3 minute read
The pressures of professional golf were laid bare by Nick Flanagan after he finished in a tie for third at the Australian PGA Championship.
An emotional Nick Flanagan has broken down following a final-round effort at the Australian PGA Championship he says will bring much-needed relief ahead of his first child's birth next month.
Without a start on any tours next season, the Newcastle product went shot-for-shot with Adam Scott at Royal Pines on Sunday before finishing at 10-under in a tie for third three shots behind him.
In a tournament symbolic of his career, Flanagan needed a birdie on the 17th on Friday to make the cut before an equal course record 63 on Saturday launched him into Sunday's final group.
A European Tour card was up for grabs if Flanagan, now based in San Antonio, had prevailed on the Gold Coast, but a cash injection of almost $70,000 ahead of Christmas was enough to bring home the reality of the pressures facing Flanagan.
"My wife and I really need it at the moment, so it's pretty good," he said while struggling to hold back tears.
"Over Christmas I'll actually feel like I can sit down on the couch for a couple of weeks, relax and not think about where the next cheque's coming from."
A US Amateur champion in 2003, Flanagan is now tossing up becoming a club professional but admits his sporadic bursts of form mean he keeps getting dragged back in.
"When I'm just about down, I'll have a good finish ... it's just golf," he said.
He is still without any concrete playing plans next year, with his child's impending birth likely to stop him competing in the South African Open despite earning a call-up on Sunday.
His return to form was warmly received by Scott, who has shared surfing trips and fairways with him for the past 15 years.
"I'm really happy to see Nick playing golf like that today ... I hope he takes a lot out of the last couple of weeks and gets himself back to where he wants to be," the victor said.
Meanwhile, Ryan Fox (three-under in a tie for 27th) defended his spot at the top of the Australasian tour's order of merit to earn berths at next year's British Open and two WGC events.
Already on the European Tour, that exemption will fall to Victorian Zach Murray after he closed with a 69 to finish one-under and secure second place on the money list.
