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SYDNEY - Mark Brown got a consolation prize on a forgettable Sunday for New Zealand golfers at Royal Sydney when he clinched the Australasian order of merit title.
Despite a disappointing three-over-par final round of 75 to finish tied for 21st at the Australian Open on two-under, Brown did enough to hold onto his lead on the moneylist as his earnings topped A$440,000 ($539,545). Much of that came from his breakthrough victory in the co-sanctioned Johnnie Walker Classic in India in March.
The biggest benefit for the Wellington golfer was automatic entry to next year's British Open, while he can also start the US Open provided he can boost his world ranking from its current 106 to top-75.
Brown arrived at Royal Sydney last week with an A$80,000 lead over Australian Rod Pampling, while Geoff Ogilvy and Scott Strange were also within striking distance if they could grab the winner's cheque of A$270,000.
Ogilvy was best of those, earning A$46,500 in his tie for sixth, two shots behind South African Tim Clark who beat Matthew Goggin in a playoff.
But there was little time for Brown to soak it up, as Clark and Goggin fought out the finish and New Zealand No 1 David Smail tried to work out how he surrendered a three-shot lead with four to play.
Before the title was decided, Brown rushed back to his hotel to pack for an early morning flight to Thailand for this week's Asian Tour Championship in Bangkok.
"It's a really nice feather in the cap and I was really keen to win it (moneylist)," said Brown, who can't finish further back than third of the Asian order of merit.
After a Christmas break in Wellington, his first trip home since April, Brown will focus on trying to crack the world's top-75 to book his US Open spot. Automatic entry to the British Open was significant after he missed the field by one agonising spot last year.
"It's very do-able (top-75) and I'd love to play at least a couple of majors next year so I'll keep my fingers crossed."
Brown and Smail were the clubhouse leaders on the first morning here after shooting five-under rounds of 67, but Brown struggled on the windswept final two days.
"It's just tiring, that's no excuse but it's seven weeks (of tournaments) in a row and it's getting harder mentally to keep going. I was just making silly mistakes."
An hour later and a shattered Smail was explaining what went wrong and being consoled by his wife Sheree.
Japan Tour veteran Smail led by four shots after nine holes of his final round, and still had a three-shot buffer before an errant tee shot cost him double-bogey on the 15th, then he was rattled enough to do the same on 16.
"It's been a long year, but looking back I can't think of a tournament I've really lost before when I've been up there I've managed to finish it off, so it's a pretty gutting feeling," he said.
And there was sympathy from his rivals.
Goggin put aside his own disappointment of bogeying the first playoff hole to spare a thought for Smail.
"I feel for David, really. He had the tournament - he was playing well. To have such a horror finish was brutal for him."
- NZPA
