[PHOTO: Tim Heitman/Getty Images]
Somebody get DJ Khaled on the phone because we’ve got ‘another one’. Just as the PGA Tour Champions fraternity come to terms with Aussies taking four of five spots on offer at its qualifying school last December, Greg Chalmers has Monday-qualified for this week’s Cologuard Classic in Arizona.
Denied the opportunity to try to Monday qualify for the first Champions Tour event he was eligible to enter in October last year – he turned 50 two days after the qualifier – Chalmers only narrowly missed joining Cameron Percy, David Bransdon, Michael Wright and Steve Allan in securing a full card at Q-School.
The two-time Australian Open and Australian PGA champion finished one shot shy of forcing a playoff for the fifth and final card, but will now make his senior circuit debut, taking the total number of Aussies in the field to eight.
Ironically, Chalmers was already exempt into the Puerto Rico Open on the PGA Tour but, in typical Chalmers style, is instead embracing his new status as a rookie on tour.
“This will be my first Champions Tour event and I might be a little excited about it,” said Chalmers in a tweet that garnered 279 comments, 45 retweets and close to 2,000 likes.
Chalmers is not the only Australian making their debut on a major tour this week.
West Australian amateur Gareth Steyn will make his PGA Tour debut in Puerto Rico thanks to his victory at the White Sands Bahamas NCAA Men’s Invitational last October. A ‘red-shirt’ sophomore at Georgia State University who hails from Joondalup in Perth, Steyn was formerly at Augusta University and is trying to treat this week as he would any other playing college golf.
“I haven’t prepared any differently from how I prepare for collegiate events because, at the end of the day, it’s still golf and lowest score wins,” Steyn said prior to arriving in Puerto Rico.
“If anything, that is a form of preparation, trying to make the event not bigger than what it actually is.”
Showing just what a step up in class he is facing, Steyn expects that the closest comparison he has to the crowds expected in Puerto Rico are those who turned out for the club championships back home at Joondalup Country Club.
“We have a very passionate membership at Joondalup and we get hundreds of members coming out to watch our club championship final,” Steyn added. “Even though it’s an event that doesn’t really mean much, that’s probably the most support I’ve had.
“I don’t know what to expect, how many people will support me because obviously there will be bigger crowds around the bigger players, but I’m sure there’ll still be quite a lot around hole one and hole 18.”
Min Woo Lee’s runner-up finish at the Cognizant Classic has earned him a spot in the field for the Arnold Palmer Invitational, Adam Scott granted a sponsor’s exemption to join fellow Aussies Jason Day and Cam Davis at Bay Hill.
Also this week, Cameron Smith will be out to go one better at Hong Kong Golf Club for the inaugural LIV Golf Hong Kong. Smith was runner-up to Ben Campbell in the Hong Kong Open late last year and is trying to solidify the work that he and coach Grant Field have done to improve his performance with the driver.
