24 • Brisbane • 2018 NSW Open Champion and Australasian Tour order of merit winner
It was an extraordinary Australian summer of golf for Jake McLeod.
The North Queenslander rocketed from golf’s wilderness to having a European Tour card in the space of four weeks.
There were a lot of unexpected twists and turns, all welcomed by the 24-year-old. McLeod won the New South Wales Open by two shots, then finished third at the Australian Open the next week.
His podium finish at The Lakes in Sydney earned him a start at this year’s British Open at Royal Portrush, but it also put him in the driver’s seat to win the PGA Tour of Australasia’s order of merit – which he did with earnings of $255,326 after the Australian PGA Championship.
In doing so, McLeod secured a one-year exemption to the European Tour, as well as starts at the WGC–Mexico Championship and WGC–HSBC Champions in China. Both are elite, no-cut events with $US10 million in prizemoney.
But what McLeod, now the world No.155, didn’t plan on was having to cut off his cherished ‘man bun’. He sported long hair throughout his childhood in Townsville and was fond of the locks he decided to style in a bun five years ago. Yet only 48 hours after locking up the order of merit, McLeod was coaxed into cutting off his ponytail during the PGA charity day hosted by John Senden at Keperra Country Golf Club in Brisbane.
Although McLeod didn’t need much convincing when he was told $5,000 had been stumped up for the haircut. The day raised $46,000 for the Jarrod Lyle Family Trust Fund.
“Cameron Smith was the first one to put his hand up to throw money in for me to cut it, which I expected,” McLeod tells Australian Golf Digest through laughter.
“It was for a great cause and I’d do it again.”
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I’ve had long hair since I was a little kid. Mum made me have long hair; when I was younger I had a bowl-cut with a part down the middle [laughs]. Even throughout high school, I had long hair and I probably only cut it short three times growing up. I started putting it in a bun probably five years ago, and I liked it. My girlfriend liked it, which is important.
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I was speaking to John Senden on the Monday night before the Jarrod Lyle charity day and he mentioned cutting my hair off to raise money. I thought he was just joking around. But he put me on the spot to do it on the Tuesday afternoon, which was really good. I saw the charity side of it straight away; five grand is a lot of money. I was very happy to help out the Lyle family.
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I actually don’t mind the shorter hair [laughs], especially in the hot weather we’ve got in Queensland. I might try to grow it back; it’ll probably take me a year. It’s part of my ‘brand’ now, I guess!
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The Australian summer of golf happened pretty fast. To win a state open, then finish third at the Australian Open and qualify for the British Open is something you can’t really dream of happening – almost at once. But winning the order of merit? To be honest, I didn’t think about that all year until the last event (Australian PGA Championship). To hold off everyone else was a good feeling and the rewards that come with it are a job on the European Tour and a couple of World Golf Championships. It really made all the hard work I put in all year feel worth it.
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To guarantee your debut in a Major championship is a surreal feeling, that’s for sure. I completely forgot that the top three players at the Australian Open (not already exempt) are given a start to The Open. When I signed my scorecard on the last day at The Lakes, I was actually tied for second at the time. I went to walk into the locker room, but the guys from the (Royal & Ancient Golf Club’s media department) told me they wanted to speak to me if I finished in the top three. That’s when it hit me: I was in line for a British Open spot. I was pretty relieved, because if I had known about it during the round, there would have been a lot more pressure.
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I can’t wait to get to Royal Portrush and see what a Major championship is all about, but I’m sure I will play in many more in the future. It’s already been sold out in Northern Ireland, can you believe that? It’s going to be a cool first Major to play in. I will probably bring over my girlfriend, my coach, my parents and my best mate.
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My end goal has always been to play in America, on the PGA Tour. But since I turned pro (in 2015), I’ve had a desire to play in Europe first. I think I like the idea of playing in a different country each week and developing my game quickly by playing on a variety of golf courses. I failed to get through the second stage of European Q-School recently and I was going to try and ‘backdoor’ my way in through the Asian Tour this year, given I already had status there. When you think about having to do that, it makes my Aussie summer all the more satisfying.
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Everyone in golf says one week can change of your life, if it’s the right week. It’s true when you play a lot of events that are co-sanctioned with big tours. You have to stay patient in this game. You go through some bad patches, but you have to keep grinding because those great weeks can boost your whole career.
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I probably realised in 2017 that I had the game to play myself onto a major tour. I had a pretty good season on the Australasian tour, finished 15th in the order of merit, and had a couple of good results where I was in contention. Those were against some good quality fields, including the Victorian Open where I tied for second. Now I feel I’m ready to compete in Europe – and it’s a good feeling.
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I am a goal-setter and the first goal is to make the Race to Dubai finals, so be top 70 on the moneylist leading in to those last three events. My second goal is to maintain my European Tour card (top 110 on the moneylist). If I complete the first goal, I’ll obviously take care of the second. The third goal is to get into the top 100 on the world ranking. I’m playing some really big events this year, and they’re a great opportunity to fast-track that goal. I’m super excited to get over to Europe and start playing. It’s going to be pretty awesome seeing countries and cities I’ve never been to before, playing amazing courses and meeting great players.
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I think I will bring a few mates over to Europe during periods of the year, so they can watch me at tournaments. Hopefully I will have a bit of support because it will get pretty lonely.
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The World Golf Championships I’ve got into are a big relief for someone trying to maintain a European Tour card in their first year. They’re great fields and they’ll be really tough to compete in, but if you have two good finishes you can set yourself up on the European Tour moneylist – given they have $US10 million purses. It’s a huge bonus. I’m super excited for both, particularly given I’ve never been to Mexico. I’ve heard good things about the course (Club de Golf Chapultepec) and Mexico City itself. Playing at 7,400 feet (2,250 metres) above sea level is going to be interesting. The ball will fly forever!
