2024 Platinum
Out in the final match on Wednesday 7 May, in a field of 90 professionals, he won the PGA North-East regional qualifier for the Glenmuir Club Professional Championship with a three-under 67, winning by a stroke from Boston's Scott Emery, who'd finished 20 minutes earlier. Leng picked up £250 and the sponsors' commemorative glassware.
Now, they and 15 other qualifiers will head for Scotland in mid-August for the £78,000 Glenmuir 72-hole final, to be played over the Sam Torrance-designed St Andrews Bay, seven miles from the Home of Golf. Not only will the winner pick up £10,000, he'll be an automatic selection for the 2005 PGA Cup match against the United States, the club pros' version of the Ryder Cup.
Leng was in sparkling form, birdieing the third, 10th, 14th and 15th holes, his only slip a three-putt at the 182-yard 17th. His shot of the round came at the par-5 15th, where he had to extricate his tee shot from trees, then fired an 80-yard pitch to within a foot for an unlikely birdie.
The 28-year-old is currently heading the German EDP Tour after wins in Alicante and Strasbourg, thus almost certainly gaining one of the four places available from that tour for next year's Challenge Tour. This will be his first appearance in the Glenmuir final.
Inevitably there was a play-off to find the remaining qualifiers. This time 11 players tied on 71 were chasing one place. Playing in groups of five (one player failed to show up), the extra holes went no farther than the 436-yard first, where Boldon's Brian Hall, into the wind, singled himself out for the Scottish trip with a fine birdie which no one could match.