Crowe and Wong capture Australian Master of the Amateurs

Crowe and Wong capture Australian Master of the Amateurs

Harrison Crowe and Jeneath Wong endured the fickle Melbourne weather and fended off a pack of hungry pursuers with late birdies to win the Australian Masters of Champions at Victoria Golf Club on Friday.

Crowe carded a steady final par round of 72 to complete a wire-to-wire victory that landed him the men’s title with a 6-under total of 282 while Wong made three birdies in the last five holes to finish 4-under par and win the women’s division by seven shots.

The men’s championship came down to the final holes, with Konrad Cuipek and Andre Lautee applying steady pressure on the leader throughout the day. Both players made birdies on the final hole to polish off a pair of 2-under rounds of 70.

Crowe’s title hopes were in serious jeopardy after he made a double-bogey 6 on the par-4 15th followed by a bogey on the par-3 16th. However, the New South Welshman steadied himself with a par at the 17th before ensuring there would be no dramatic playoff with a birdie at the last – a par-5 which Crowe went birdie-birdie-eagle-birdie on throughout the tournament.

“I didn’t make it easy for myself out there today – especially towards the end. I really snuck in there for a victory,” Crowe said.

“To make birdie up the last to win was really special.”

For Crowe, it was his second victory in as many months after he capture the Victorian Amateur in December.

With her seven-shot victory, it’s hard to remember that Wong actually trailed following the first round of the tournament on Tuesday following an opening round of 70 which placed her two shots behind Pantita Phobubpa, who carded a 4-under 68.

While others crumbled around her, Wong used a second consecutive 2-under round to open an eight-shot lead on the field and never looked back, as the Pepperdine-bound Victorian cruised to a seven-shot victory over Belinda Ji.

Ji did get Wong’s attention early in the final round with three birdies on her outward nine which trimmed the lead down to three. But Wong remained in control and culminated her victory with three birdies in the last five holes to finish with a 4-under-par score of 68 to seal the seven-shot victory.

“It was a really good experience playing this exclusive tournament along with the top amateurs,” Wong said. “Since I’m going to college next year, I think it will be really good practice for playing really high, top golf.”

Golf Australia contributed to this report.

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