Windred eyes future following OOM reshuffle

With a first prize of $72,000 up for grabs at the recent NSW Open, the race towards the Order of Merit finale was bound to see some major changes.

It didn’t quite happen as expected though with amateur Harrison Crowe winning the title, which meant second-placed Blake Windred walked away with the cheque and moved into third place on the Order of Merit with $107,573.33 and just a few thousand dollars behind Andrew Dodt.

Blake Windred (Credit: PGA Australia)

Winning the local Order of Merit has always been an attractive option but this year the DP World Tour has offered up three tour cards to the top-3 players at season’s end. Those cards offer a direct pathway onto the second biggest tour in the world and can be a life-changing option with the right results…just ask European Tour winners Lucas Herbert and Min Woo Lee.

Also available to players that finish in the top five will be an exemption into the final stage of Korn Ferry Tour Q-School.

“I’m just trying to get as much information as I can and then make a decision whether or not to…keep playing [the] Challenge Tour or stay and play in Melbourne and Western Australia,” said Windred following his second place at the NSW Open.

“I’m just trying to get everything on the table before I make a decision but I’m grateful to be in this position where I do have options available to me.”

Four tournaments remain on the Australasian PGA Tour schedule including the inaugural $200,000 National PGA Classic (5-8th Apr), $200,000 WA PGA (21-24 Apr), $125,000 WA Open (28 Apr – 1 May) and the $150,000 NT PGA (5-8 May).