'Unlucky' Quayle eyes redemption

Anthony Quayle will seek to swiftly put last week’s agonising title miss behind him when he tees off at the ¥150,000,000 BMW Japan Golf Tour Championship Mori Building Cup tomorrow.

The 27-year-old Australian had to settle for the bridesmaid tag after finishing second-best to Zimbabwe’s Scott Vincent in the sudden-death playoff at the Mizuno Open last week. 

The defeat was made even bitter as Quayle had let slip of a commanding four-shot lead heading into the final round.

But a cheerful and confident-looking Quayle certainly didn’t look like he is still licking his wounds. Instead, he declared that he is ready to contend once again at Shishido Hills Country Club this week.

“I did a really good job last week. I felt I got a little bit unlucky, and I played as good as I really could in that situation, just didn’t have a lot going my way and made a mistake which was costly in the playoff,” said Quayle, who moved up 106 rungs to 225th on the Official World Golf Ranking through last week’s effort.

“Still, I’m really proud of how I played and really confident with where my game is at the moment.

“My game has felt really good all year, and it keeps getting better. I just keep refining what I do a little bit more. I’m finding a way to be a little sharper here and there.

“I feel like I’m really in good form and competing as well as anybody. I like my chances, not just this week and many more tournaments after this.”

After climbing to 10th on the Official Money List with season earnings of ¥12,784,000, Quayle is ready to aim higher and make topping the Money List one of his ultimate goals this season.

The Australian currently trails leader Yuto Katsuragawa (¥43,721,500) in the race by about ¥31,000,000.

But with a lucrative winner’s purse of ¥30,000,000 is up for grabs in this week’s flagship event, it presents Quayle with a great opportunity to reduce the deficit.

“It’s great to be in the top-10. I haven’t been in that position for quite a while. It’s been my goal for quite a while to contend to win the money list,” he said.

“To do that, you have to win tournaments, so my goal is to keep playing my game. If I keep the way I’m playing, I’ll be in contention several times, and it’s the matter of converting them

into a win.”

Philippines’ Justin De Los Santos will be the other in-form international star hoping to capitalise on last week’s morale-boosting solo fourth place finish, which nailed him the last of the four tickets to The Open in July.

De Los Santos had a debut to forget after missing the cut at the Shishido Hills last year.

But coming into the event inspired by his best JGTO outing to date last week, he looks forward to the tournament, which comes with plenty of perks that include a five-year JGTO winners’ exemption, an invitation to DP World Tour’s BMW International Open from June 24-27, the ZOZO Championship on the PGA TOUR and a brand new BMW iX xDrive50.

“Last year, I wasn’t really coming into this event in the best form. I missed a few cuts beforehand. This year, I’m playing better, the course is in good shape, and I like the layout, so hopefully, I can produce something good.

“Confidence is a huge factor in this game. It can really take you a long way. I’m feeling confident with my game right now.”