Ben Campbell fell short in his bid to retain the Link Hong Kong Open title thanks to a sensational display from LIV Golf superstar Patrick Reed, but there was a silver lining in 220 vital points that narrowed the gap on The International Series Rankings leader John Catlin.
With just two tournaments left to play, the New Zealander, who beat Catlin in a thrilling play-off to win International Series Morocco, moved to within just 82.95 points of top spot after his second-placed finish aligned with a surprising missed cut for his rival at Fanling.
2024 International Series Macau. Paul Lakatos/Asian Tour
With 450 points at stake for the win at International Series Qatar, and 1,000 on the table at the season-ending PIF Saudi International powered by SoftBank Investment Advisers, there is still plenty to play for in the next two weeks that round off the season.
Although disappointed not to apply more pressure on Reed, who carded a sensational 59 on Saturday, Campbell accentuated the positives after a five-under final round that saw him finish three shots behind the 4Aces GC player.
Campbell said: “Obviously that was really important in terms of the rankings race. A win would have been a lot better, but yes I think there are a lot of positives to take away from this week.”
Campbell left a host of chances out on the course over the four days, and is hoping some work on the flat stick will propel him to even loftier heights than second next week.
He said: “I like Qatar, I feel like I played well around there before. So I’ll look to sort a few things out with the putter from now until then and yes, I will be looking forward to teeing it up next week.”
Patrick Reed – 2024 LINK Hong Kong Open – Eurasia Sport Images
Reed moved up to seventh in the rankings with his stunning win, while Thai Sadom Kaewkanjana edged into the top 10 at ninth after finishing T4.
Recent BNI Indonesian Masters champion Richard T Lee remains in third ahead of International Series England winner Peter Uihlein, with International Series Thailand victor Lee Chieh-Po and MJ Maguire, the winner of the Black Mountain Championship, secure in the top six.
The intense competition is not just limited to the top of the rankings table.
With 32 spaces available on the potentially life-changing LIV Golf Promotions event at the end of the season, a number of players are battling to make the top 40.
Local youngster Taichi Kho moved from 62 up to 30 after his impressive T6 finish, while Japan’s Kazuki Higa roared up from 104 to 21 after finishing outright third, four off Reed, thanks to a superb seven-under 63.
As a two-time winner around the Composite Course, Wade Ormsby capitalised on his past experiences and carded a blemish-free five-under final round of 65 – including three birdies on the spin from 11 – to finish T4 with Kaewkanjana. That moved him from 70th up to 24th in the standings, all but securing his place in the promotions event.
Ormsby, who won in 2017 and 2020, ultimately left himself too much to do and finished five shots behind Reed. He was delighted to move into the promotions spots however, and said: “You always want to play the big events at end of year and it is nice to find a bit of form again. I changed my putter grip this week and found something.
“I could probably have holed some more putts in the last five holes, but I’m happy that my game is trending in the right direction. I’m just happy to be hitting some good shots under the gun, which is always what you are trying to do.
“Patrick was way out in front so I was just trying to put pressure on him to get a wobble, but that never really looked like it was going to happen.”
Regarding his chances of climbing the rankings in Doha this week, he added: “Qatar is a place we have been going a long time, it is a windy course and Australians normally play well in those conditions.
“But you must hole your putts, no matter how good you hit it or get it round the course. I’m not saying I’ve been putting bad this year, but just feel I’ve had a lazy year with the putter and just want to get that going and get myself in the hunt a bit more.”
Main Image: Paul Lakatos/Asian Tour
