Jack Buchanan says watching close mate Harrison Crowe win last year’s Asia Pacific Amateur Championship has given him the self belief to capture the title at Royal Melbourne this week.
The South Australian is one of 10 Australians in the 118-player field at Royal Melbourne, where the winner will receive an invitation to the 2024 Masters and Open Championship.
Crowe won the Asia Pacific in Thailand last year. Buchanan, who has grown up playing golf against the 21-year-old Sydney native, feels his game is just as strong.
“Watching Harrison Crowe win last year, one of my best mates, just shows you … he’s not too far from home for me, so watching him win makes it (winning) more of a reality,” Buchanan said Tuesday.
“It makes me believe that I can win it a bit more. I’ve played a lot of tournaments with Harrison and in international teams, so I know that my game can match up to his when we’re both on.”
Buchanan helped Australia to a silver medal behind the US at the World Amateur Team Championship in Abu Dhabi last week. He rattled off four birdies in his last five holes en during a final-round 68 to lift his team, which included Sydney star Jeffrey Guan, into a tie for second place with Norway.
“I didn’t play my best the first two rounds, but I had a good finish to help us get a medal, so that gives me a bit of confidence going into this week,” Buchanan said.
The Australian team arrived in Melbourne Monday afternoon. Guan is the top-ranked Australian at No.55, with Buchanan next at No.117. Other Australians at Royal Melbourne include Lukas Michel (Vic), Connor Fewkes (WA), Quinn Croker (Qld), Max Charles (Vic), Harry Bolton (ACT), Jye Pickin (NSW), Jasper Stubbs (Vic), Harry Takis (Qld).
Top ranked internationals include Japan’s Yuta Sugiura (No.15) Wenyi Ding (No.17) and 30th-ranked Kiwi Kazuma Kobori.
Created in 2009, the Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship was established to further develop amateur golf in the region, with 2021 Masters champion Hideki Matsuyama a two-time winner of the event.
Crowe, Curtis Luck (2016) and Antonio Murdaca, who won at Royal Melbourne in 2014, are Australia’s winners.
