With superstar Cameron Smith chasing, Jason Scrivener says the chance to carve out a PGA Tour card in a year’s time is an added incentive to stay atop the leaderboard at the Australian PGA Championship this weekend.
The event at Royal Queensland is co-sanctioned by the DP World Tour which, at the end of this new season, will offer the top 10 players a card on the PGA Tour in the US.
After a frustrating year in which he tried to juggle his status on the DP World Tour, PGA Tour and Korn Ferry Tour, Florida-based Scrivener felt burned out and headed home to Australia several weeks before the Australian PGA to recharge.
The move paid dividends as Scrivener shot a four-under 67 at Royal Queensland to climb to 10 under par, taking the 36-hole lead. Reigning Open Championship winner Smith fired an impressive 65 to climb six shots up the leaderboard to nine under. Smith and Scrivener will comprise Saturday’s final pairing.
“The whole round was pretty good, though,” said Smith. “I felt as though I hit my driver [nine of 14 fairways] the best I’ve hit it for a very long time. It gives me a little bit of confidence going into the weekend.”
Smith birdied the 18th to lock up a spot in the final group for Saturday’s third round alongside Perth native Scrivener.
“I knew that putt there would probably get me into the final group, so that was a good one,” Smith said. “I love playing in those final groups.
“I’ve played with [Scrivener] a fair bit in kind of amateur and junior days. I haven’t played with him a lot recently, him being over in Europe and obviously me in the US. I’ve played a couple of practice rounds with him at the Open Championship this year. He’s a good player.”
Masahiro Kawamura and Cameron John are two back at eight under.
Scrivener has no regrets about playing the Korn Ferry Tour finals’ three tournaments and three PGA Tour events, including the 150th Open at St Andrews, as well as on the DP World Tour. But now, his mind is solely on Europe, and the Australian PGA is the first event of its new 2022/23 season.
“No, I wouldn’t change anything, I just think it took its toll,” said Scrivener, who lives in Orlando, Florida with his wife and young baby boy. “After I missed my card in the States, it was a bit of a letdown and then I probably played too much at the back end of the season trying to chase it. But I think given the 10 PGA Tour cards in Europe is a big incentive, so I’m going to focus on that and try and get one of those.”
Scrivener said he was looking forward to mixing it with big names such as Open Championship winner Cameron Smith this weekend, who is also in contention at Royal Queensland.
“Just putting all my work to the test, I think,” Scrivener said. “That’s what we all want to work for and put ourselves in these positions, just to test it out against the best players as well. It’s going to be hard and I’ll be nervous, but I’m excited for it.”
