FORMER HIGHLANDER CALLUM TARREN WINS PGA TOUR SERIES-CHINA ORDER OF MERIT IN HONG KONG
10/14/2018 2:44:00 PM | Men's Golf
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HONG KONG—It took until the final tournament of the 2018 season—and a razor-thin margin of RMB 2,376—for Radford men's golf alum Callum Tarren '14 to win the PGA TOUR Series-China Order of Merit this weekend. His final-round 62 at the Clearwater Bay Open did the trick. Tarren needed no worse than a solo-second finish this week and for Order of Merit front-runner Charlie Saxon to tie for 24th or worse and both things happened (Saxon tied for 25th), earning Tarren full playing privileges on the 2019 Web.com Tour.Â
Tarren, a native of Darlington, England, in his second season on PGA TOUR Series-China, finished with RMB 1,094,600 to take over the top spot on the earnings list from American Saxon, who earned RMB 1,092,224. He ended his Highlander career ranked second in all-time scoring average (74.01), only behind former teammate Weston Eklund.
"This is a well-deserved accomplishment for Callum," stated Radford head men's golf coach Michael Grant. "He has all of the tools to play at the highest level of professional golf and I can't wait to see what the future holds for him."
After Tarren and Saxon, the third-, fourth- and fifth-place finishers were New Zealand's Nick Voke, winner of Sunday's Clearwater Bay Open, Japan's Yuwa Kosaihira and South Korea's Todd Baek. The players received their membership cards during a ceremony following the final event of the season, the Clearwater Bay Open, at The Clearwater Bay Golf and Country Club.Â
Tarren began his year quickly, with a tie for second at the Chengdu Championship, and it ended up being one of four runner-up finishes. Combined with the two second-place performances he had in 2016, Tarren has tied China's Xinjun Zhang for most seconds in Tour history.Â
"I'm ecstatic and over the moon. I honestly didn't have one clue what I needed to do to pip Charlie today. I just thought I would try to win the golf tournament. For me to go out to shoot 8-under 62 in the final round at Clearwater Bay is just very special," Tarren said. "It sounds crazy, but if I perform like that at any level and keep coming second, you're going to do well. Obviously, it would be nice to win. Hopefully there's a win around the corner on the Web.com Tour."Â
"Callum has really made an impact in his two years on this Tour, and it's been a pleasure to watch him play so well. I think what impresses me most is his calmness on the course and just how consistent he is," said Greg Carlson, PGA TOUR Series-China Executive Director. "To do what he did without winning speaks to how consistent and steady he is. I have always admired how he continuously put himself in position to contend for so many weeks this year. To me, that's a sign of a great player. It was a terrific year for Callum but not terribly surprising since we knew what kind of game he had when he played here in 2016. We wish him nothing but the best on the Web.com Tour.Â
"Callum rose to the top," Carlson continued, "but he had to beat a lot of talented players in order to finish No. 1. The other four players, Charlie, Nick, Yuwa and Todd, all had strong seasons as well, and it will be fun to watch how they do at the next level. I have every confidence that we'll hear more from them in the future."Â
The players who finished the sixth-through-10th positions on the Order of Merit are exempt into the finals of the Web.com Tour Qualifying Tournament in Chandler, Arizona, on December 6-9. They are Joseph Winslow (No. 6), Motin Yeung (No. 7), Jeffrey Kang (No. 8), Trevor Sluman (No. 9) and William Harrold (No. 10).Â
The 2019 Web.com Tour season, the 30th in its history, begins in mid-January at The Bahamas Great Exuma Classic at Sandals Emerald Bay (January 13-16) followed by The Bahamas Great Abaco Classic at The Abaco Club (January 20-23). Both tournaments will begin Sunday, with the final rounds finishing Wednesday.Â
Beginning in 2013, the Web.com Tour became The Path to the PGA TOUR by awarding all 50 membership cards to Web.com Tour players for the following PGA TOUR season. Players can initially qualify for the Web.com Tour through the Qualifying Tournament and by securing top-five Order of Merit finishes on PGA TOUR Series-China, PGA TOUR Latinoamérica and the Mackenzie Tour – PGA TOUR Canada. PGA TOUR Series-China sent its first five players to the Web.com Tour following the 2014 season. They were China's Li and Zhang, Australia's Brett Drewitt, the U.S.'s Sam Chien and South Korea's Baek. In 2015, Australia's Bryden Macpherson, New Zealand's Josh Geary, China's Zhang and Dou and Canada's Eugene Wong became Web.com Tour members. The 2016 class included Dou, Saxon, American Alex Kang, South Korea's Taewoo Kim and Zhang.Â
Since 2014, PGA TOUR Series-China, in a joint effort between the PGA TOUR and the China Golf Association along with Tour operator Shankai Sports, has had 32 different winners from nine countries and regions (Australia, Canada, China, Chinese Taipei, Hong Kong, New Zealand, South Korea, Thailand and the United States).Â
Final PGA TOUR Series-China Order of Merit Top 10Â
Rank Player (Country) Earnings (RMB)Â
1. Callum Tarren (England) 1,094,600Â
2. Charlie Saxon (U.S.) 1,092,224Â
3. Nick Voke (New Zealand) 987,500Â
4. Yuwa Kosaihira (Japan) 732,832Â
5. Todd Baek (South Korea) 660,700Â
6. Joseph Winslow (U.S.) 602,967Â
7. Motin Yeung (Hong Kong) 534,450Â
8. Jeffrey Kang (U.S.) 485,595Â
9. Trevor Sluman (U.S.) 485,237Â
10. William Harrold (England) 441,856Â
