A sizzling 63 from Brett Coletta has assured the young Victorian partial Web.Com Tour status for 2019.
Coletta and New South Welshman Jamie Arnold have earnt exempt status for the first eight events of next season after sharing 25th place on 19 under at the Q-school final in Chandler, Arizona, this morning.
Despite some impressive golf, Perth’s Min Woo Lee missed out at 15 under after four rounds of hot scoring left him in a share of 67th of the 135 contenders, with only the top 40 earning some form of card.
Coletta, 22, who already holds a card for the 2019 Mackenzie Tour in Canada, had been behind Lee before the final round, but saved his best for last in a withering finish.
The Golf Australia rookie squad member opened his final round with three birdies on the bounce and turned in 32 after another birdie on the eighth – yet was still outside the number likely required.
Another birdie on the 10th piqued his hopes, but a birdie on the 14th and eagle on the 15th shot him right into the mix.
One final birdie on the 17th effectively sealed the deal as Coletta, who won the 2016 Queensland Open as an amateur, jumped 49 slots to give him a big leg-up to getting rights on the secondary American tour.
Arnold, 35, who has already played two full seasons on the Web.Com Tour, ensured he’d get another crack when he signed for a second consecutive 70 after his stunning second-round 61 to finish eight shots behind medallist, American Danny Walker.
Lee will rue a pair of double-bogeys – one in round and the other in round three on the Cattail Course – after finishing three shots adrift off the card-earning pace.