[PHOTOS: Courtesy of the Asian Tour]
It has been a tough 18 months for Jed Morgan, the Queenslander who was relegated from the LIV Golf League at the end of the 2023 season.
But the 24-year-old has shown glimpses of his undoubted promise on the Asian Tour this season, and he sits well placed for a tilt at the International Series Thailand title going into the weekend at Thai Country Club in Bangkok.
The 2020 Australian Amateur champion burst onto the scene as the Australian PGA Championship winner in January 2022, in only his fourth start as a professional. He won that by a record 11 shots, helping to secure the PGA Tour of Australasia Order of Merit for the 2021-2022 season.
Morgan is in the mix after after up his first-round 63 with a two-under 68 to finish in a group tied for ninth at nine-under, five behind leader Peter Uihlein and in touching distance of Aussie compatriot Maverick Antcliff a shot further back.
Morgan was happy with his lot going into the weekend, saying: “[In the first round[ I hit it a lot better, I hit a lot of good shots, and I also holed a few more putts. But in the end, in the grand scheme of things, it wasn’t too much different.
“Sometimes scoring is difficult – golf is difficult – and I guess I have proven that over the past couple of years. I am hoping I can just turn it around pretty quickly and try to focus on the good things that can come out of it.”
When asked if his game was close to returning to the kind of form that landed the title in 2022, Morgan’s answer was telling.
“No, I’m a better golfer now. You know, it is funny how it works. Results-wise, obviously, there’s a few good results that year. But I am definitely 100 percent a better golfer now than I was then.”
Morgan managed a 13th-place finish in the LIV Golf Jeddah Invitational in 2022 and he also finished 17th at LIV Golf Singapore the next season. Impressive golf in patches, but not enough to stay out of the drop zone, and he lost his spot on Cameron Smith’s Ripper GC at the end of the 2023 season.
In the LIV Golf Promotions event, where he had a chance to reclaim his place at the end of last season, he comfortably made it into the final 20 for a 36-hole shootout for three golden tickets with a six-under second round in Abu Dhabi.
He couldn’t go under par in the final two rounds and missed out on a quick return to the bright lights and the big-name roster including compatriot Smith, Brooks Koepka, Phil Mickelson and the rest.
“Unfortunately, it is kind of a similar story, you know,” he said. “The first day I played some good golf and it felt great. I felt things that I hadn’t felt for a long time. And then the next day, it just didn’t materialise. And that’s sport, it is your job at a high level.”
Morgan’s form seems to be improving on the Asian Tour. This week, his scoring is reflecting the form that yielded a season-high T-14 at the New Zealand Open, as well as a T-27 at International Series Oman and a T-34 in Macau.
This year’s LIV Golf Promotions event has just been confirmed for December, giving the top 32 eligible players on the International Series a chance to play for a coveted spot on the LIV Golf League next season. Is that a realistic aim for Morgan?
At 81st on the rankings, he needs a win to guarantee a place, or to jump about 50 places via a run of good form in the remaining events of the season.
“Hopefully I can get into that,” he said. “I just need to try my best you know? It is funny, you can get so far ahead of yourself and you can drag the past with you a lot as well.
“I want to achieve a lot of ‘presence’ in what I do. As cliched as it sounds, it is just one day at a time.”
