Haydn McCullen’s outstanding form in the Chrome Tour PGA Open Series was rewarded with the third-year Trainee topping the Order of Merit.
McCullen finished ahead of Matt Ford and Dave Coupland, handing him starts at both the Nexo Championship, where he made the cut and finished 61st on the leaderboard, and the British Masters on the DP World Tour. There was also the further bonus of being part of an additional £10,000 pay-out which was awarded at the end of the Series.
This season has seen the Series remain at nine events but with six new venues and prize money increased by 10 per cent to £22,000 per event.
Mottram Hall was one of the new stops, for the Manchester Open, and McCullen would record back-to-back 68s for a two-shot victory over Ben Hutchinson and the first prize of £3,600.
The Open Series is decided by a player’s best five results from the nine events and, with McCullen having lost in a play-off to High Post’s Corey Sheppard a fortnight previously, it put him in the driving seat to top the points list.
At Minchinhampton, McCullen would piece together a seven-under 64, helped by an eagle-birdie-par-birdie start, but Sheppard’s putter eventually proved too strong for McCullen and Matt Cort.
This was the fourth year of the Open Series and it saw several improvements that have been in place for each event. Water has been available, pace of play improved, course planners have been another popular addition to the overall offering as well as full course branding to elevate the feel of the tournament.
For McCullen, the best was still to come when the PGA Trainee arrived at another new Open Series venue, Moray in Lossiemouth, for the Northern Open. Here on Old Tom Morris’ classic links that dates back to 1889, McCullen produced the golden figure of a 59, 12 under the par of 71.
Out in 29, he then produced an ordinary run of three pars before then adding four straight birdies and an eagle at 17. A par at Moray’s iconic closing hole would see him break 60.
Incredibly, playing with Nick Drane and Martin Munro, the group signed for scores of 59, 69 and 79. After the stellar round McCullen admitted that he had to check the scorecard to see what was required.
“It’s important you get off to a good start around here. I think the first two holes are good birdie chances, I managed to birdie both of them, then I dropped in a couple more birdies towards the end of the front nine.
“I left myself with a little four-footer at the end, which did get the nerves going a little bit for a 59” - Hayden McCullen
“I went a little bit stale on the back nine but then finished well with a pretty good run of birdies and an eagle on 17. After I made the eagle, I thought I’ll have a look and see what the par of the course was. I wasn’t actually sure so when I saw it was a par 71, I knew I needed to get a par on the last. It was better than having to make a birdie down the last. I left myself with a little four-footer at the end, which did get the nerves going a little bit for a 59.”
A second-round 68, again with no dropped shots, only gave him a one-shot triumph with Ethan Hurst throwing in a 63 to add to his opening 65.
“I’m quite proud of how I played out there. It is always going to be tough to follow that up. I played really well, I kept the bogeys off the card,” added McCullen.
“It was a completely different day out there. It was chucking it down, a few of the holes were playing a little bit different. I’m just happy I held it together and kept the bogeys off the card. I loved it. It’s the best event of the year so far!”
