Memories of last year’s final-round 63 at the Australian PGA Championship will be fresh in the mind of Anthony Quayle on Sunday when he attempts to win the Joe Kirkwood Cup for the first time.
The Port Macquarie-born Quayle shares the PGA lead at Royal Queensland at 13-under with Spain’s David Puig and Portugal’s Ricardo Gouveia.
Quayle finished in a tie for third in last year’s PGA after storming home with a final round of eight-under on the par-71 layout.
Anything close to that on Sunday will take him a long way towards starting his DP World Tour campaign in the best possible way.
“Going into the last round last year I was driving here with my girlfriend and I remember saying to her ‘I could go out and shoot 62 today and contend and it could change everything’,” Quayle said on Saturday after his third-round 67 on Saturday.
“I didn’t shoot 62, (but) I shot 63 and I did contend, and it did start to change things for me.
“That last round was just such a massive momentum shift with my career in recent times and I think (Sunday) could be another chance to take it another step further.”
However, even if Quayle falls short on Sunday, he will look back on the week fondly, particularly with having Tiger Woods’ former caddie Steve Williams carrying his bag.
“I’ve already learned so much working with Steve … and probably also learned a bit about my own game and how that stacks up against some pretty good players,” he said.
“You could probably call (the week) a win irrespective (of Sunday’s result).
“Either way I’ve had a fun week, and it’s something I’ll remember for a pretty long time.”
Among those chasing Quayle on Sunday will be the likes of top Australian stars Min Woo Lee (12-under), Adam Scott (11-under) and Marc Leishman (11-under).
“It should make for a pretty exciting Sunday viewing. Make sure you tune in I would say,” he said.
“We all want to win, so I would be very surprised if they didn’t want to come out and try to shoot the best score they can to win.
“My job is to prevent that from happening. I just want to go out and keep doing what I’m doing.
“The way I’m playing at the moment, I’m giving myself so many looks that I can shoot a really nice score.”
Read related topics:Brisbane
