Champion Khan brought down to earth with a bump
IT’S perhaps the nature of golf these days that just hours after claiming the biggest win of his career and a cheque for £650,000, Simon Khan then failed to qualify for the US Open.
Khan looked every inch a champion at Wentworth on Sunday, firing a final round 66 to complete the biggest comeback victory ever in the PGA Championship at Wentworth.
But less than 24 hours later at Walton Heath, Simon, who must have been exhausted, missed out on a place at Pebble Beach next month after losing out in a six-man play-off for the five remaining spots.
Talk about bringing brought down to earth with a bump!
Khan’s charge up the leaderboard on Sunday was aided by others falling apart around him – notably, Luke Donald, whose tremendous work over the first 70 holes was undone by a disastrous double-bogey at the 17th. But now, with a five-year Tour exemption and a three-year Open entry in the bag, Simon will be hoping qualifying schools are a thing of the past.
As for me, I’m preparing for my biggest event of the year so far, the US PGA Seniors Championship, at the Colorado Golf Club, Denver, this week. It’s a strong field, but I’m playing pretty well and confident of a good weekend.