Holman wins Australian PGA title in three-way playoff
But unlike last year’s marathon seven-hole playoff between Australians Greg Chalmers, Adam Scott and Wade Ormsby, only one hole was needed. This time, Nathan Holman would be the last man standing.
Australia’s Nathan Holman plays a shot to the 16th green during the final round of the Australian PGA championship golf tournament at Royal Pines on the Gold Coast on December 6, 2015. At 24, he will have his name engraved on the Joe Kirkwood Cup, taking out the Australasian Order of Merit and earning his European Tour card and a start at the Bridgestone Invitational for good measure.
David Lingmerth surged to the top of the leaderboard with a four-under 68, which put him three under at the tournament’s midway point – a shot ahead of Foster, South African pair Zander Lombard (75) and Dylan Frittelli (72), American Peter Uihlein (67), Australia’s Matthew Millar (70) and Spain’s Pablo Martin Benavides (67). His attempted save from a drop zone was admirable but the work was too great to complete.
Holman, Varner and Frittelli all finished on even-par 288 for the tournament, a reflection of the windy conditions and the uncompromising nature of the remodelled back nine.
Varner, who bounced his approach shot off the 18th-hole grandstand but scrambled to make par for the best round of the day, had a 54-hole total of 3-under 213.
Holman looked poised to win it much earlier until nerves set in and he coughed up back-to-back bogeys on the final two holes – the only blemishes on his card aside from a double-bogey on the first, which he said actually worked in his favour at the start of the day. “It was a tough wait in that scoring hut but to do it on the first play-off hole was pleasing”, Holman said.
“When bad things happen, you’ve just got to shake it off and go onto the next one and today I did that really well”.
Varner could have ended it with the final putt of his round but his 10-footer for birdie would stay wide.
The unheralded trio took advantage of the few drawcards who were there, including top-ranked American Brandt Snedeker, who missed the cut.