Winner of the 2020 Victorian PGA Championship at Moonah Links, Wood had six birdies and an eagle in his round of 7-under 64 to finish one clear of Victorian Andrew Kelly.

Eager to make a quick start to the new year on the Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia, Wood’s win is the ideal preparation for next week’s Webex Players Series Perth tournament at Royal Fremantle Golf Club.

“I generally have a bit more of a break and come out of the blocks pretty slow in the new year,” said Wood.

“I wanted to get the clubs in hand and put a bit of work in and the last couple of days have been nice.”

Turning point
Level with the best of the morning wave with a birdie on 16 and eagle at the par-5 third, Wood made his move around the turn at Portsea Golf Club.

Starting with a birdie at the par-4 sixth, Wood added four more on the trot from the par-5 eighth to race out to 8-under before his lone bogey of the day at the short par-3 12th.

Quick quotes
“I got off to a bit of an adventurous start,” said Wood.

“Teeing off on 16, I hit my tee shot straight into a divot and then hit the next shot about 10 or 15 metres.

“I then chipped in for birdie so it was sort of the golfing gods paying me back there.”

Leading scores
1          Chris Wood      64
2          Andrew Kelly    65
T3        Todd Sinnott    67
T3        Brendan Smith 67
T3        Darcy Brereton 67

Next up
Geelong BMW Lonsdale Links Pro-Am at Lonsdale Links, Sunday, January 5.

Wright triumphs at Settlers Run

Heading into his second season on the Champions Tour in the US, Wright went bogey free in his round of 6-under 66, two clear of Victorian Jack Harrison (68) as nine players finished tied for third at 3-under par.

Starting with a birdie at his opening hole, the short par-4 17th, Wright methodically went about building his round, closing it out with a sixth and final birdie at the par-5 16th.

Turning point

Level with the best of the morning scores at 3-under through 10 holes, Wright made birdie at the 481-metre par-5 ninth and then picked up a further shot at the par-3 11th to build a handy buffer heading into the final few holes.

Quick quotes

“I started off by hitting it into about 12 feet on the 17th hole and rolled that in, so that was a nice start,” said Wright.

“Managed to put another five (birdies) on the card in patches throughout the round and kept the bogeys off the card. It’s always good to not have a bogey and then to finish with a birdie was nice, too.”

Leading scores
1          Michael Wright            66
2          Jack Harrison               68
T3        Cameron Kelly              69
T3        Tim Walker                   69
T3        Michael Choi                69
T3        James Mee                   69
T3        Ruben Lal                     69
T3        Josh Younger               69
T3        David Micheluzzi          69
T3        Douglas Klein               69
T3        Chris Wood                  69

Next up

Peninsula Sotheby’s Portsea Celebrity Pro-Am at Portsea Golf Club, Saturday, January 4.