Michael Sim wins Queensland PGA in play-off duel with close mate
Michael Sim couldn’t believe he was holding the Queensland PGA trophy because he thought his chance had come and gone. Drama, a play-off, an unlikely winner.
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A stunned Michael Sim thought he’d blown his shot at the Coca-Cola Queensland PGA nearly two hours before a dramatic play-off win over close mate Scott Arnold in Toowoomba.
Play-offs tend to weave players into scripts that are recounted for years to come but this duo didn’t have to wait anywhere near that long to chew over the twists of fortune.
The pair packed their clubs into the same car and shared the two-hour drive to the Gold Coast to stay at Sim’s home on Sunday night.
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“I’m not sure if it’s going to be a talkative trip or a quiet one,” Sim said with a smile after his late Sunday flourish.
“To have a playoff against one of your best mates is difficult but I’m rapt to come out with a win.
“I can’t believe I’m standing here.
“Walking off the 15th (after back-to-back bogeys) I thought any chance of winning was gone because I guess I was four off the lead.”
No one computed the late hiccups at City Golf Club because the course is noted for rushes of birdies.
Brad Kennedy (61-66-69-73) look likely to be a wire-to-wire winner for most of the day but dropped four shots on the closing three holes.
There was extra drama when he hit his final drive into the left rough believing he needed a par four to tie Arnold on 13-under-par.
It was only then he was advised that Arnold had actually posted 12-under.
Kennedy still had a 6m par putt to win on the full green. He left it short and missed a 50cm tiddler to miss the play-off with a double-bogey.
Playing partner Sim (68-67-63-70) had his own target as he stood in the middle of the final fairway moments before.
He hit a super eight iron to almost tap-in range for birdie and the unlikely sudden-death duel was on.
Sim scrambled brilliantly to stay alive. He chipped out from behind a tree on the first play-off hole and binned a curling 7m putt just to halve in pars on the first extra trip down the 18th.
Finally, a deft chip and putt for par on the fourth visit beat an Arnold bogey.
Sim and Arnold will tee up again on Thursday at the Isuzu Queensland Open at Pelican Waters on the Sunshine Coast.
Sim joins a select group to have won the Queensland Open-Queensland PGA double during their career.
Names like Greg Norman, David Graham, Ian Baker-Finch, Steve Bowditch, Terry Price, Lucas Parsons and Peter Senior have adorned both trophies over the last 40 years.
L eaderboard: Queensland PGA (Par: 70)
12-under-par: Michael Sim (68-67-63-70)
12-under: Scott Arnold (70-64-65-69)
11-under: Brad Kennedy (61-66-69-73), Mike Hendry (69-65-67-68), Dimi Pappadatos (65-68-67-69), Chang Gi Lee (67-67-66-69)
Originally published as Michael Sim wins Queensland PGA in play-off duel with close mate