Scotsman Greig Hutcheon defeated Adam Keogh to win The PGA Play-Offs at PGA National Slieve Russell and in doing now has a number of lucrative DP World Tour starts to look forward to.
As well as the £3,500 winner’s cheque, Hutcheon has little time to rest as he joins the field for this week’s Betfred British Masters.
Victory has also earned him a spot at the BMW PGA Championship, as well as five other DP World Tour events. He will also represent The PGA at the PGA of South Africa PGA Championship later this year.
The 49-year old from Torphins Golf Club signed for a two-under par round of 70 in regulation play, but was joined at the top of the leaderboard at seven-under par by Keogh, who fired the round of the day, a five-under 67, to force a playoff.
The leading pair halved the first extra hole, but after Keogh failed to get up and down from the greenside bunker at the next, Hutcheon’s par proved enough to capture the prestigious title for the third time in his career.
“It’s a little bit of a shock, especially after starting off bogey-bogey this morning,” said Hutcheon, who posted five birdies in his final round with one more dropped shot arriving at the par-4 15th.
“I came back well, made some birdies and managed to win it finally in the playoff. I’ve managed to win this a couple of times before but I’m about to enter my 50th year so this was one last final swansong and I’m delighted. It’s a great start to the year – I’ve just got to find some accommodation now for The Belfry,” said Hutcheon. “I get to play some of the big tour events now, which is a little bit daunting at my age, but you know what, as long as I can keep fit and keep flexible, I can still hit the ball reasonably well, so I fancy I might be able to make a few cuts.”
Runner-up Keogh might’ve fallen just shy in the playoff, but the Englishman will be consoled having earned four DP World Tour starts, including next week at The Belfry.
“It’s a disappointing way to lose, but I gave myself a chance to win the trophy. Where I was on Tuesday evening, we were nowhere near that,” said Keogh. “But yeah, I’ve been told I’m into next week, so no rest for the wicked. I best sort that out with work first though!”
First round leader Simon Thornton (Tulfarris) claimed the last place on the podium, carding a final round 70 to finish one shot shy of the playoff at six-under par.
“There’s a lot of positives,” said Thornton, who earns three DP World Tour starts. Six-under around this golf course without much competitive golf. I’m disappointed that I should’ve been a few more under par but we’ll all have a story like that. Overall, I’ll go home and reflect over a glass of red and say it’s probably job done.”
The PGA Play-Offs were launched in 2006 and involve the leading PGA Professionals across all seven PGA regions. The field comprises of the top three from each of the PGA’s seven regional Order of Merits, plus the PGA Professional champion and runner-up, and the PGA Assistants’ Championship winner. The leading players from the PGA Play-Offs compete for various DP World Toru spots and since 2013, the top three in a PGA Cup cycle have qualified for the Great Britain & Ireland PGA Cup team.
CLICK HERE to view a full list of scores from the 2022 PGA Play-Offs at Slieve Russell.