Ablett crowned PGA Kent Open champion at Prince’s
20/08/2015
James Ablett’s winning form continued with another victory, this time the PGA Kent Open Championship, after a hard fought battle around Prince’s with current Virgin Atlantic PGA South Order of Merit champion Benn Barham (PGolfCoaching@Pedham).
Three rounds on the beautifully honed Shore-Dunes layout saw the two southern stars tied on 11-under-par totals of 205, but after both missed the first play-off green, Ablett had two putts from five feet to win his second Virgin Atlantic PGA South Order of Merit event in succession.
Adding a cheque for £2,222 to his growing collection for 2015, Ablett now has a commanding lead in the Virgin Atlantic PGA South Order of Merit. Barham took home £1,400, while tied in third place on 207 were Cooden Beach’s Paul Nessling and Prince’s Mark Belsham with £1,100 each. In a serendipitous turn of fortune, both Lee-on-the-Solent professionals Ablett and Jon Barnes made holes-in-one in the first round, Ablett at the eighth and Barnes at the long 17th.
The championship saw another huge field of 131 players competing to make the cut, of which 41 went into the last two rounds, including two amateurs Jordan Loft and Luke Smith, and the home venue favourite son Francis McGuirk. For those who didn’t, there was The Lodge at Prince’s Sprint, played twice round the Himalayas nine and won by Captain of The PGA in Kent David Green.
With three of the seven Virgin Atlantic PGA South Order of Merit titles left, Ablett now holds both the PGA Surrey Open and PGA Kent Open championships. His eyes are now firmly fixed on one of the three places to the PGA Play Offs in Antalya at the end of Novembe. He explained: “I’m very pleased with the way I played today, and the hard work and lessons with Ian Roper (Corhampton) continue to bear fruit.”
He continued: “I reckoned 12-under was the target, so a four-under-par 68 was a good start, helped by that hole-in-one! Despite the rain this morning I didn’t drop a shot, making four birdies and an eagle on the front nine to reach 10-under-par. As the rain got heavier, I was very happy with pars all the way home.”
“Although I started at the 10th in the third round, it was much the same – scoring on the opening nine and nothing much but pars on the way back to finish on 11-under to tie with Benn. He and I were on opposite nines and could see each other, but had no idea what the other was doing!”
The big question now is can Ablett keep up this sort of form? The Lee-on-the-Solent leftie is focusing on more practice, another lesson with Roper tomorrow, and then a day off after eight days of tournament golf. And what about the putting that has played a big part in Ablett’s winning scores? “That’s easier,” he said. “I’ll just wait for it to stop raining – I’ve had more than enough rain in the last two or three weeks, and I definitely putt better when it’s dry!”
