American Ryggs Johnston won his first DP World Tour event at only his second attempt after he captured the ISPS HANDA Australian Open in impressive fashion.
The 24-year-old from Montana, who is named after the Mel Gibson character from the Lethal Weapon films, carded a closing 68 at Kingston Heath in Melbourne to finish on 18 under par.
That secured a three-shot victory over home favourite Curtis Luck and completed a remarkable rise for Johnston, who turned professional earlier this year and came through Qualifying School, before finishing tied 42nd on his DP World Tour debut last week.
In addition to the €191,000 first prize, Johnston’s impressive performance also came with the benefit of securing him secures a Major debut at The Open next summer. Luck’s 68 gave him one of three Open places on offer, with he and Johnston set to be joined by Marc Leishman at Royal Portrush.
Leishman finished tied for third with Jasper Stubbs at 14 under par, but secured the final Open berth by virtue of his higher placing on the world ranking.
No-one seemed more surprised at breaking his duck on the DP World Tour so soon in his career than Johnston.
“To be honest, I was not expecting the win,” he said. “I turned up pretty tired from all the travel and Q-School. I didn’t get a practice round in because of the bad weather, and I didn’t really have any expectations, which probably helped me in the end.
“It was definitely a little stressful. When I walked up to the 17th green, I finally saw the leaderboard and saw I had a three-shot lead and then I could take a little bit of a breath and just focus on hitting a couple more good shots.
“It feels great, just knowing that more playing opportunities and getting into bigger events. It hasn’t quite sunk in yet but it’s an amazing feeling.”
This week’s event incorporates three tournaments – the men’s and women’s Australian Opens and the Australian All Abilities Championship.
Jiyai Shin got to 17 under par to record a two-shot win over defending champion Ashleigh Buhai in the women’s event, making it two winners from Korea after Simon Seungmin Lee secured the Australian All Abilities Championship title on his G4D Tour debut on Saturday.
For all the scores from the ISPS HANDA Australian Open, click here.
