Golfer earns tournament spot by playing indoor simulator

Gavin Macpherson is a former footballer who also played for Hakoah in Sydney before becoming a professional golfer

Glasgow-born Gavin Macpherson has taken an unusual route to earning a place at this week's New South Wales Open - he won the spot playing on an indoor golf simulator.

Macpherson, who played semi-professional football for Scottish club Stirling Albion before moving to Australia 10 years ago, took victory at the inaugural NSW Virtual Open, which was played on a network of golf simulators in October.

The 35-year-old turned professional as a golfer after getting a job at the exclusive Royal Sydney golf course in Sydney.

"I play a fair bit of indoor golf," Macpherson told the Sydney Morning Herald.

"I'm a bit of a gear head, so I like to look at all numbers and data and stuff like that."

Macpherson also won A$10,000 (£4,979) to go with his spot at the tournament, which begins on Thursday in New South Wales, Australia, with a prize pot of A$800,000 (£609,624).

With plenty of experience on the simulator and spotting Golf NSW was introducing a new virtual pathway as a way to qualify, he decided to enter. "It all paid off, thankfully," he said.

Macpherson's triumph in the final, without touching a blade of grass, was secured on a course he knows well - Bonnie Doon, the third oldest golf club in Sydney.

"I have played there a few times, so I know where I was going and stuff like that," he added. "And I played quite a lot of sim golf when I've been practising, so I knew what spots to avoid and whatnot."

Indoor golf simulators have grown in popularity in recent years and are used as a training device by many of the sport's top players.

The technology uses a combination of hardware and software that allows golfers to play via a giant screen, without the need for a golf course or driving range.

In January, major winners Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy launched Tomorrow's Golf League (TGL), an indoor simulator league featuring PGA Tour players, which aimed "to take golf into the 21st Century".