24 Mar 2010

Australian Institute of Sport golfers Matt Jager and Stacey Keating have won the men’s and women’s 2010 Srixon Australian Amateur Championships at Lake Karrinyup Country Club in Perth from 22 to 24 March.

Jager won the 36-hole matchplay final of the Australian Amateur Championships with a commanding 8 and 7 victory over New Zealand’s Ben Campbell, having earlier in the week also claimed the Australian Stroke Play Championship on 21 March with a four-round total score of 12-under-par.

Jager entered the 32-person elimination matchplay Amateur Championships as the number one seed, and fit the billing with a comfortable win in the final.

By winning this tournament, Jager becomes the first person to win the Australia amateur golfing double title since current USPGA tour player Brendon Jones did so in 1999.

Currently ranked as Australia’s top amateur, Jager is aiming to earn a tour card on the professional circuit later this year.

‘I will try to get my card in Europe later on in the year,’ Jager said.

‘I've almost done everything I can do as an amateur.

‘I'm playing well enough here but it's about taking that next step and playing well in the professional arena.’

Keating, meanwhile, recorded an even greater victory over 15-year-old New Zealander, Cecilia Cho, scoring a 10 and 8 victory to win the title.

Keating, the 21-year-old Victorian, put behind her the demons of two years ago when she lost the Australian Amateur final, and did so despite battling illness in the lead up to the event.

The AIS Golf program provides an elite development pathway for talented Australian players to gain experience in competition and improve their skills and game across the amateur and professional levels.