Down Under’s Thompson Top Of The Board In Saudi

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Down Unders’s Jack Thompson put to rest any doubts that he would not keep his Asian Tour card for next year surging to the top at the halfway mark of the Saudi Open presented by PIF.

The Aussie posted a seven-under-par 65 to seize a one-shot lead at the season-ending event on the host Dirab Golf & Country Club on the outskirts of the capital Riyadh.

Swede Bjorn Hellgren, playing in the same group, also fired a 65, to sit in second place while Malaysia’s Ervin Chang (64), and Runchanapong Youprayong (66) from Thailand are another stroke back.

Thompson started the week in 62nd place on the Tour’s Order of Merit (OOM), with the top-65 keeping their cards next year. He is comfortably on course to make it through with a win predicted to catapult him into seventh place.

However, there remains a long way to go and the 28-year-old from Adelaide, chasing his first win on the Asian Tour, is not getting ahead of himself.

“Just not getting too caught up in everything,” said Thompson, who won the Asian Tour Qualifying School in 2023.

“Just really trying to be in the moment for every shot. I know that my game’s good enough to compete out here and win, definitely. So, yeah, I mean, it would be nice, obviously, but yeah, not really looking at it that way.”

He was three ahead of Hellgren playing their final hole, the ninth as they started on 10, but he three putted for bogey, his only dropped shot of the day, while his Swedish opponent made an eight footer for birdie.

Thompson had made his move on his second nine by making five birdies in six holes from the third. He’d made three birdies on his front nine.

He added: “I mean, it’s fun to be up the top and playing because sometimes if you just make the cut or whatever, you know, obviously you’re happy to play four rounds. But sometimes it can be pointless, make a birdie, and might move you up a couple spots. But it’s always fun to play when it means something. So, yeah, very lucky.”

Chang and Runchanapong, 75th and 127th on the Merit list respectively, are also in a strong position to secure their cards at the last minute, although the fall back is the Final Stage of the Asian Tour Qualifying School next week.

Hellgren has played on the Asian Tour for five years and is also chasing his maiden title. After today’s performance he will have one of his best chances over the next two days.

He got off to a sensational start, making an eagle on the 10th, a par five, followed by birdies on the next two. He made six birdies in total and also made one bogey.

The Swede admitted some time off over the last few weeks has done him wonders.

“Well, to tell you the truth, I couldn’t take it anymore,” he said.

“I played 10 tournaments in 11-12 weeks. I brought my family out for six weeks. It was tough mentally, like I broke so many clubs, you know, I was behaving bad on the course, off the course.

“So, after the big one in Saudi, I went home and just sat on the couch for eight days, playing with my little son. And then I went to Spain and I actually had fun on the golf course for the first time in a long time. So, I said that to my friend Martin, I was like maybe two over par at Valderrama, and I was like, I’m having fun, you know. So, it’s been huge for me to just relax a little bit.”

Thailand’s Jazz Janewattananond (68) is one of a group of players tied for fifth, four behind Thompson.

His growing confidence continues to show no respite, and he is looking more and more like the golfer who claimed the Merit title in 2019 after four victories. He feels he has rediscovered his swing after years of torment.

“In the end of 2023 I was in a very bad spot in my golf swing,” he said.

“Just couldn’t really find the fairways, couldn’t really find the greens, and I just didn’t understand what I was doing with my swing. I just so I went out and asked a lot of specialists, and a lot of friends, a lot of people who knows the golf swing better than me.

“There’s a lot of stuff that I did in 2019 that I didn’t do in 2023, and I just tried to implement a lot of that.”

Swaying away from the ball and not returning to the correct position, plus club and wrist position at the top of the swing are just a few things he has worked on to get his old, successful swing back

He also continues to work hard with his coach Dana Dahlquist, who he also texts regularly.

Adds Jazz: “I literally don’t pay him enough because I text him to wait way too much.”

Japan’s Kazuki Higa, the Asian Tour Order of Merit leader, took a huge stride forward to finishing the year ranked number one by shooting a 66 to sit five back of the leader, in joint ninth. It means Zimbabwe’s Scott Vincent, in second place on the Merit list and five under for the tournament after a 69 today, when he played with Higa, needs to either win the tournament or finish second overtake the Japanese star.

  • Copy with thanks Asian Tour 



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