Diggeden sets early pace in Altron Big Easy Tour Order of Merit race

Bradley Diggeden finished 14^th in last season’s Altron Big Easy Tour Order of Merit when this tour was commissioned elsewhere, but thanks to his second-place finish behind amateur Christiaan Maas in the season-opener at Blue Valley Golf Club, he finds himself leading those rankings after the first tournament.

The race to the summit of the Order of Merit standings has begun and while it was Maas who claimed a convincing win at Blue Valley, Diggeden’s status as a professional earns him the top spot on the standings.

Long as the race will be – given that there are 10 scheduled events this season – Diggeden will know that a strong start will go a long way in securing him a spot in The Final, or even winning the race. He currently sits above veteran Ryan Tipping who will know all about playing for a position in the season-long chase for top honours.

Tipping finished third in Centurion and ahead of another amateur, Casey Jarvis and Ricky Hendler to occupy the second spot on the standings. The left-handed Hendler, on the other hand, produced rounds of 68, 69 and 72 to finish in a share of fourth at Blue Valley, securing the third spot on the Order of Merit in the process.

Tying the fifth spot after the first tournament of the season is the duo of Reinhardt Blaauw and James Mack both of whom played solidly in the first tournament.

Noel Anderson, Musiwalo Nethunzwi, Jason Roets and Cameron Moralee are in a four-way share of the seventh spot to make up the leading top 10 players on the Order of Merit standings.

This season, the Altron Big Easy Tour will feature 10 tournaments to be played around Gauteng from May to September. The final two tournaments of the season, however – The Playoff and The Final – will offer record prize money for the Tour of R250 000 and R300 000 respectively.

The Big Easy Tour was founded in 2011 with support from Ernie Els and counts current international star Christiaan Bezuidenhout among its former Order of Merit winners.