Shacklady puts on a master class
30/08/2013
Just like the proverbial buses, David Shacklady had to wait for ages to win a PGA North Order of Merit tournament then along came two in a matter of a few weeks.
The Lancashire hot-shot, who has won more than 250 assorted events in 26 years as a professional, strung together a brace of 68s, eight-under-par all told, to claim the PGA Yorkshire Masters at Sandburn Hall.
But it was a close call because he was obliged to birdie the last two holes to beat clubhouse leader Grant Hamerton, from Bury club Pike Fold, by a shot.
The competition was upgraded to a full ranking event after being co-sanctioned for the first time by PGA North.
And Shacklady requires only 11 points to clinch his third Michael Slater Order of Merit title in seven years with one tournament left, next month's James Brearley Lancashire Open at Blackpool North Shore.
The 46-year-old Mossock Hall maestro, two off the overnight pace set by Penwortham assistant Ryan O’Neill who is half his age, stepped on the gas at the start of the final round with three birdies on the outward half and he appeared to be coasting when he added two more to reach nine-under-par.
But he dropped his first shot in the tournament after a misjudged chip to the short 13th then doubled bogeyed the next after finding a bunker.
“I refused to let the mistakes get me down and I told myself to stay calm because I knew I would have some more chances,” he said.
The former PGA Cup player knew the score as he stood on the 17th tee and duly secured the first of two must birdies. And he provided a grand-stand finished by rolling in a 25-footer on the home green.
“I held my club in the air in celebration before the ball dropped, I knew it was bang on line,” he said.
And he attributed his success to the short stick after recent lesson from fellow PGA professional Lee Sullivan who works for Raa Putters.
“He provided me with a made to measure club and it’s done the trick,” he added.
