Australian PGA Championship: Golfing journeyman Brett Drewitt went from sleeping on an airport floor to playing at Royal Queensland

One of Australia’s most accomplished golfers, having played on the US PGA tour, 33-year-old Brett Drewitt had to battle sleeping in airport lounges in a ‘crazy’ story of how he qualified for the Australian PGA.

An Australian PGA Championship contender slept on an airport floor during a whirlwind 24 hours he described as the most chaotic travel experience of his professional career.

Brett Drewitt, one of the country’s most consistent golfing exports, has opened up about his “crazy” bid to earn a spot in the field for the $2 million tournament at Royal Queensland after failing to secure an invite.

The 33-year-old’s mission included a cancelled flight, an inability to call a help desk because he only has a United States mobile number, a desperate attempt to sleep in both an airport lounge and at a golf club and finally earning a berth in the Australian PGA via a dramatic play-off.

Drewitt has had quite the journey to this year’s Australian PGA Championship. Picture: Chris Hyde/Getty Images

Drewitt’s drama started when he needed to drive more than three hours from Murray Downs Country Club on the NSW-Victoria border after the NSW Open to Melbourne Airport on Sunday night.

Having made it safely to Tullamarine, his plans were thrown into disarray when told his flight had been delayed until 1am. Shortly afterwards, he learned the flight was cancelled altogether, leaving his hopes of making the Australian PGA qualifying event in Brisbane on Monday in tatters.

Only three spots were available to 62 golfers who had entered the one-day shootout at The Brisbane Golf Club.

“Virgin re-booked me on a Tuesday flight at 11 o’clock and because I had a US number, I couldn’t call the Virgin help desk,” Drewitt said. “The phone call just wouldn’t go through.

“Not having a help desk and not being able to make a phone call to book something, I was stressing going, ‘what am I going to do?’ It’s 11 o’clock at night and no one is around. How am I going to get to Brisbane? It wasn’t like I could rent a car and drive. That kind of stress was a little bit [tough].

“I pretty much begged this girl to help me out and she put me on a six o’clock flight. There were no hotel rooms available so I just slept at the airport. I got about two-and-a-half or three hours.”

Having finally got on a flight heading north, Drewitt arrived in Queensland and managed some more broken sleep at Brisbane Golf Club before his lunch tee time. The only problem: he’d never seen the course before.

Arriving as the most accomplished player in the field after a long career in the United States – he’s a Korn Ferry Tour regular and his last start on the PGA Tour was in 2023 – he was expected to do well. But no one had any idea how difficult it had been for him just to step onto the first tee.

No one had any idea what Brett Drewitt had gone through just to get to the first tee. Picture: Chris Hyde/Getty Images

“I set myself low standards,” Drewitt said. “I was thinking to myself, ‘I can do this’. But deep down you go, ‘look, this is the worst preparation you’re ever going to have’. Setting those low standards took a little bit of the pressure away.

“But I started feeling it the last six holes or so. Once I got to five-under after 12, I’m thinking to myself, ‘you’ve given yourself a chance now, you don’t really want to f--- this up. Just do whatever you can to get this thing in. Give yourself a chance as you’ve done all the hard work’.”

Charlie Robbins and Singapore’s Ryan Ang sewed up the first two spots from qualifying, and Drewitt was pitched into a play-off with Queensland’s Blaike Perkins after both carded five-under 67s.

“When we got into a play-off, I was toast,” he said. “I couldn’t wait to get out of there and all of a sudden I was in a play-off.”

Drewitt and Perkins both had eagle on the first play-off hole, but Drewitt nabbed the last spot for the Australian PGA in a field which features Cameron Smith, Jason Day and Min Woo Lee, when he made birdie on the second extra hole.

Drewitt with his caddie as he prepares to play a shot on day one of the Australian PGA championship. Picture: Chris Hyde/Getty Images

So, how did he do it?

“Experience, perseverance, just keeping the ball in front of you,” he said. “Some of it is luck. You’re playing on a golf course you haven’t seen and when it comes to reading putts, you’ve just got to trust your eyes. I holed a couple of putts.

“The whole 24 hours was crazy.”

Drewitt made good on his 11th-hour ticket to Royal Queensland, firing a bogey-free two-under 69 in his first round despite dealing with treacherous conditions the afternoon wave faced on Thursday.

He hopes his commitment will be enough to press a case for a spot in next week’s Australian Open given he’s not in the field yet.

Friday’s play at the Australian PGA was abandoned due to the waterlogged course with the tournament shortened to 54 holes.