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Jim McCabe: Presnell delights in ‘ultimate dream’ at Doral
DORAL, Fla. – He shares the same passion for their native land, the same love of golf, the same laid-back and passive personality that is common with Aussies.
But Alistair Presnell discovered this week that there is some separation between he and his pro golf-playing Australians like Geoff Ogilvy, Adam Scott, and Robert Allenby.
“I was talking to the boys the other night and they were talking about their Porsche GT3s and I’m thinking about my $5,000 car back home,” Presnell said, laughing.
For the record, the car is a 10-year-old Holden, a small GM-made.
But that record may need an update, because given the way Presnell burned it up in the final round of the CA Championship at Doral’s Blue Monster, he will be able to upgrade that set of wheels.
Presnell, the only Nationwide Tour player in the 68-player field, finished birdie, birdie, birdie – three of nine in his round of 8-under 64 that sent him roaring up the leaderboard. Starting the day tied for 24th, Presnell was joint fifth when he signed his scorecard. He ended up tied for sixth and with $214,300.
That’s a lot of money, his biggest check ever, it was suggested. Presnell laughed. “Any kind of money is big money,” he said.
In the field via his second-place finish on the 2009 Australasia PGA Tour, Presnell wasn’t just playing in his first World Golf Championship; he had never before teed it up on the PGA Tour.
No, the top 10 won’t get him into next week’s Transitions Championship outside of Tampa. Nor can the money count against his Nationwide Tour standing, “which is a shame,” Presnell said, again with a laugh.
But it does provide a nice way to fly back to Australia to begin a bit of a vacation until he returns to the Nationwide Tour for an April 15-18 tournament in Hayward, Calif.
Oh, while he’s on vacation, he’ll turn 31 (March 26).
He’ll be able to buy himself something nice.
