Dylan Perry has won the ISPS Handa PGA Tour of Australasia Qualifying School presented by Cobra Puma Golf after a strong week of golf at Moonah Links.
Playing the Open course, Perry fired rounds of 72, 66, 71 and 68 for a tournament total of 11-under 277 to win by three shots.
“This is awesome. I am very relieved. It has been a long few weeks so I am very stoked,” Perry said.
“I was playing well towards the end of the year so I knew that I was in with a decent chance this week if I did the right things and played the course the way it should be. I did that so it paid off for me.
“Today I had a steady start with eight pars, but then I birdied the ninth, which got it rolling into the back nine. I made a couple of early birdies there and had some momentum. I played strong coming in over those final three holes, which was enough to get it done.”
The 23-year-old New South Welshman, who plays his golf at Sanctuary Cove in Queensland, now has full status on his home tour to go along with his Japan Tour status that he earned after surviving four stages of qualifying school.
Next year will be a big year for Perry, who turned professional at the NSW Open last month and tied for third, and he will look to tee off his rookie season at the ISPS Handa Vic Open, which is co-sanctioned by the PGA Tour of Australasia and European Tour.
“Everything will all depend on Japan. The Vic Open is the first event we have in Australia and that is a big one so that will be my first event,” Perry added.
“All the co-sanctioned stuff in Australia is getting better. It provides more access for us, especially with the European Tour. If you finish well in those tournaments it can skyrocket your career pretty quickly, so it’s very exciting to now have the opportunity to play those events.”
James Anstiss and Kade McBride finished tied for second at eight-under the card after firing 68 and 69, respectively, in the final round. Rounding out the top-five at seven-under were Aaron Townsend and Taylor MacDonald.
The top-40 players at Qualifying School earn status for the 2019 PGA Tour of Australasia season. That number was set at five-over.
