Jordan Doull had his moments of good and bad luck, and even a tangle with some local wildlife, on his way to victory at the South West Rocks Ford NSW Open Regional Qualifier.
Headed back home to the West before a sponsors golf trip with partner and fellow professional Kathryn Norris in Tasmania, Doull was steady and at times spectacular during his round of 68 that took him to 13-under and two shots clear of fast-finishing Tim Hart.
Hart drew level at the top of the leaderboard briefly on Friday, but eventually came up shy of the win, however, the Queenslander will return home with a start at the Ford NSW Open to his name alongside Jye Halls and Adam Coull.
“I don’t know. I’m hoping the weather’s going to be good (in Perth) on the weekend,” Doull said of his celebration plans after a successful two-week stint on the east coast that netted four top-15 finishes.
“Then I can maybe get out and go for a fish.”
Hitting quality shots early in his round, Doull couldn’t continue his birdie form from Round 1, when he made nine birdies, with the two-time Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia winner netting only one birdie in his first eight holes against one bogey on day two.
“Got off to a bit of a slow start, was probably a little bit interesting,” Doull said.
“I hit it okay, but it was definitely a slow start and wasn’t quite as switched on as I wanted to be.”
Turning the switch at the 18th, his ninth hole of the day, with a birdie, Doull headed for the second nine tied for the lead at 10-under with Hart, who started his day with a hat-trick of birdies from the 11th and added two more at 17 and 18.
“I checked through nine and I saw he was tied with me at 10-under,” Doull said.
“I knew someone would make a charge. You kind of expect it. You don’t know who it’s going to come from. You just kind of roll with it.”
For Hart, he was well aware of how things stood as they headed for a back nine showdown, while Coull, who started one shot back of Doull, was struggling early, as the pair of Royal Melbourne members in the final group, Aiden Didone and Darcy Brereton, attempted to stay with Doull.
“I like looking at the leaderboard, pretty much every hole, just to see where I’m at, and what holes I’ve got coming up to try and push or do what you’ve got to do,” Hart said.
The regular pro-am winner around Australia dropping shots at the third and fifth, as Doull continued to strike pure shots only to make pars, most remarkably at the par-5 fourth.
Hitting his reliable stinger 2-iron from the tee, Doull’s drive took one bounce in the middle of the fairway before striking a kangaroo grazing on the grass in the hindquarters.
The local marsupial unharmed, however, Doull’s ball stopped dead in its tracks, meaning the 27-year-old was unable to reach the green in two.
“That was a little unfortunate. I would have liked to have been another 30 or 40 (metres) up there. I could have maybe got another 2-iron there, but it was a bit of fun,” Doull said.
The fun continuing when Doull stuck his tee shot close at the par-3 fourth, with the Mount Lawley member converting his birdie, as he did at the par-4 next when needing to aim his short birdie putt away from the hole.
“It was kind of one of those ones that you can sit there and look at it 100 different ways and for 24 hours, and you’ll never know actually where to aim the thing or how hard to hit it,” Doull said of the putt.
“It was kind of just a bit of luck. I figured if I just aimed it parallel to the hole and hit it, try and get it to stop near the hole… and it went in.”
Changing strategy at the drivable par-4 next to a conservative lay-up off the tee, Doull mis-hit his second and three putts later walked to the seventh tee with his lead back to two shots.
Doull experiencing some more bad luck at the next when his approach to the seventh took a large piece of the hole, yet somehow remained out, before he steadied the ship with the birdie putt.
Hart doing his best to apply pressure up ahead with birdies at two of his last three holes, however, Doull made a near-perfect birdie at his final hole as Hart closed with a par.
The runner-up happy with his play ahead of the Tour season, and with his place at The Vintage secured, with Hart one clear of Didone, Halls and Brereton sharing fourth another shot back.
“It’s always good playing and bigger events. Play these events knowing that I probably wasn’t in (the NSW Open), so it’s nice to earn my way in,” Hart said.
“It’s Tour fields out here, really, just to know my game’s thereabouts is nice and just get the juices flowing.”
For Coull, although disappointed with his play, maintaining his composure and returning to the site of a top-10 in the Hunter Valley in November were positive takeaways.
“Definitely didn’t have my best golf today, but I figured if I just kept grinding and tried to make a few birdies coming in, I might be able to pinch a spot, which I did,” Coull said.
Halls also thrilled to be playing his home state Open having recently turned pro and with limited starts confirmed ahead having missed out on a card at Tour school.
“I did my job today and it was good. I got the result in the end,” Halls said.
“There’s some really good players this week and last week and I played good, so good to see my good golf can match with theirs.”
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