South Australian David Lutterus qualifies for US PGA
SOUTH Australian golfer David Lutterus will join the world's elite on the US PGA tour after finishing in the top 25 in the tour qualifying school to earn a full tour card.
Lutterus, 22, ground through all three stages of the tour qualifying school only to wonder whether he'd blown it when he bogeyed two of the last three holes for a closing round of 74.
It put him 14-under-par for the gruelling, six-round final stage and he was left sweating while the remainder of the field completed their rounds at the Crooked Cat course in Winter Garden, Florida.
In the end, he made it right on the number - and just two years after turning pro.
Lutterus and fellow Q-school graduate Brett Rumford, a European tour winner who finished second in the 166-man field with a 25-under-par total, will join 17 other Australians in the big time next year.
New Zealand left-hander Tim Wilkinson, who finished tied 14th after a closing 68, will be the only Kiwi on the 2008 tour.
"I didn't have my A game for the full six rounds," said Lutterus, who had to rush off to catch a plane home for the Australian PGA Championship starting at Coolum on Thursday.
"It was an incredibly tough six days. I just had to grind it out and rely on my short game when I needed to get up and down.
"I'm very relieved and very, very happy."
Lutterus may not be a household name yet but he showed his talent when finishing second in February's Jacob's Creek Open at his home course, Kooyonga, where he shot a course record equalling opening round 64.
While Lutterus contemplated a nice fat Cuban cigar to celebrate, there were hard luck stories everywhere.
None was more heart-wrenching than the plight of tour veteran David McKenzie, who was left shattered by yet another near-miss.
The 40-year-old Victorian has had his share of disappointments in 20 years as a golf professional, but this season caps the lot.
McKenzie toughed it out on the secondary Nationwide Tour all year only to miss his PGA Tour card by a lousy $US2,240 ($A2,550), which amounted to a single shot in the final round of the final tournament.
He finished 27th on the money list, with only the top 25 earning cards.
So he went to the Q-school and despite a bogey-free closing round of 68 missed out again by the barest margin - a single shot. He was 27th, when the top 26 made it through.
Former Australian Open champion Greg Chalmers also suffered a heart-breaker. He birdied the 17th to get within touching distance of his card, then bogeyed the last hole for a 71 that left him tied with McKenzie, an agonising shot away from golfing Nirvana.
Other Australians who finished outside the top 25 were Steve Allan (T42 after a 69), Jarrod Lyle (T47 after a 72), Andrew Bonhomme (T47 after a 75), Gavin Coles (T116), Wade Ormsby (T129) and Won Joon Lee (T133).
