McGreevy chasing more glory in Haikou

Max McGreevy will bid to extend his lead in the PGA Tour Series-China order of merit at this week's Haikou Classic on Hainan Island.

The American has enjoyed a remarkable season so far, recording seven top-10 finishes, including a victory at the weather-shortened Guangzhou Open.

He now leads the order of merit with 871,523 yuan ($122,467), just over 100,000 yuan more than second-place compatriot Trevor Sluman.

Finishing the season in top spot would guarantee McGreevy starts for every event on the 2020 Korn Ferry Tour, which is the gateway to the PGA Tour proper.

With just four tournaments remaining, he's eager to maintain the momentum and bag another winner's check in order to keep the chasing pack at bay.

"This event is really important to me. I don't want to wait until the last event to try to secure the No 1 spot, so hopefully I can get it done earlier," said McGreevy.

"It would be great to get another win this week because the season is coming into crunch time."

He's also excited about the possibility of joining former University of Oklahoma teammate and the tour's all-time money leader Charlie Saxon on the Korn Ferry Tour.

"Charlie is a good person to talk to ... he's been in this position and he's been very encouraging," said McGreevy, who graduated in 2017, one year after Saxon.

"He's a couple years older and wiser, so he's been very helpful to me in my first few years of professional golf."

McGreevy, who lives with Saxon in Dallas, is originally from Oklahoma, where he spent the tour's offweeks training and even netted a nice bonus of $10,000 by winning this year's Oklahoma Open.

"I took a couple weeks off which was nice to recharge the batteries and what not, but I also played a state Open, which was kind of in my backyard so it was nice to stay at home and have my parents watch me and I actually ended up winning the tournament," said McGreevy.

"I was able to get some great practice and got a nice win over the break too, so it was all about gaining more confidence and getting ready for this last stretch."