Like a Tour de France peloton surging towards the white stripes in Paris or the battle between Gurner’s Lane and Kingston Town down the Flemington straight at the 1982 Melbourne Cup, the race for the top three Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia Order of Merit spots is tight and frantic. Numerous players are out of their saddles and powering towards the dangling carrot of rewards awaiting at the finish line.
There is still some golf to be played before we find out who is Europe-bound. The unyielding tussle at the top of the Order of Merit (OOM) is changing week-by-week, with several hopeful professionals desperate to get their paws on a DP World Tour card and take the most significant leap of their careers.
With the OOM race so competitive, the players in the hunt will likely have to front up for the remaining weeks. You just cannot afford to give your competitors a slight edge on the run home because chances are you will slip down the ladder and your European adventure will go the way of a cancelled Contiki.
As established, there are contenders aplenty, and there have been too many standout performers to list. But this writer has done the maths, peered into a crystal ball, and talked to the likely frontrunners come the PGA Tour of Australasia’s season-ending event, The National Tournament, played from March 14 to 17.
THE KIWIS
New Zealanders and burst onto the professional scene this summer.
