New Zealand’s Ben Campbell birdied the last two holes to defeat Cameron Smith by a shot, but in the meantime, both players were dragged into a bizarre rules controversy with the third player in their group that took longer than 15 minutes to unfold.
South Australian Wade Ormsby says he will “put his best foot forward” this week as he attempts to complete his hat-trick of Hong Kong Open titles, having arrived here riding a tidal wave of emotions after his father Pete passed away just two weeks ago.
Jones feels that his surprise success in New Zealand in March has counted against him but hopes the prestige of this week’s Asian Tour marquee event at Tanah Merah Country Club, which begins today, could inspire a return to form.
The 28-year-old from the Illawarra region has been in resplendent form this year, with a best finish of third in the World City Championship in Hong Kong, one of six top-20s.
Hend, chasing his 11th win on the Asian Tour and first in four years, came closest to catching the winner but hit his tee shot on the par-5 18th out-of-bounds and made a costly double-bogey.
According to reports, the 2016 US Open champion and 2020 Masters winner aggravated a back injury during a practice round at Royal Greens that also forced to pull out of Wednesday’s pro-am.
A total of 35 players out of 77 starters secured right of passage onto the Asian Tour this year, which promises to be the most lucrative in its history.
The Saudi International begins on February 2, opposite the PGA Tour’s AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, and is expected to include a number of LIV Golf members.
The player who tops the standings after the season-ending BNI Indonesian Masters in the first week of December will receive an exemption into the LIV Golf League for 2023.
Australian Golf Digest
