Masters win comes in the Nick of time for Cullen

Nick Cullen could easily have been sitting on his lounge watching the final round of the BetEasy Australian Masters unfold. Had he chosen to quit his life as a Touring pro three years ago that’s exactly what he would have been doing.

Instead, he chose to fight on, work harder on his body and his game. Today, he’s the proud owner of a Masters Gold Jacket.

Nick Cullen blasts out of a bunker on the 18th hole to set up his win. He described the shot as the best of his career. PHOTO: Getty Images

“Yeah, almost gave it away,” he laughed. “I had been playing some pro-ams in NSW and I had made about $500 for two weeks.

“I was driving back to Adelaide and halfway back I stopped the car and came to the realisation I didn’t want to do it anymore. I wasn’t making money, I was losing money. I just wasn’t happy and there were so many better places I could be … with friends and family … and here I was in the middle of the outback, doing nothing.”

The biggest win of Nick Cullen's career. PHOTO: Getty Images.

Cullen decided to have another crack and he got to work.

“It was either quit or work harder. After thinking about it for a while I decided a wanted to give it a real go and starter working harder on my game and my fitness,” said Cullen, who is the younger brother of former Australian cricketer, Dan.

“I think I won a pro-am two weeks later… I actually three-putted to tie for the win,” he said. “I was headless because I had cost myself $3,000 but after I had a good chat with my brother and he said ‘you won and that’s the main thing’. It probably took me a week or two after that to realise he was right.

“I realised it wasn’t about the money or anything else it was about trying to win. Since then I have been trying to win and to win the Australian Masters is pretty awesome.”

Adam Scott reacts after missing a putt on the final hole to grab a share of the lead. PHOTO: Getty Images

Without a Tour to play on beyond next month’s Australian PGA Championship and needing to cash a decent cheque in one or all of the triple crown Australian events, Cullen has kept the wolves from the door with this victory.

The 30-year-old was nine strokes behind the leader entering the weekend but rounds of 66-69 saw him climb ever so steadily up the leaderboard to grab the top spot and the title.

Despite a bogey at his opening hole of the final round, the left-hander bounced back with an eagle at the par-5 4^th hole, which catapulted him to seven under and within a shot of 54-hole leader Paul Spargo.

Another birdie at the par-5 6^th had him tied with his fellow South Australian. A loose tee shot on the par-3 7^th resulted in a bogey but he reclaimed that lost shot at the very next hole when he two-putted from long range for birdie.

Playing in the penultimate group, Cullen picked up two more birdies after the turn at the par-3 11^th and par-4 12^th. At that stage he was 11 under and two strokes clear of Spargo and a host of other chasers including New South Welshman James Nitties and a fast-finishing World No.2 Adam Scott. Cullen was seemingly riding a wave of confidence that might see him run away with the title.

The significance of what was unfolding must have started playing on Cullen’s mind as he played the par-5 14^th. A birdie there would all but seal the deal as his chasers were having trouble finding the bottom of the cup with their birdie attempts. He reached the front of the green in two shots but three-putted (his first in 68 holes) from long range. A second three-putt followed, this time for a bogey, at the next hole.

Playing up ahead, Scott moved to eight under after the 17^th with his eighth birdie of the round. After smashing his drive down the middle, his iron approach was mis-hit slightly and dropped onto the front third of the green, some 50 feet from the flag. His birdie putt, to set the clubhouse mark at nine under and grab a share of the lead with Cullen, burned the right edge of the hole and stayed out. It was a gallant fight back from the dual defending champion, who was never closer then five shots from the lead at any stage on this tournament until midway through the front nine of his final round.

Moments after missing his putt to tie the lead, Adam Scott gives his ball to a fan in a wheelchair beside the 18th green. PHOTO: Getty Images.

Stung by three-putt on 15, Cullen seemed to regain his composure and he made regulation pars at the 16^th and 17^th holes. On 18, his approach skewed left into a deep greenside bunker leaving him tough up and down for par and the title but he was equal to the task, splashing his ball onto the green and within tap-in range of the hole.

“I knew Adam was one shot back and had finished on eight (under) and I really didn’t want to get into a play-off with him if it came to that, “ Cullen laughed.

“I was trying not to look at the leaderboard and play my own game and try to hole a couple of putts coming in. I got lucky, hit a great bunker shot on the last and didn’t have a very long putt … I’m glad it wasn’t any longer because I was nervous enough over that.

"That bunker shot ... was the best shot of my career."

Cullen arrived at Metropolitan this week not expecting to win but hoping if he played his best he might contend. He was a long shot – ranked No.632 in the world and 500 to 1 with the bookies.

Based on form, the odds were right as Cullen had missed the cut at each of his previous four events, three of them by a shot.

“To have a win is an amazing feeling,” he said. “Before this week I didn’t have any playing status locked up on any Tour, which I haven’t had in past years but this year has been a real struggle.

“To have a win and get status, make a little money … it’s awesome.”

Cullen, who ended 2013 ranked No.263 in the world, won the Queensland Open last year and was fourth behind Scott at the Australian Masters at Royal Melbourne a few months.

Then, as he prepared for the Australian Open the following week, he was struck down with appendicitis and rushed to hospital in Sydney for emergency surgery. He was forced to withdraw from the Open as well as the final stage of Japanese Tour Qualifying School.

“I had a couple of months off and after that I kind of lost it,” Cullen said. “Then I listened to too many opinions and didn’t trust what I was doing in the swing. I made some bad decisions and it all just sort of compounded and I really struggled through the year.

“My friends and family have been great and really supportive.”

Scott shared second place at eight under with Victoria’s Josh Younger (69) and Nitties (70). If this trio, Nitties had arguably the best opportunity to catch Cullen but over the closing half dozen holes he could not convert any of six birdie opportunities he had.

Rhein Gibson smiles after equalling the course record of 65. PHOTO: Getty Images

Cullen, who now lives in Atlanta in the United States with his girlfriend, now has a five-year exemption on the PGA Tour of Australasia. But the biggest payday to come will be the start he now gets in the World Golf Championship Bridgestone Invitational next August where the total prize purse is US$8 million.

Earlier in the day, New South Welshman Rhein Gibson equalled the Metropolitan course record – set 24 hours before by amateur Lucas Herbert – with a seven under 65.

Gibson, who holds the world record for the lowest 18-hole score of 55, had three bogies in his low round, which also included eight birdies and an eagle. Four of those birdies came in consecutive holes starting at the par-4 10^th.

“It was a great run,” Gibson told Golf Australia. “I couldn’t miss with the putter during that stretch. It was pretty cool.

“The greens here at Metro and the greens we played at Lake Karrinyup for the Perth International are the best we’ve played on all year. You can’t help but putt well.”

If Gibson wasn’t the best putter at Metropolitan this week this writer would be very surprised. His stats make amazing reading – he didn’t have a single three putt over the four rounds, he averaged 27.5 putts per round and, for the final round, he had 24 putts with 12 one-putt greens.

Gibson will rue his opening nine holes of the second round and the back nine of his third round. On Friday, he dropped four shots in his first nine holes and a similar number trying to close out his third round in windy conditions, with a triple bogey at the tough 18^th being the ‘card killer’.

“It is what it is … that’s golf,” Gibson said. “But I will look back at those nines … even if I restricted the damage to one over instead of four on each of those nines that’s six shots and I’m sitting here in the clubhouse 12 under and leading the tournament by a couple of shots.

“But that’s golf. You take the good with the bad and move on.”

Other good final rounds came from Robert Allenby (68), who finished at six under, and visiting American Boo Weekley (70). Both men have struggled to find form this year and have had injuries as well. They will now head to the Emirates Australian Open with greater confidence after their finish at Metropolitan.

* For the full final leaderboard, click here