By Tony Webeck

Less than $5,000 separates the three front-runners for the third and final ticket to the DP World Tour following Dimitrios Papadatos’s Vic Open triumph at 13th Beach Golf Links on Sunday.

The top three on the ISPS Handa PGA Tour of Australasia Order of Merit remained unchanged but Papadatos’s one-stroke win sealed with a birdie at the 72nd hole elevated him to fourth and now in the hunt for a DP World Tour card given to the top three finishers at season’s end.

Now a two-time Vic Open champion, Papadatos trails Queensland PGA winner Anthony Quayle by just $606 and has edged more than $4,000 clear of Louis Dobbelaar who drops to fifth position ahead of this week’s TPS Murray River in Honour of Jarrod Lyle at Cobram-Barooga Golf Club.

Top 10 at both the Victorian PGA and Gippsland Super 6 prior to Christmas, Papadatos had finished higher than a tie for 39th in his three starts to date in 2022 but pocketed $73,800 for the fourth ISPS Handa PGA Tour of Australasia title of his career to climb to $86,736 in prize money this season.

With the bonus of a start at the 150th Open Championship in July also in his back pocket, Papadatos already has conditional status on the DP World Tour and full status on the secondary Challenge Tour but could secure his immediate future with a top-three Order of Merit finish.

The 30-year-old will re-join the Challenge Tour in late March in South Africa and then head to Europe in May for the summer swing and to begin his preparations for The Open at St Andrews.

Although he picked up less than $900 for his week at 13th Beach Australian PGA champion Jed Morgan maintains a handy lead at the top of the Order of Merit followed by fellow Queenslander Andrew Dodt who is more than $20,000 clear of Quayle.

Winner this week at the newest event in the Webex Players Series will receive $36,000 with Vic Open women’s champion Hannah Green striving to become the first female winner in the format’s short history.

PGA Tour of Australasia 2021/2022 Order of Merit (through Vic Open)

1. Jediah Morgan            $180,878.77 2. Andrew Dodt $107,526.26 3. Anthony Quayle          $87,342.33 4. Dimitrios Papadatos  $86,736 5. Louis Dobbelaar         $82,378.77 6. Brad Kennedy              $76,207.50 7. Ben Campbell              $59,921.20 8. Daniel Gale    $57,290.63 9. Cameron John             $53,109.17 10. Aaron Pike   $49,673.33