Crowe will start the final round at The National Golf Club’s Gunnamatta Course in a three-way tie for the lead at 15-under-par with Queenslander Quinn Croker (63) and New Zealand’s Denzel Ieremia (66), the trio one clear of Maverick Antcliff (67), Ryan Peake (67), Jason Norris (68) and Anthony Quayle (69).

Twenty players will start the final round of the season within four strokes of the lead and with a variety of Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia Order of Merit rewards at stake.

Peake cannot be unseated as the No.2 behind Elvis Smylie, Croker is all but guaranteed of retaining his card for next season while Quayle can secure a DP World Tour card for the 2026 season with a third win on Tour.

Entering the week 10th on the Order of Merit, Crowe could move as high as seventh with a first professional win to go with the 2022 New South Wales Open that he won as an amateur.

With top 10 finishes at the Australian Open, BMW Australian PGA Championship and Ford NSW Open and a tie for 15th at the New Zealand Open, Crowe’s best performances have come in the season’s biggest events.

The 23-year-old intends to tap into that mindset to finish the season by hoisting a trophy.

“Obviously it’s a good problem to have, saving my best golf for the big events,” said Crowe.

“The challenge for me was to really switch on in some of the smaller events.

“I’ve tried my best to do that this week and it’s a little easier to do that being the last event of the season.

“There’s a certain kind of fire in my belly for those big events.

“I’ll be going out there with guns blazing.”

At 44th and 56th respectively at the start of the week, Croker and Ieremia are all but assured of finishing inside the all-important top 50 to keep their cards for next year.

It has given Croker, in particular, a sense of freedom as he chases a breakthrough win.

Staying with 36-hole leader and great mate Billy Dowling, Croker matched Declan O’Donovan’s course record of 9-under 63 set on Thursday to climb 26 spots and into a share of the lead.

“I don’t know the exact math but once I played solid yesterday and was inside the cut I thought, I’m good now,” Croker said of a potential Order of Merit tightrope.

“It was a little bit like what it felt like last year when I was playing as an amateur.

“You’re a little bit like, well I can just do whatever I want. I can swing a lot freer and you make things happen and then all of a sudden, obviously a good score came out of it.”

Ieremia has also adopted a more relaxed approach that has yielded a strong run of form.

The 29-year-old had seven birdies in his round of 6-under 66 on Saturday and with strong winds expected on Sunday, will tap into the experience of playing in horrendous conditions at the Vic Open last month.

“I played really good on the front nine and I might’ve been close to the lead,” said Ieremia, who is aiming to become the fourth Kiwi winner in the last six tournaments.

“I didn’t know it at the time but I just fell off on the back nine.

“I’d like to have a week where I finish it off.”

Needing to win to leapfrog both Lucas Herbert and Cameron Smith on the Order of Merit, Quayle was denied joining the group at 15-under by a birdie putt that was spat out by a wicked horseshoe at the par-4 17th.

Currently fifth on the Order of Merit, South Australian Jack Buchanan will start Sunday four strokes off the lead and in a tie for 14th, also needing to win to wrap up a DP World Tour card.

Entering the season finale sixth on the Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia Order of Merit, a win would see Quayle move past both Lucas Herbert (third) and Cameron Smith (fourth) and secure a coveted DP World Tour card for the 2025/26 season.

A positive mindset with the putter on Friday saw the Queenslander shoot 7-under 65 on the Gunnamatta Course to move into outright second at 11-under, one back of Dowling (66) who is still on the comeback trail after undergoing emergency appendix surgery in January.

Corey Lamb (65) and Curtis Luck (70) are tied for third at 10-under with Jason Norris (69), Lamb and Luck also seeking to improve their current Order of Merit positions of eighth and seventh respectively.

Luck is sitting 42 points behind Quayle who, with seven top-five finishes in his past 12 starts, is accustomed to playing in the later groups across the weekend.

A two-time winner on the Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia, the 30-year-old followed up a 68 on day one with a bogey-free 65 thanks in no small part to a more positive approach with the flatstick.

“I had a very poor putting day yesterday,” said Quayle. “I had -3 Strokes Gained: Putting on a day where I still shot 4-under.

“I did some putting work in the afternoon and my goal going into today was not one negative thought towards my putting at all. Not even thinking about maybe not putting well the last couple of months, just no negative thoughts about it whatsoever. To build a good relationship from where my ball was and where the hole is and trying to get a good feel for what ‘in’ looks like.

“I was a little bit slow onto it but built a little bit of momentum in the middle of the round and feel like I got on a run and holed some nice putts.”

Perhaps none was as nice as the 30-footer he rolled in for birdie at the 195-metre par-3 fifth, the first of three birdies in his final five holes.

“It was really challenging to get it close there,” Quayle added.

“I hit a little chip-cut 9-iron that landed 30 short on a side-slope and it rolled past the hole probably 30 feet.

“I holed that, which was awesome. It was the longest putt I’ve seen go in for a little while, so it’s kind of nice to start seeing them go in.”

Out in front at the halfway mark is Dowling, who was forced to withdraw after one round of the Australian Amateur in Melbourne in mid-January and was admitted immediately to hospital to have his appendix removed.

It meant a month where his only golf outlet was driving around in a cart while his mates played before returning to action at the Riversdale Cup three weeks ago where he finished fourth.

The 19-year-old has an international schedule of amateur events in the UK and US planned for the months ahead. A top-two finish this week would ensure status on the Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia next season through the Future Tour Order of Merit, should he choose to turn professional.

“I spoke to my parents and my coach and for me, if I could come away satisfied from the tournament, proud of my efforts and proud of my score, then that was all I could really ask,” said Dowling, who had consecutive top-10 finishes earlier in the season in professional company.

“I want to go over and play those international events and actually contend a little bit more. Really try and improve my game on links courses and I haven’t played too much in the US, so that’ll be a new experience and I’m sure I’ll enjoy that.”

Low round of day two belonged to West Australian Ryan Peake.

The NZ Open champ cannot be unseated as No.2 on the Order of Merit but, as one of only seven players to have teed it up in every event, insists he still has plenty to play for.

“I’ve just come off two missed cuts and the last thing I want to do is to win a tournament and then miss my last three cuts in a row, because that can beat you up a little bit,” said Peake, who is in a share of sixth at 9-under par alongside Jarryd Felton (71), Zach Murray (66), Daniel Gill (69), Maverick Antcliff (70) and Denzel Ieremia (70).

“I still had a lot to play for out there today. To go out there and shoot a good round and just make sure that I can play on the weekend and finish off the season on a good note.”

Overnight leader Declan O’Donovan followed his course record of 63 on Thursday with a 1-over 73 on day two and sits four shots behind Dowling in a tie for 13th.

Putting troubles that can plague even the most accomplished players became so debilitating that Felton thought he might be better off not hitting the shots that would invariably lead to a green waiting ominously at the end of the fairway.

“I nearly pulled out because I was so nervous I didn’t want to put the tee in the ground,” Felton revealed after an 8-under 64 at The National Tournament on Thursday that has him just one stroke off the lead.

It is Felton’s lowest round on the Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia since he shot 64 in Round 2 of the Webex Players Series event at Bonnie Doon Golf Club in Sydney more than three years ago.

He won in a playoff with Brendan Jones that week, the most recent of his four victories on his home tour.

It’s not like there have not been signs of life in the three years since – rounds that show the talent is willing if the mind is sometimes not – but you have to go back almost 18 months to find the 29-year-old’s last top 10 finish.

Which is why there is so much more to play for over the next three days at The National Golf Club.

Yes, his current tie for second would be enough to climb back into the top 50 on the Order of Merit and secure full status for next season, but Felton is looking for more than that.

He is looking for validation that putting the tee in the ground on the 10th tee at Kingston Heath last November was the right thing to do.

“It’s a lot of hard work put in, a lot of people around you that support you and keep you going,” added Felton.

“You question it a lot of times. Am I still good enough to be out here?

“I think I still am and I think I’ve still got a lot to prove.”

It may not have been seen by anyone other than his playing partners on Thursday but the final putt of Round 1 was its own victory for Felton.

Eight-under through 15 holes, the West Australian dropped a shot at the par-4 seventh following an unfortunate bounce.

He made par on eight and then gave himself a birdie look from eight feet at his final hole, the par-4 ninth.

Any other week, a two-putt par for a round of 7-under would have barely raised an eyebrow.

The fact that Felton converted that chance to put himself in the mix provided further vindication that he is moving in the right direction.

“I hit 7-iron on the last to about eight feet and holed the putt,” Felton said when asked to nominate his best shot of day one.

“I’ve normally missed that, or something like that. But I go and hole that and shoot 8-under and it just sounds better than 7-under.

“It’s been a rough 18 months now but digging deep and trying to get little things out of each week.

“The year’s kind of a bit of a wash-out, but I’ve still got things to play for.

“I’ll still have obviously status next year, but I want to be in the big events.

“That’s where I should be and that’s where I want to be.”

In conditions that could only be described as idyllic on the often windy Mornington Peninsula, The National’s Gunnamatta Course was laid bare for the taking, a staggering 19 players shooting scores of 6-under or better as the field finished the day a total of 322-under par with a scoring average of 69.42.

Round of the day was O’Donovan’s 9-under 63, the Avondale Golf Club member having professional playing partners Louis Dobbelaar and Corey Lamb in awe with his iron play.

Breaking the course record set in 2022 by two strokes, O’Donovan’s 63 not only featured an eagle at the par-5 first but birdies at all three of the hardest holes on the golf course in Round 1.

He hit a “stinger 4-iron” to four feet at the 197-metre par-3 fifth and 7-iron to eight feet at the 192m par-3 16th but said his best of the day was a 3-iron from 215 metres to 12 feet at the par-4 18th for birdie on the toughest hole on the golf course.

“I actually don’t like looking at the leaderboard, but I accidentally saw just before I teed off (on 18) that some of the boys were 7-under through nine,” said O’Donovan.

“To do that up the last was a nice little finish, especially considering during the practice rounds I was talking about how hard the last is.”

A contender early in tournaments three times this season, the 21-year-old is quickly learning to take one round at a time.

Deep down he knows that a win this week would allow him to bypass Qualifying School next month and that a high finish might be enough to secure status next season through the Future Tour Order of Merit.

He also knows that today’s round counts for little when he tees off in Round 2.

“It’s a big skill to be able to go low and then keep it going and keep it going,” he added.

“Everybody finds their own way of doing it and I think I’m starting to find my way.

“The biggest thing I’m focusing on right now is what’s right in front of me and the processes that I can control.

“That’s what’s been keeping me present and playing really nicely, is that I do my best to stay away from those future thoughts.”

West Australian Curtis Luck is also delaying what might happen in future but for different reasons.

Currently plagued by a bulging disc in his neck that is restricting the number of tournaments he can play, Luck sits seventh on the Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia Order of Merit from just five starts.

Sharing second with Jarryd Felton at 8-under after Round 1, a win this week may be enough to secure a DP World Tour card for 2026, but Luck refuses to look more than a day ahead.

“Obviously there’s some Order of Merit things on the line this week but realistically, for the way my last 12 months have been, to get through a week feeling like somewhat healthy is the most crucial bit going forward,” said Luck.

“It is so much better than it was, considering eight months ago I wasn’t playing, and I’m super happy and thankful about that. The question right now for me is, ‘Can I play multiple weeks in a row?’ And the answer to that is no.

“It’s weird coming out and knowing that my objectives, realistically, is testing how my health is rather than my golf.”

Six players are in a share of fourth at 7-under including New South Welshman Lucas Higgins, who had a hole-in-one with a 5-iron at the 213m par-3 11th, his second hole of the day.

At 8-under through 12 holes, Higgins threatened to take the outright lead but dropped shots at four and eight to shoot 65.

In the final countdown to a possible DP World Tour card, Jack Buchanan (fifth on the Order of Merit) opened with 6-under 66 and Anthony Quayle (sixth) shot 68.