Golf: Kiwi golfers Josh Geary and Fiona Xu earn top-10 finishes at Australian Open

Josh Geary finished in sixth at the Australian Open. Photo / photosport.nz

They are at opposite ends of their careers but Kiwi golfers Josh Geary and Fiona Xu have both produced one of their best results at the Australian Open.

37-year-old Geary finished in sixth in the men’s Open, while 17-year-old amateur Xu ended 10th in the women’s tournament held at the same time on the same course.

Geary, the world No 701, had an undulating final round with five birdies and five bogies at Victoria Golf Club to card an even-par 70 and drop just one spot in an extremely consistent week.

Xu, the world No 87 amateur, showed her immense promise by opening with a four-under round and closing with a three-under effort, but ruing a second round 77 that denied her a chance to contend on the weekend.

Poland’s Adrian Meronk won the men’s event by five strokes after sitting 10 shots off the lead after his first round 73, but it was far closer than it looked, with local favourite Adam Scott trailing by just one for most of the back nine, before double bogeying the par-four 17th.

Then, Meronk, who followed his 73 with rounds of 66, 63 and 66, sank an eagle putt from off the green on the final hole to extend his margin of victory and claim a stylish win that could move the world No 56 inside the top 50 and become the first Pole to play at the Masters.

Geary birdied the 18th to lock up sixth spot while the other Kiwi to make the 54-hole cut, Luke Toomey, carded a final round 72 to finish in a tie for 18th.

There will be some disappointment for Geary however, as Australian Haydn Barron’s birdie-eagle finish - including holing out from off the green on the last hole - saw Barron jump the Kiwi and earn the last of three available qualification spots for next year’s British Open.

In the women’s event, 2022 British Open champion Ashleigh Buhai was the only one to hold her nerve in a messy final round.

Former world No 1 Jiyai Shin (75) and Hannah Green (74) both had horror front nines, while 21-year-old Australian Grace Kim moved into a share of the lead at 11-under with one hole to play, only to double bogey the par-five and finish in fourth.

Shin mounted a late comeback but missed a putt to send the event to a playoff, with Buhai’s birdie on 17 and par on the last enough to card a 73 and finish at 12-under and win by a shot over Shin and two over Green.

Xu jumped six spots in her final round to finish 10th while fellow Kiwi Momoka Kobori shot a final round one-under 71 to move up five slots and finish in a share of 22nd.