Curtis Luck will play on the US PGA Tour in 2019.
West Australian Luck, 22, became the third Australian to win through the Web.Com Tour finals series today, securing the 16th of 25 available positions with a T8 finish at the Tour Championship in Florida.
He will join Sydney pair Matt Jones (No.8) and Cam Davis (No.5) after an even-par 71 proved more than enough to give the second-year pro to reach the main US PGA Tour.
Although the maths of the overall situation was on his side, the final round wasn’t the procession he might have hoped for, opening with three successive bogeys and enduring two more on the back nine.
But the Cottesloe member’s ability to find the critical birdie shone through and he sealed his promotion in style with a closing birdie to finish at 17 under, six behind champion Danny McCarthy, of the United States.
Wedged in between was Davis, who remarkably had his second top-three finish of the finals series with a barnstorming closing 66 to vault to 18 under.
If you had told Davis he’d have had a double-bogey and three other bogeys, he might have been a tad nervous.
But the Roseville and Monash member needn’t have been.
Eagle threes on the sixth, 10th and again on the 18th capped an extraordinary month and, wedged around four birdies, gave him a bump up from seventh overall, the highest ranked player without a win in the past month.
Jones, already qualified, didn’t play the final two events.
Another New South Welshman, Brett Drewitt, was again the victim of some last-round nerves, closing with a one-over 72 to slide down to 35th at 12 under. The Sydneysider will no doubt take heart from his multiple impressive rounds during the finals, but will rue some missed chances, particularly in the final two events, that could have bumped him up well beyond his 62nd place.
The hard-luck Aussie stories probably also were shared between veterans John Senden, Cameron Percy and Aaron Baddeley who all missed the weekend cut by a shot at four under.
It was a particularly tough blow for Baddeley who fell from 20th to 30th overall when he was unable to play at the weekend.
