Aussie golfer almost boarded doomed Malaysian Airlines flight

If not for a remarkable twist of fate, Wayne Perske would be dead.

The Australian pro golfer says he still feels sick when he thinks that he almost boarded the doomed flight MH370 before a late change of plans saved his life.

Stricken by food poisoning during an event in Kuala Lumpur on March 6, the Queenslander pulled out and prepared for a flight to China two days later.

But fate intervened.

"I still have icky, goose bump moments thinking 'what if?' because it was a real Sliding Doors thing," Perske, 39, told News Ltd.

"One door led to MH370 and flying to the Chinese PGA qualifying school.

"Luckily, the day before that flight I got an email in KL directing me to another qualifying event in China a week later.

"It was 50-50 ... far too close for comfort."

Instead of boarding MH370, Perske decided to fly home to be with his family in Brisbane.

When he landed, he heard about the missing plane and realised he had had an incredible escape.

"My wife gave me extra hugs," Perske said.

"It made me feel sick thinking what could have happened.

"Life gets put in perspective. Golf isn't everything. (Wife) Vanessa and my two little ones are everything to me."

Perske says he tried unsuccessfully to shield his young children - daughter Lais, 8, and son Billy, 7 – from news of his close call.

"The search for the missing plane has just gone on so long. The poor people on that flight," Perske said.

"More than once, I've wondered if I'd got on that flight what would have been going through my head in those final hours.

"The next flight I got on, the kids were protective: You're not going to lose this plane are you daddy?"

Perske's incredible story mirrors that of Swiss tennis player Marc Rosset in 1992.

Having been knocked out in the first round of the US Open, Rosset was scheduled to fly home to Switzerland.

But he decided to stay in New York to work on his game, so he cancelled his reservation on Swissair Flight 111.

The next day, Rosset received news that the plane had crashed off the coast of Nova Scotia, killing all 229 people aboard.