JYE Pickin is confident that his best golf is not far away.
Pickin, 21, produced another up-and-down round to finish one-over and tied for the 23rd at the prestigious Master of the Amateurs at the Southern Golf Club in Melbourne on Friday.
Englishman John Gough was a runaway winner of the 72-hole world amateur ranking event, joining an honour board that includes Jason Day and Rickie Fowler.
Pickin carded rounds of 73,71,70,75 without ever getting on a run.
"The wind changed direction and made it real tough today," he said. "On the first three days it was either down wind or into the wind. Today it was across every hole, which made some approach shots to the hole difficult. I had a couple of 10-footers for par on six and seven and missed them. It wasn't anything crazy or to be alarmed by. It wasn't a great week but it was a solid week to start the year."
Pickin (Charlestown) flies home on Saturday before heading to Sydney for the Australia Amateur, which starts on Tuesday at St Michael's and NSW golf clubs.
"I'm striking the ball well. I just need to give myself closer looks at birdie," he said. "That takes a little bit of iron-play from inside 150 metres. I lose a couple of shots here and there with wedges I might hit to 20-foot instead of 10-foot."
Josh Fuller (The Vintage) hopes to recover from a burst blood vessel on his left index, that forced his retirement in Melbourne.
Newcastle 16-year-old Ella Scaysbook missed the cut by three shots in the women's event, after rounds of 78,78,75.
WHAT DO YOU THINK? We've made it a whole lot easier for you to have your say. Our new comment platform requires only one log-in to access articles and to join the discussion on the Newcastle Herald website. Find out how to register so you can enjoy civil, friendly and engaging discussions. Sign up for a subscription here.
