Greg Chalmers romps to a big win at Australian PGA Championship
Australian Greg Chalmers clinched his second victory in a matter of three weeks when he bagged the coveted Australian PGA Championship title amongst one of the strongest fields. Winner of the Australian Open at The Lakes in Sydney, Chalmers surged to the
top spot after he finished for a 12-under, 276 on the aggregate, pulling in a final round of five-under, 67 at the scenic Hyatt Regency Resort.
Robert Allenby and Marcus Fraser, both players performed considerably well on the final day to push for a Playoff. Fraser pulled in a jaw-dropping 50-foot birdie putt on the 18th green, forging a Playoff. The trio finished for an aggregate of
12-under. Fraser had closed his final 18-hole stretch for a 69 while Allenby finished for a 68.
While both Allenby, the President’s Cup team member and Fraser pulled in wayward approaches, all Chalmers had to do was to card an even-par on the first playoff to win the title.
"I was surprised to see that a par was good enough, but that's how it goes sometime in a playoff," Chalmers said. "And I really thought I'd have to shoot maybe 8-under to be among the leaders at the end."
Allenby, who has one of the best Playoff record, with 10 wins from 12 playoffs, insisted that he was distracted on the final putt, causing the precious title to slip away.
"I know what playoffs are like, I know how to win them," Allenby said. "But I got put off by a camera guy at the back of the green that moved. I had to back off and tell him to stand still and then I just kind of lost a little bit of focus ... lost my line
that I had chosen the first time."
Some of the best players from across the world were part of the field, including the long-hitting Bubba Watson, who surged to the top in the last two days of the event. He suffered a colossal loss in the final round, carding a disappointing five-over, 77
to finish for 12th along with Aussie Brad Kennedy.
Adam Scott and Aaron Baddeley, both top-ranked Australian players, finished for a joint fourth, trailing the leaders two shots. Baddeley, also part of the international team at Royal Melbourne a fortnight ago, fell for sloppy 72 on the final day to fall
out of contention.
South Korean Kyung-Tae Kim also had probably the worst day on the course. Poised at 13-under at one point early in the day, he suffered colossal losses to let go of his hard-earned lead. He stumbled on a double-bogey and four bogeys to finish for four-over,
76. Y.E Yang also finished down the leaderboard with a 73.
Young American Rickie Fowler finished for a joint 14th alongside four other players.
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