By Tony Webeck

It has taken just one start for Dimi Papadatos to make a major step towards a PGA TOUR card at the Korn Ferry Tour’s Astara Chile Classic in Santiago.

The Central Coast native made a late decision to play in Chile, using the conditional status he earned at Final Stage of Qualifying School to take his place in the field.

Papadatos was exempt into Final Stage by virtue of finishing fourth on the 2021-2022 ISPS HANDA PGA Tour of Australasia Order of Merit and now looks like enjoying an extended stay in the United States.

Four strokes back at the start of the final round, Papadatos started his Sunday charge with two birdies followed by an eagle at the par-5 third.

He followed up a birdie on 10 with a bogey at 11 before coming home with birdies at 13, 15 and 17 to set the clubhouse mark at 21-under par.

Needing birdie to tie Papadatos, American veteran Ben Kohles made a superb up-and-down from the back of the 18th green, showing steely nerves to hole a four-footer and force the playoff.

The pair traded birdies on the first trip back down the par-5 18th but both went long with their approach shots the second time around.

A two-time Vic Open champion, Papadatos played first, his chip releasing to eight feet behind the hole.

Kohles barely made it onto the putting surface with his chip but drained his putt from just inside 10 feet to apply the pressure back onto the Aussie.

Unfortunately for Papadatos, his birdie attempt shaved the left side of the hole as Kohles claimed his first win in more than a decade.

With a cheque for $US90,000 for his runner-up finish Papadatos earns a start in the next Korn Ferry Tour event and is projected to move up to 17th on the moneylist.

That will help to improve his status significantly at the next re-rank and provide the platform to push for a top-25 finish at season’s end.

Fellow New South Welshman Rhein Gibson also enhanced his prospects of a return to the PGA TOUR in Chile.

Gibson’s tie for 10th will see him remain in fourth position on the moneylist following his win in Colombia in February.

There were important results for two Kiwis this week also in Japan and Brazil.

Michael Hendry’s tie for 11th at the Token Homemate Cup will solidify his status on the Japan Golf Tour while Charlie Hillier’s win at the JHSF Aberto do Brasil on the PGA TOUR Latinoamérica puts him on the path to promotion to the Korn Ferry Tour.

Results

PGA TOUR Valero Texas Open TPC San Antonio (Oaks Cse), San Antonio, Texas 1             Corey Conners    64-72-69-68—273            $US1.602m MC         Cam Davis           80-66—146 MC         Harrison Endycott             74-73—147 MC         Ryan Fox (NZ)     75-75—150

LPGA Tour DIO Implant LA Open Palos Verdes Golf Club, Palos Verdes Estates, California 1             Ruoning Yin        68-64-67-70—269            T25        Hannah Green    71-67-72-70—280            T34        Lydia Ko (NZ)      73-69-70-69—281            T47        Sarah Kemp        72-67-72-73—284            T59        Grace Kim            71-71-72-72—286            T71        Stephanie Kyriacou          75-69-73-72—289           

Korn Ferry Tour Astara Chile Classic Prince of Wales Country Club, Santiago, Chile 1             Ben Kohles          68-66-66-67—267            $US180,000 Won on the second hole of sudden death playoff 2             Dimitrios Papadatos        66-69-67-65—267            $90,000 T10        Rhein Gibson      65-74-64-69—272            $22,130

Japan Golf Tour Token Homemate Cup Token Tado Country Club, Nagoya 1             Shugo Imahira    64-66-71-63—264            ¥26m T11        Michael Hendry (NZ)       66-66-68-71—271            ¥2.561m T18        Andrew Evans    69-67-69-67—272            ¥1,854,666 T26        Anthony Quayle 71-68-72-64—275            ¥945,100 T42        Brendan Jones   70-70-67-70—277            ¥494,000 T49        Dylan Perry         74-66-70-68—278            ¥367,900

Challenge Tour The Challenge presented by KGA Karnataka Golf Association, Bangalore, India 1             Ugo Coussaud    68-67-68-67—270            €44,307.41 MC         Maverick Antcliff              75-75—150

Epson Tour Casino Del Sol Golf Classic Sewailo Golf Club, Tucson, Arizona 1             Gigi Stoll              69-67-70-68—274            $US30,000 T17        Hira Naveed        72-71-72-69—284            $2,522 T27        Robyn Choi         76-67-72-71—286            $1,935 T41        Cassie Porter      75-70-74-70—289            $1,083 T41        Amelia Garvey (NZ)          76-71-71-71—289            $1,083 T59        Sarah Jane Smith              76-70-73-74—293            $710 MC         Gabriela Ruffels 81-75—156

PGA TOUR Latinoamérica JHSF Aberto do Brasil Fazenda Boa Vista, Porto Feliz, Brazil 1             Charlie Hillier (NZ)            62-64-68-71—265 T31        Harry Hillier (NZ)              66-68-71-74—279

LIV Golf LIV Golf Orlando Orange County National, Orlando, Florida 1             Brooks Koepka   65-65-68—198   $US4m T26        Marc Leishman  68-72-68—208   $159,000 T26        Cameron Smith  69-68-71—208   $159,000 T26        Jediah Morgan   71-70-67—208   $159,000 T31        Danny Lee (NZ)  65-70-74—209   $149,000 T46        Matt Jones          71-72-74—217   $123,000