Newsmaker of the month: Jed Morgan
There were fist pumps, arms raised in the air and screams of excitement.
When Jed Morgan reached the par-3 17th hole at Royal Queensland Golf Club in the final round of the Australian PGA Championship – the designated party hole for the week – the energy was raucous to say the least… and that was just on the tee.
The 22-year-old Queenslander laid waste to a number of championship records in winning the Joe Kirkwood Cup by 11 strokes and attracted headlines throughout the golf world for the manner in which he did it.
Playing at his home club and encouraged by coach Grant Field to stay true to his personality, Morgan was fist-pumping from day one and brought the gallery to fever pitch when he safely found the green with his tee shot at the 71st hole.
Starting the final round nine shots clear, the question was never who but by how many, Morgan smashing the previous eight-stroke winning margin shared by Major champions Greg Norman and Hale Irwin.
“I was just glad that it was at home and I was able to do it in a manner that was pretty exciting for other people hopefully as well,” Morgan said after his emotion-charged triumph.
“I can’t wait to do it many more times.”
Headliners
Su Oh: Displayed her class to hold off rising rookie Grace Kim and claim the inaugural Australian WPGA Championship by four strokes at Royal Queensland Golf Club, her first win in seven years.
Anthony Quayle: Saw a six-stroke lead evaporate on the front nine of the final round only to wrest back momentum over the closing holes to win the Queensland PGA Championship at Nudgee Golf Club by two shots.
Todd Sinnott: The Victorian emerged from a period of back injuries and limited playing opportunities in Japan to win the TPS Victoria event at Rosebud Country Club, making a par putt from four feet to finish one stroke clear of Anthony Quayle and Daniel Gale.
Vic Open: After the cancellation of the New Zealand Open for the second straight year, the Vic Open was given exemptions for the top three finishers into the 150th Open at St Andrews in July, the first time the tournament had been included in the Open Qualifying Series.
Harrison Crowe: The St Michael’s amateur moved inside the top 100 of the World Amateur Golf Ranking with victories at the Master of the Amateurs and New South Wales Amateur in consecutive weeks in January.
Sarah Hammett: The Gold Coast teenager won both the South Australian and NSW Amateur championships in January, in the latter defeating good friend Shyla Singh 2 up in the 36-hole final after also topping the strokeplay section.
Karis Davidson: The LPGA-bound Queenslander birdied the final hole of the two-day Drummond Golf Melbourne International at Latrobe Golf Club to win by two strokes from Breanna Gill.
Kirsten Rudgeley: On the day she won the Avondale Amateur in Sydney the West Australian received an invitation to play in the Augusta National Women’s Amateur in April.
Australian Amateur: Along with the Australian Junior, the Australian Amateur will now award prize money. The winners of the men’s and women’s championships respectively will each receive $1,350.
Vale
The PGA of Australia lost one of its most loyal servants with the passing of John Klatt on January 23, aged 79. After completing his PGA traineeship in 1963 with Arthur Gazzard at Victoria Park, Klatt became the youngest head professional in Australia when he accepted the role at Virginia Golf Club aged just 21. Klatt served at Virginia for the next 40 years and employed a 15-year-old Greg Norman before his move to Royal Queensland Golf Club several years later. Winner of the 1970 and 1974 Queensland PGA Championships, in 2006 Klatt received the Australian Golf Digest Services to Golf award.
$6,254
That’s how much Karrie Webb pocketed from her return to competitive golf at the Gainbridge LPGA event in Florida. Playing primarily because of the tournament’s proximity to her home, the seven-time major champion had rounds of 71-72-75-74 to earn a share of 52nd position.
Photo by getty images: bradley kanaris
