Presnell wins Moonah Classic by one

A solitary four metre putt has saved Victorian golfer Alistair Presnell from a
mundane job in air conditioning and propelled him towards the lucrative US PGA Tour.
Presnell's birdie putt at the 18th, gave him a one-shot victory over veteran Peter
O'Malley in the Moonah Classic, a cheque for $A166,153 and a virtual open door to
the world's richest circuit.
He fired a final round four under par 68 to finish nine under the card on 279, with
O'Malley second and West Australian Michael Sim in outright third two shots further
back on 282.
The tournament swung on the final two holes as O'Malley fell out of a tie for the
lead when he three-putted the par three 17th to slip level with Presnell at eight
under then watched as the Victorian rolled in his winning birdie putt at the final
hole.
The 29-year-old Presnell travelled the US in a van with friends last year, failing
to qualify for Nationwide Tour events, failing to qualify for the European Tour and
scrambling from one Australian pro-am to another to try to make ends meet.
With a total of about $A50,000 in prizemoney for the year he would have struggled to
meet expenses.
But Presnell now has full playing rights on the secondary Nationwide Tour and is set
to add the requisite prizemoney over the course of this season to win him a spot on
the main tour.
But had he not won enough money from this event at Moonah Links and the next two
tournaments in New Zealand, Presnell said he would have walked away from
professional golf and resumed work in the air conditioning industry.
"I was going into these four events (including last week's Johnnie Walker Classic)
thinking I could try to get some money together to do a trip as I did last year,
drive across America and do some Monday qualifiers ... if not then I'd have to find
a job," Presnell said.
"These four weeks were pretty much about it. I was thinking if I can't get any money
out of these four events to go on this trip again I would probably go back ... I did
an apprenticeship in air conditioning so I might have to go ask the boss for my job
back there or do something else.
"I had a decent finish last year in this, a seventh, so I was confident going into
it and with the work I'd been doing with my coach Darren Cole, I feel a lot more
consistent with the way my swing's been able to hold up.
"I'm just a bit more diligent with my practice instead of standing there just
beating balls. It got back into my mind why I am practising and what I need to
practise.
"It was almost a bit like school whereas as a pro I guess I got a bit lazy and a bit
out of whack to do the job.
"Hopefully I'm getting a bit more in sync with what I'm doing and how I'm doing it,"
he said.
Presnell began the day five under the card and four off the overnight lead set by
Argentinian Miguel Angel Carballo.
He made a bright start with birdies at the first two holes followed by more at the
sixth and 12th before dropping a shot at the 16th after venturing into sand.
"I knew on 16 I'd hit it in the fairway bunker and I probably went for a bit to much
going for the miracle shot - I caught it a little heavy for it to go into the next
bunker.
"But it didn't really affect me to be honest, I was just hoping my short game would
hold up."
O'Malley, while disappointed with his finish, said his performance had given him the
confidence with his game from tee to green to attack the European Tour this season
with renewed optimism.
"I missed a few short putts today but everything feels pretty good," O'Malley said.
"The way I'm playing this is a huge boost - last year I just wasn't quite playing well.
"Because I don't drive it as far I have longer shots into the greens but I'm
actually hitting the ball a lot better now so I don't think it will be as big an
issue as it was towards the end of last year," O'Malley said.