Corey Crawford has taken the 2017 SP Brewery PNG Open, defeating fellow Queenslander Brett Rankin in an 18th hole sudden death here in Port Moresby over the weekend.
The play off however, wasn’t as easy as it seemed, both players having to go six rounds, before a bogey by Rankin, handed Crawford his first major win.
Crawford had taken an early lead after the first two days, but it was fellow Queenslander Brett Rankin who capitalised on a good weekend, racing up to second on the leader board.
Rankin had been on par by the end of play, forcing the tie, and it came down to the two men, dueling five times on the 18th.
And it took a concentrated Crawford to take out his first Title.
Crawford and Rankin were inseparable as the day came to a close. The sudden death play-off should easily have been done away with. But the experienced Brett Rankin’s bogey after the sixth attempt saw Crawford, the 24-year-old, playing in his rookie year ecstatic.
Crawford will now travel back to Australia with almost K50,000 in prize money to boost his career, and where previously his highest ranking at this tour had only seen him reach 19th.
Morobe Open winner Christopher Wood, took out fourth place while last year’s champion, Daniel Nisbet was equal 8th.
Though it is not over for the 24-year-old as yet this year, he will be featuring in the Western Australia PGA Championship come May. And it gets tougher at every level of competition.
