I feel like I could have quite easily won it if half of those putts went in. But still really proud of myself and felt like I played well.”
Declan O’Donovan stormed home with a final-round 65 to leap into a tie for 11th at eight-under.
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Kayun Mudadana was T-21 at two-under (70-73-74-69) after a strong closing round, while Jye Halls also produced a solid week to finish T-38 at five-over after rounds of 72, 76, 73, 72. Chase Oberle rounded out the Australian group in T-59 at 16-over (75-75-78-76).
