Another win for in-form Harris
02/10/2017
Bradley Harris got the better of some of the South region’s top players to become the new Keith MacDonald PGA South Match Play champion.
Fresh from his victory in the Cottesmore Charity Pro-Am, The Dyke’s Harris earned the £1,515 winners’ cheque the hard way by beating several former and current champions.
Harris overcame current match play champion James Ablett (Lee-on-the-Solent) in the final to claim the title and said: “Having overcome some top players on the way, I was determined to repeat my earlier wins. My form’s good and I really enjoy The Berkshire’s excellent Red and Blue courses.”
After beating David Nickson in the first round, Harris got the better of Jonathan Barnes in the second and went on to beat Guy Woodman 2 & 1 to set up a last 16 clash against Pentland Golf’s Benn Barnham.
Harris dispatched him only to then face the 2016 Virgin Atlantic PGA South champion Adam Wootton (Oxford Golf Centre) in the quarter-final. Harris enjoyed a 1 up win over Wootton, on the finals day at The Berkshire on October 2 and went on to beat Jonathan Ingram (Royal Ashdown Forest) to book his place in the final.
Harris was up against an in-form Ablett who was looking for his fourth Match Play title in a row. Harris edged ahead by the 15th only to lose the next, and had to make a six foot putt on the 18th to force a play-off.
Down the 19th, Harris was next to the green in two but Ablett’s drive went just too far. Trying to go for the green from a tough lie and stance, his ball flew into an unplayable lie. Eventually after missing a 10-foot putt, Ablett conceded and Harris walked back with the title and the money.
But as he beat Canterbury’s Richard Wallis on his way to the semi-final, things have swung Ablett’s way when it comes to the Virgin Atlantic PGA South Order of Merit. With just the Farnham Finale OOM to come, Wallis is still in command but Ablett’s now lying in third spot with a real chance of making the PGA Play Offs at Walton Heath at the end of the month.
For a full list of results from the Keith MacDonald PGA South Match Play click here.
