MELBOURNE (Reuters) – Honda Classic winner Matt Jones had to wait seven years and reach middle age to capture his second PGA Tour title but his coach Gary Barter is confident that Australia’s best golf remains ahead of.
Jones ’five-stroke win at PGA National in Florida on Sunday earned him a ticket to Masters next month, the first major of the year.
Jones was in contact with Sydney-based coach Gary Barter before the start of the final round as he looked to seal his first Tour tour since the 2014 Houston Open.
Barter said Jones was primed for attacking Augusta in his second appearance, seven years after being cut from the 2014 tournament won by Bubba Watson.
“What he did this week, winning that champion at that golf course on the stage with five hits, proves what people in his camp think of him as a player,” he said. Barter to Reuters.
“There are a lot of one-time (Tour) winners, but to win twice, there is a little more respect among the clubhouse.
“I always felt like his game wanted to win a major, I said that many years ago.
“I think he has that game where he can play strong golf courses and play to win.
“When the winning score is between eight and 14 years old, it’s great to be around those tracks, like a lot of Aussies because we’re playing on very difficult courses growing up.”
A Sydney Jones man left Australia as a teenager to play college golf in Arizona and has been based in Scottsdale since joining the Tour in 2007.
It took seven years of passion and a pair of wonderful pictures for his first win at Houston.
He sank on a 45-foot putt on the 18th hole to reach a spot against Matt Kuchar and then shook in for a birdie from 42 yards on the same hole to hit the Americans.
Jones held off Jordan Speith and countryman Adam Scott to win his Australian Open home next year but was never able to start in the United States until Sunday.
Hitting a ball on the top shelf, it was Jones who kept it holding back through some slender years.
“Anyone who doesn’t do so well on the PGA Tour just eats live,” Barter said.
“This year and last year his planting stats have improved.
“Technically, we changed a few things with his put, more about influencing the hit with the ball.”
Jones turned 40 when the Tour was canceled last year due to a COVID-19 pandemic and admitted to having honest conversations with his family about his golf future.
He said a conversation with Scott, 40, the first Australian to win the Masters in 2013, had helped prove his worth.
“We have five hard, hard years ahead of us, where we think we can do something special and I think this puts me on a path where I could,” said Jones.
“I think I may not have achieved enough for what I could have done. But I have some time left.
“I feel like my game is getting better as I get older.
“I beat it better, I beat it longer, so there’s nothing to say that won’t happen.”
Reporting by Ian Ransom; Edited by Peter Rutherford