FINE FORM: Tauranga professional golfer Jared Pender is enjoying a purple patch abroad. PHOTO/ BWMEDIA
FINE FORM: Tauranga professional golfer Jared Pender is enjoying a purple patch abroad. PHOTO/ BWMEDIA
A second consecutive top ten finish means the path to starts on the Asian Tour has opened up for Tauranga professional golfer Jared Pender.
Following rounds of 74, 74 and 70, the 31-year-old fired an impressive final round five-under par score of 67 at the South Pacific Papua New GuineaOpen on the PGA Tour of Australasia in tough conditions to jump into contention for his first title as a professional.
The former national amateur representative finished one shot back from Tasmanian Kalem Richarsdson, earning NZD$13,450 for the biggest payday of his career.
The result followed on from a sixth-placed finish in the first of two tournaments on the small island nation, but could have been even better had Pender not recorded a bogey five on the par four 17th hole.
Jared's father Jim said his son, who flew to Brisbane before a 10-hour drive north to compete in the Queensland Sunshine Tour's 2014 PCR Polywed Mining Town Series, would return home in early-June to plot his next move.
Without sponsorship money it is difficult for young players to crack the larger tours, so the second-placed result in a country where players were confined to compounds behind high fences patrolled by armed guards means Pender will have to weigh his options carefully in the coming months.
Fellow Kiwi Sven Puymbroeck carded a one-under par 71 in the final round to finish in sixth place while defending champion Waipukurau pro Pieter Zwart was seventh at even par.
Waikato pro Jim Cusdin, a former champion on the Charles Tour, finished in a share of 11th place, with Rotorua rookie Peter Lee tying for 14th.
