Jager's clutch birdie seals PGA Professionals Championship title

Media Release:

Matt Jager will return to the site of one of his greatest performances as a Tour player having held his nerve on the final hole to the PGA Professionals Championship National Final at Heritage Golf and Country Club.

Trailing by one shot when he stood on the tee of the final hole, Jager’s clutch birdie completed a round of 3-under 69 and an 11-under par total for a one-stroke win.

The Director of Golf at Mansfield Golf Club started the final round one shot off the lead and had to recover from an early setback, making a couple of bogeys before settling into his round.

Playing alongside Robbie Minns and defending champ Mitchell Smith in the final group, Jager found the fairway at the par-4 18th before hitting a pitching wedge to six feet, leaving himself a birdie putt to take the title.

“I hit a great mini driver off the tee and a perfect pitching wedge, absolutely pin-high,” said Jager.

“The putt was just right edge and I like right-to-left putts. I just had to keep my head still and put a good stroke on it, and then it just grabbed that bottom edge and dove in.”

The victory earns Jager a place in the BMW Australian PGA Championship at The Lakes Golf Club in Sydney, a course where he has enjoyed success before.

Just one stroke off the lead after Round 1 of the 2018 Australian Open won by Mexico’s Abraham Ancer at The Lakes, Jager ultimately finished tied 28th and is looking forward to mixing it with the world’s best at a course where he feels comfortable.

“To play those big events is great. I’ve played well at The Lakes before, so it’s nice to go back somewhere where I’ve played well in the past,” he added.

The title also carried extra meaning for Jager, who has stepped away from playing Tour golf full-time and is now part of the PGA of Australia’s club professional community.

“Winning this is really cool because I made the decision with my career to stop playing Tour golf full-time. To come out as a winner of this event is awesome,” he said.

It wasn’t all smooth sailing for Jager, who had to respond from a couple of dropped shots early and endured struggles with the putter until the final hole of the championship.

“I had an average start, a couple of bogeys early on, and just had to keep moving,” Jager said.

“I went out with the mentality that I just had to go out there and play sport and compete, move like an athlete, and not let myself get in the way technically with anything. For the back 14 holes, I did that really, really well.

“It was a super testing day with the flatstick. I just had nothing drop until the last, which was the one that mattered.”

Minns and Smith finished tied at 10-under-par before Minns prevailed in a five-hole playoff to secure outright second place and the second spot at the BMW Australian PGA Championship. Smith finished third.

Danni Vasquez-Boyd also had a week to remember, claiming the women’s title and finishing outright fourth overall at 8-under-par.

Vasquez-Boyd carded rounds of 70, 68 and 70 to finish three shots behind Jager, producing three consecutive under-par rounds in a performance she admitted she had not managed for some time.

The result was particularly satisfying given she had considered not playing at all just a week earlier.

“I was fed up with playing golf and I wasn’t sure if I wanted to play this week,” Vasquez-Boyd said.

“Darcy basically was like, ‘No, we’ll go. We’ve already got the time off and just go and enjoy it.’ And I did. I went and enjoyed it, and then it just goes to show if you enjoy it, you play good golf.

“I’m super stoked with how I played. Three under-par rounds; I haven’t done that in a while.”

Vasquez-Boyd said the performance had given her renewed motivation to continue competing, with plans to play another season on the WPGA Tour of Australasia before reassessing her future.

“It’s definitely helped. I think I will play another season on the WPGA and then see what happens and reassess when that season’s done,” she said.

Victoria claimed the Vicar’s Shield, with Jager and Steven Jones combining for a 16-under-par total of 416. Queensland, represented by Smith and Anthony Choat, finished second at 12-under, while Western Australia’s Conor Brown and Mitchell Jovic were third at even par.

 

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