Phelan eyes Asian Tour opportunities
Waterford’s Kevin Phelan
Seamus Power was bidding for his second PGA TOUR win and a Masters spot in the Sony Open in Hawaii last night, but another Waterford man is looking to make his mark on the megabucks Asian Tour.
Former Walker Cup star Kevin Phelan (31) closed with a three-over 75 to finish tied 39th in the $1 million Singapore International at Tanah Merah Country Club’s windy Tampines Course yesterday to move up to 114th in the Order of Merit.
He finished on nine-over par, 13 strokes behind South Korea’s Joohyung Kim (19), who holed a 14-foot birdie putt on the first extra hole to beat Thailand’s Rattanon Wannasrichan in sudden death as 14-year old Thai amateur Ratchanon Chantananuwat finished solo third to become the youngest player to break into the world’s top 500.
Final scores Singapore International
Phelan, who earned his Asian Tour stripes at the Qualifying School in 2019, was tied for 19th overnight after recovering from an opening 80 with a brace of 71s. But he made four bogeys and a birdie in his first 10 holes to slip down the leaderboard and after dropping two more strokes at the 13th and 15th, birdies at the 16th and 18th came too late.
Kevin Phelan
He tees it up in the final event of the 2021-22 season at this week’s$1,25 million SMBC Singapore Open at Sentosa Golf Club’s Serapong Course looking for a big week.
With the top 30 in the final Order of Merit who will get to tee it up alongside stars Shane Lowry, Graeme McDowell, Justin Johnson and Bryson DeChambeau in next month’s $5 million PIF Saudi International in Jeddah, Phelan likely needs a top-five finish.
“My game’s been good for a while, but when it comes to scoring, it’s more a matter of staying out of my own way and fully engaging in the shots as opposed to forcing a score,” said Phelan, who will have top Royal Dublin amateur Richard Knightly on his bag for the second week running.
Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund is pumping $200 million into the Asian Tour as it bids to create a rival circuit to the PGA and DP World Tour’s and Phelan is hoping to take full advantage in 2022
“I’m looking forward to playing,” Phelan said. “There are lots of rumours but not much confirmed at this stage regarding the schedule. I’m hoping they’ll announce some of the events after next week.”
Meanwhile, Castlewarden’s world No. 17 Lauren Walsh has received her invitation for the Augusta National Women’s Amateur from March 30 to April 2.
