The National: Harrison Crowe secures victory as Curtis Luck stumbles on final day

Luck, who earlier this week admitted his recovery from a bulging disc in his back prevents him from playing tournaments in consecutive weeks, made bogey on the 17th and 18th at The National to surrender any chance of clinching a permanent spot on the lucrative tour.

Sydney’s Harrison Crowe won his first PGA Tour of Australasia event since the NSW Open in 2022 when he was still an amateur, but the real drama was in the groups in front of him as Jack Buchanan, Anthony Quayle and Luck chased the last two DP World Tour cards available on Sunday.

LIV Golf stars Lucas Herbert (third) and Cameron Smith (fourth) are expected to not take up membership of the circuit, with order of merit champion Elvis Smylie already a DP World Tour member and Ryan Peake (second) snatching one of three available cards.

Quayle (-17) snuck into fifth spot on the order of merit after a closing three-under 69 on the Mornington Peninsula, with a stunning approach shot to set up birdie on the last hole left him runner-up behind Crowe (-19).

“Incredible,” Quayle said of his new membership. “I’m a little bit lost for words. I played a full season here with one goal in mind. It’s such an incredible opportunity the Aussie tour has created for us. I’m so happy at the moment.”

Jack Buchanan (-15) showed nerves of steel to climb his way up the leaderboard with a final day 68 and a share of sixth, which will be enough for his own DP World Tour card if Herbert doesn’t take up membership.

The real drama was with former star amateur Luck, who has had many ups and downs in his professional career.

Luck (-16) was only one shot behind Crowe on the closing stretch, and projected to earn a DP World Tour card, but blew a shot on 17 after finding sand trouble and then couldn’t finish with par on the last, sending a 30-foot putt from off the green for birdie running past the hole.

He pulled the short par save on the way back, tumbling to seventh on the season-long race, and a tie for third at The National, three shots behind Crowe.

Crowe flighted the ball under the testing winds on the Gunnamatta course, with gusts notching close to 60km/h at one stage.

But after breaking free from a five-way tie for the lead earlier in the day, Crowe rode eight straight pars to the clubhouse for a bogey-free final day.

The highlight of his round was a stunning approach into the 10th hole from an awkward lie, before draining a birdie bomb, his last of the day.

“It means a lot,” Crowe said. “To get my first win as a professional on the last event of the season, it’s really special. I love this place.

“I play a lot of wind golf back home at (St Michael’s) so I can control my ball flight better than most. I’ve just got to stick to that. I definitely had a lot of testing putts on the whole back nine.”

Crowe also had a very minor chance of stealing a DP World Tour card heading into the last round, but the high finishes of Quayle and Buchanan scuppered any chance of that.

The 23-year-old will head to the United States in coming months trying to open up more playing opportunities after a stellar amateur career.

Crowe’s final round shootout for playing card at The National

The race for career-changing DP World Tour cards will go down to a final day shootout after Harrison Crowe gave himself an outside chance of playing his way onto the lucrative circuit.

Crowe, the former star amateur who won the NSW Open against professionals three years ago, rocketed up the leaderboard to be in a share of top spot heading into the last day of The National, the final event of the PGA Tour of Australasia season.

While it would take a remarkable turn of events for the 23-year-old to snatch a spot on the DP World Tour – he would need to win The National and rival Anthony Quayle has to plunge down the leaderboard – Crowe’s assault has been another twist in an intriguing order of merit battle.

Crowe posted an eight-under 64 during his third round at the Gunnamatta course on the Mornington Peninsula to join Queensland’s Quinnton Croker (63) and New Zealand’s Denzel Ieremia (66) in top spot at 15-under.

Crowe is currently 10th on the order of merit with the top three golfers not already DP World Tour members to earn playing rights on the primarily European-based circuit.

Elvis Smylie has already been crowned order of merit champion, but holds a DP World Tour card via his Australian PGA Championship win in November, while New Zealand Open winner Ryan Peake is guaranteed one of the three cards.

It’s likely LIV Golf stars Lucas Herbert (third) and Cameron Smith (fourth) won’t take up membership, with Jack Buchanan (-11) expected to hold down fifth spot and a career boost after a six-under 66 on Saturday.

After that, it gets interesting for the last spot.

Quayle (-14) is still in the box seat after a steady three-under 69 which is projected to keep him in sixth position, while Curtis Luck (-12) and Corey Lamb (-13) are still in the hunt at seventh and eighth respectively on the season long race.

Yet Crowe might be the wildest of wildcards.

“I’m just looking forward to a good finish to the season,” Crowe said after losing his Asian Tour card last year. “I don’t really think I can move that many places in the order of merit because it’s pretty spaced out, and I didn’t really have any expectations of order of merit this week.

“It’s tough as Aussies to get to that big stage in the US and Europe. I think over the last few years watching Micha (David Micheluzzi) and Kazuma (Kobori) do that, it’s a much bigger pathway to catapult yourself onto another main stage.

“The opportunities down here are great.”

Maverick Antcliff (67) joined Peake and Quayle just one shot behind the leaders, while Jake McLeod (66) and Lamb are lurking two back.

“I got off to a good start (on Saturday), but fell away at the end which was a bit disappointing,” Lamb said. “We’ll try again (on Sunday).”

Queensland amateur Billy Dowling (-12), playing his first event back from having his appendix taken out, hung tough with an even par 72 after being the 36-hole leader.

Twenty players are within four shots of the lead going into the final round, with Micheluzzi (-10) still not out of the mix in a rare visit back to Victoria.

Dowling’s remarkable recovery to lead field at The National

Queensland amateur Billy Dowling showed his remarkable powers of recovery to lead the final event of the PGA Tour of Australasia season – just two months after having his appendicitis removed.

Dowling, 19, was forced to withdraw on the opening day of the prestigious Australian Amateur in January with severe stomach pain, which required emergency surgery.

Playing his first significant event since the ordeal, Dowling cast the older and more experienced professionals in the shade with his second straight six-under 66 on Friday to be the 36-hole leader on The National’s Gunnamatta course on the Mornington Peninsula.

“I’ve never had surgery before, so I was a bit nervous about it because I hadn’t been under anaesthetic,” Dowling said.

“(But) I’ve been playing for about a month (now). I couldn’t do any swimming, I couldn’t do any gym (at first). I was in my friend’s golf cart basically watching them play. I could putt and just did that the whole time.

“I would say it took a good couple of weeks to get the feels back.”

Unlike Thursday’s opening round, Dowling (-12) kept his card blemish free with six birdies and 12 pars to take a one-shot lead into the weekend from Anthony Quayle and Todd Sinnott.

Dowling is trying to be the latest amateur to win on Australasia’s main circuit.

“The times I have seen him he looks like a pretty good player, and a really good kid too,” Quayle said.

The race for DP World Tour cards took another twist on Friday with Quayle, Curtis Luck (-10) and Corey Lamb (-10) all landing near the top of the leaderboard before the last two days of the season.

New Zealand Open winner Ryan Peake (-9) has already locked up one of three available spots on the DP World Tour, with order of merit champion Elvis Smylie already a fully-fledged member courtesy of his Australian PGA Championship win in November.

LIV Golf stars Lucas Herbert and Cameron Smith are poised to finish third and fourth in the standings, but it is uncertain whether they would accept membership given their commitments to the Saudi-backed league.

Jack Buchanan (-5) is clinging to fifth spot after scraping inside the cut at The National.

But Quayle (sixth) is projected to leapfrog him on the season-long standings after a seven-under 65 in his second round with Luck (seventh) and Lamb (eighth) still in the race for career-changing DP World Tour status with a potential win at The National.

“There were a few holes where if you hit the right tee shots, it makes what felt like difficult holes (on Thursday) pretty easy (on Friday),” Quayle said.

“Unless you’ve got a bit of experience around here you’re not necessarily seeing that shot given how different some of those holes played.”

Injury-plagued star eyes change in Luck

A defiant Curtis Luck took a huge stride in his late bid to win a DP World Tour card as the injury-plagued star – who admitted he can’t play more than one week of tournament golf at a time – outlined his intention at The National.

Luck, a former star amateur whose career has included victory on the United States’ secondary Korn Ferry Tour, is trying to firstly resurrect his health – and then his golf game – after a frustrating 12 months.

The 28-year-old has battled a bulging disc in his spine, which has restricted him to limited starts on the PGA Tour of Australasia this season.

But in the season-ending event at The National Golf Club on the Mornington Peninsula, Luck fired an eight-under 64 to be one stroke behind NSW amateur Declan O’Donovan (63) after the first round on Thursday.

A win could have huge implications for Luck, who despite his scant tournament golf this season, is seventh on the PGA of Australasia order of merit, largely thanks to his runner-up finish behind American Ryggs Johnston at the Australian Open.

The top three eligible golfers will earn status on the DP World Tour.

But with order of merit champion Elvis Smylie already a card holder, and doubts about whether LIV Golf players Lucas Herbert (third) and Cameron Smith (fourth) will take up membership, sixth position might be enough to earn regular starts on the largely European-based circuit.

Luck can leapfrog Anthony Quayle, who posted a four-under 68 on Thursday, with a strong finish this week.

“There are things on the line for a couple of guys that are up there and that’s one of them,” Luck said of the order of merit race.

“But the way my last 12 months have been, getting through a week feeling somewhat healthy and good is the most crucial bit going forward.

“(The injury) is so much better than it was, considering eight months ago I wasn’t playing. Now I can go out and play, I’m super thankful.

“The question for me right now is: can I play multiple weeks in a row? The answer to that is no. I get one week under my belt without feeling too much stuff back there.

“It’s weird coming out knowing my objective is testing my health rather than my golf. If I can get through the first few days, I know I can last a week.”

Luck raced to five-under through his opening six holes and had nine birdies in total on the Gunnamatta course, which was torn apart by a number of Australia’s best local tour professionals.

O’Donovan is expected to join the professional ranks in the next year, and rifled a three-iron from 215 metres with his approach to set up birdie on the last to ensure he finished day one atop the leaderboard.

“It’s a nice little bit of momentum going into the next three days, but there’s still three days (to go),” O’Donovan said. “It’s a skill to go low and then keep it going and keep it going. I’m starting to find my way. I’d like to be back out here next year, but as a pro.”

Luck’s fellow Western Australian Jarryd Felton joined him at eight-under in a tie for second, with New Zealand PGA Championship winner Tyler Hodge heading a group at seven-under. NSW’s Lucas Higgins was in that group after celebrating a hole-in-one on the brutal 203-metre par-three 11th, his second hole of the day.