Queenslander Cory Crawford has delivered one of the rounds of the day to surge to a second Kumul Minerals PNG Open title at Royal Port Moresby Golf Club.
The site of Crawford’s first Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia victory in 2017, Royal Port Moresby was again kind to the 32-year-old who produced a bogey-free 7-under 65 to finish at 11-under par for a four-stroke win.
“It’s funny, I had a conversation with my billet on the drive to the golf course and I said, ‘If I can shoot 8 (under) today I’m a really good chance,” said Crawford.
“And my mindset was really aggressive. I put a lot of pressure on myself, a lot of expectations on myself to be able to shoot a good number and try and win this thing.
“That’s all I was thinking for the whole day. So really excited to be able to pull that off with that much pressure on myself.”
Teeing off more than an hour before the final group and five strokes adrift, Crawford clawed his way up the leaderboard with birdies at three, four and six before cashing in on the three consecutive par 5s around the turn.
Round 4 takeaways include:
- Crawford becomes first two-time winner of the Kumul Minerals PNG Open
- It is Crawford’s third Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia title (2017 PNG Open, 2024 Vic PGA)
- Amelia Mehmet-Grohn wins first PNG Women’s Open
Six-under through 10 holes and with the likes of overnight leader Lincoln Tighe losing ground, Crawford was soon the outright leader. He made a seventh and final birdie at the par-3 13th followed by five nerveless pars to become the first two-time winner in tournament history.
“First time, I had no idea what I was doing,” Crawford said of his breakthrough win eight years ago.
“This time, it was really structured and means a lot more because so much has gone into it.
“It feels really good to win a golf tournament so hard, as everyone knows. To be able to win this, it’s really special.
Tighe (74) was one of five players to finish in a tie for second at 7-under along with 36-hole joint leader Will Florimo (73), Queenslander Jake McLeod (71), 2024 Gippsland Super 6 champion Ben Henkel (72) and recent PGA Membership Pathway Program graduate Zach Ion (67).
While Crawford’s final winning margin was decisive, the tournament was in the balance as the final groups entered the back nine.
With McLeod making four straight birdies in the middle of his round and Henkel (72) turning in 3-under, just one shot separated the top five.
Neither Tighe nor Henkel were able to birdie the par-5 10th at which point the Royal Port Moresby back nine applied its squeeze, drawing three bogeys from both players over the closing holes.
Crawford didn’t put a foot wrong in the final round, citing his birdie at the par-3 13th as crucial.
“The birdie on 13 was probably the special one,” he added. “It’s a hole you typically wouldn’t birdie.
“Around the front nine, you can make a lot of birdies, which I did, which was nice. But the one on 13 was unexpected. To get that one was really, really nice.”
A semi-finalist at the Gippsland Super 6 last season, Victorian Andre Lautee earned the third top-10 finish of his career courtesy of the day’s best round, an 8-under 64 highlighted by birdies at eight and nine and an eagle at the par-5 10th.
With the local crowd in full support, Papua New Guinea amateur Morgan Annato recorded his best finish in his national open, a tie for 34th.
Sunday also saw the completion of the inaugural PNG Women’s Open with Coffs Harbour’s Mehmet-Grohn (73) finishing two strokes clear of Kathryn Norris (74) with Kristalle Blum third (72).
Past champions
2024: William Bruyeres (Royal Port Moresby Golf Club)
2023: Lachlan Barker (Royal Port Moresby Golf Club)
2019: Peter Cooke (Royal Port Moresby Golf Club)
2018: Daniel Gale (Royal Port Moresby Golf Club)
2017: Cory Crawford (Royal Port Moresby Golf Club)
2016: Brad Moules (Royal Port Moresby Golf Club)
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