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Jack Wright conjured a sensational third-round 66 to surge into the lead on day three of the Queensland PGA Associate Championship at Windaroo Lakes Golf Club.
Wright, the Associate Professional at Coolangatta-Tweed Heads Golf Club, had six birdies and an eagle to vault into the outright lead at 9-under par.
His nearest challenger is midway leader Damon Stephenson at 8-under, the midway leader having a quieter day with a 74.
Canadian Adam Migur and Victoria’s Joel Mitchell are in the next group at 6-under.
Runner-up to Riley Taylor last year, Wright ignited his round with an eagle at the par-5 third hole and made three more birdies on the front side, and another three on the back to post 7-under for the day.
Jack Wright is the son of Maroochy River PGA Professional John Wright; his brother Mackenzie is also a PGA Professional at Maroochy and they grew up in pro shops.
He learned the game in rural Victoria and then moved to Yamba in New South Wales when his father was posted there some years ago. His father is his only coach.
Earlier this year won the biggest single-day prize cheque in Associates history at Royal Queensland, and he has been a prolific winner in Associates events over the past two years, including the NSW championship last year.
“I probably just hung patient,” he said. “All week I felt like I’ve been playing well, and things weren’t going my way for two days. I felt like ‘my time will come’ and it definitely came today.”
Wright and Stephenson have been dominant at this level in 2025, and Wright is anticipating a great head-to-head contest. “I’ve got a lot of respect for Damon,” he said. “Great player. I can’t wait to test myself against him out there.”
Recent work on their golf games paid off for Martin Peterson and Scott Ford with the NSW duo sharing top spot in the GRC Wayne Riley Legends Pro-Am at Hurstville Golf Club today
A front nine of 29 helped Ford recover from an early setback to shoot a 4-under-par 66 which was matched by Peterson, a previous winner at Hurstville in 2018 and runner-up in 2017.
They are hitting form at the right time, both sitting just inside the top 10 on the Order of Merit with some big events to come.
Part of the PGA Legends Tour since 2013, Ford now has three wins on his record for 2024, while for Peterson, who has been a member of the over-50s circuit since 2017, it was his second title of the year following on from a win in New Zealand in February.
Victorian David McKenzie repeated his third-place finish from yesterday’s NSW Senior PGA Championship at Cromer, carding a 67 alongside Richard Gilkey (USA) and David Van Raalte (Vic)
HOW THE WINNERS’ SCORES UNFOLDED
Peterson started his round on the 17th hole and was 3-under through his first nine holes thanks to four birdies offset by just the one bogey. A final birdie for the day came at the short par-4 14th.
Meanwhile, Ford got underway with a birdie on his opener, the par-5 16th only to double-bogey the par-4 18th. Five birdies followed on the front nine and then another on his final hole to match Peterson at 4-under.
WHAT THE WINNERS SAID
Ford said: “I was coming off a couple of rough days at Cromer but today was really enjoyable. Had a hole-in-one the other day, but a 66 is miles better than a hole-in-one. I’ve had a lot of help from Terry Price and done a little bit of short game work with Euan Walters and it’s all starting to come together at the right time of the year.”
Peterson said:“I’ve been working on a few things in my game and it finally started to click today. It’s always been a happy hunting ground here for me at Hurstville. The course was great today and I actually played quite well. It was just a good solid round.”
LEADERBOARD RUNDOWN
-4: Martin Peterson (NSW), Scott Ford (NSW)
-3: Richard Gilkey (USA), David van Raalte (Vic), David McKenzie (Vic)
-2: Anthony Summers (Vic), Lucien Tinkler (NSW), Guy Wall (NSW), Grahame Stinson (NSW), Michael Harwood (Vic)
NEXT UP
The PGA Legends Tour heads to the Blue Mountains for the Fidelity Capital Group Charity Legends Pro-Am at Springwood Country Club on Thursday and The Blackheath Centenary Year Legends Pro-Am at Blackheath Golf Club on Friday.
Min Woo Lee took some time out as a spectator at Mandurah last weekend but his rest time was short; the rising Australian star is back in the cauldron on Thursday as he tees it up in the PGA Tour’s Zozo Championship in Japan.
Lee has another stint at home in Australia coming up, defending his BMW Australian PGA Championship at Royal Queensland and playing the ISPS HANDA Australian Open in Melbourne, but he has some jobs to do first.
The Fall Series of the US Tour has three tournaments remaining from this week, and Lee is trying to improve his status for the 2025 season, having already secured his playing card.
Currently he is ranked 63rd on the points list and he needs to vault into the bracket between 50th and 60th to earn a spot in two signature events, worth $US 20 million, on the tour in 2025 – at Pebble Beach and the Genesis in January-February.
There’s also the matter of the Masters tournament in April and the other majors. Currently he would get into the field for Augusta and the others with his official world ranking of 42nd, but he needs to be inside the top 50 at year’s end. It is tighter than he would have liked.
Which is why the 26-year-old from Perth is in Japan this week, playing an event in which he finished tied-sixth last year with a closing 65. It was largely on the back of that performance that he earned his PGA Tour card and headed to America.
In a limited field (78 players) and on a course where he has played well before, it is a big opportunity to set himself up and return to Australia for the marquee events and the Christmas break with some security for 2025.
Meanwhile Hannah Green, another Ritchie Smith disciple, has risen back to an equal career-high No. 5 in the women’s world rankings after her third win of the LPGA Tour season, and Green is now after the No. 1 spot as she tees it up in Kuala Lumpur from Thursday.
The LPGA has four more tournaments for 2024 culminating with the tour championship in November and while Green is secure at No. 5 on the points list along with Gabriela Ruffels (25), the likes of Grace Kim (45), Minjee Lee (49) and Steph Kyriacou (52) have work to do to make sure they are playing in that $US 11 million season-ender.
Also in Asia, the DP World Tour has its final event in South Korea before the playoffs begin, while 21 Australasians are in the field for the Asian Tour’s International Series Thailand.
PHOTO: Min Woo Lee still has to secure his place in the majors for 2025. Image: Getty
Tee times
PGA TOUR
Zozo Championship
Accordia Golf, Narashino Country Club, Japan
11.40am Ryan Fox (NZ)
12.24pm Min Woo Lee
Defending champion: Collin Morikawa
Past Aussie winners: nil
Prize money: $US8.5 million
TV times: Live 2pm-6pm Thursday-Sunday on Fox Sports 503 and Kayo.
LPGA Tour
Maybank Championship
Kuala Lumpur Golf and Country Club
10.48am Gabriela Ruffels*
11.43am Grace Kim*
12.27pm Hannah Green
Defending champion: Celine Boutier
Past Aussie winners: nil
Prize money: $US 3 million
TV times: Live 12.30pm-5.30pm Thursday-Sunday on Fox Sports 503 and Kayo.
DP World Tour
Genesis Championship
Jack Nicklaus Golf Club, Incheon, South Korea
9.10 am Sam Jones (NZ)
9.50 am Daniel Hillier (NZ)*
10.40 am Jason 2crivener*
1.30 pm Haydn Barron*
2 pm Tom Power Horan*
2.20 pm David Micheluzzi
Defending champion: Sang-Hyun Park
Past Aussie winners: nil
Prize money: $US 4 million
TV times: Live 2pm-7pm Thursday-Sunday on Fox Sports 507 and Kayo.
Asian Tour
International Series Thailand
Thai Country Club, Bangkok
10.30 am Harrison Crowe
10.30 am Aaron Wilkin*
10.40 am Andrew Dodt
11 am Sam Brazel
11.10 am Danny Lee (NZ)
11.10 am Wade Ormsby*
11.20 am Kevin Yuan
11.30 am Marcus Fraser
11.50 am Deyen Lawson
12.00 Justin Warren**
12.10 pm Douglas Klein
1.10 pm Todd Sinnott*
3.30 pm Scott Hend
3.40 pm Kazuma Kobori (NZ)*, Zach Murray*
3.50 pm Ben Campbell (NZ)*
4.10 pm Travis Smyth
4.10 Jack Thompson*
4.20 pm Nick Voke (NZ)
4.30 pm Jed Morgan
4.40 pm Maverick Antcliff*
5 pm Lachlan Barker*
Defending champion: Sang-Hyun Park
Past Aussie winners: nil
Prize money: $US 4 million
TV times: Live 6pm-9pm Thursday-Sunday on Fox Sports 503 and Kayo.
LADIES EUROPEAN TOUR
Hero Women’s Open
DLF Golf and Country Club, New Delhi
Australasian entries: Momoka Kobori (NZ), Kirsten Rudgeley.
Defending champion: Aline Krauter
Past Aussie winners: nil
Prize money: $US 400,000
Mitchell Smith has held onto to his overnight lead after day two of the PGA Professionals Championship National Final, with the stage set for a thrilling final day at Heritage Golf and Country Club tomorrow.
Smith was able to back up his day one 67 with a 2-under 70 today to lead the championship by one at 7-under. Fellow Queenslander Samuel Eaves shot the round of the day, a 6-under 66, to catapult himself to second on the leaderboard.
A further shot back at 5-under is New South Welshman Alexander Simpson, with Queenslander Brenton Fowler and defending champion Matt Docking looming at 4-under, Docking bouncing back from a sluggish opening round with a 5-under 67 today.
In his first National Final, Smith is showing no signs of nerves, however he has two very well credentialled players in Eaves and Docking on his back as he looks to make it a debut to remember tomorrow.
Eaves is very happy to be in contention, the ex-pro from Warwick Golf Club now real estate agent says that he is enjoying his golf more than ever at the moment.
“It’s a nice change, and when I get out and have a game, I just love it more than I ever have and I’m sort of playing better than I ever have too,” he said.
“When I get out there it’s exciting, it’s like being a kid again really.”
Eaves managed five birdies in a row on the Heritage St. John back nine today, that flurry singlehandedly getting the Queenslander into contention.
“It was nice to hit them close where you just had to tap them in and not really think too much about the putt in front of you,” he said.
Having multiple top-25 finishes at the BMW Australian PGA Championship, and a second and third in this championship already, Eaves is hungry to finish the job and earn himself another start in Brisbane next month.
Also hunting down Smith tomorrow will be Docking, the four-time champion keen to etch his name into the trophy yet again and book another trip to Brisbane.
“I was just really anxious yesterday. It was one of those days where I just couldn’t shake it off,” said the defending champion. “But no, felt back to myself today.”
As the Head Professional at Murray Downs, this year’s host of the NSW Open, Docking has been extended an invitation to play that event, and says the prospect of booking himself another trip to Brisbane is made all the more exciting off the back of that.
“I would love to get back there, because playing here this week, then we’ve got New South Wales Open in three weeks and then into that, so I would actually have a bit of golf under my belt, so that’d be something special,” he said.
One of the new young stars of world golf, South African Aldrich Potgieter, and American crowd favourite Harry Higgs are locked in as two of the first overseas entrants for next month’s BMW Australian PGA Championship,
Potgieter (pictured) will play his first professional tournament in the country where he developed his game while Higgs comes to Australia for the first time on the back of two Korn Ferry Tour wins this year to regain his PGA Tour status.
They will be joined by another KFT winner this year, Chilean Cristobal Del Solar, who has been inspired to play in Australia by countryman and reigning Australian Open champion Joaquin Niemann.
Just 20-years-old, Potgieter is headed for the PGA Tour in 2025 after a huge year on the Korn Ferry Tour (KFT) in 2024, including becoming the youngest winner in the Tour’s history, beating the record held by Jason Day, when he won The Bahamas Great Abaco Classic in January.
Although he was born in Mossel Bay on South Africa’s Southern Cape, Potgieter moved to Perth with his family when he was a child, eventually becoming a member of Golf WA’s High Performance Program.
A member at the Joondalup course, he won the South Australian Junior Masters by nine shots in 2020, the 2021 WA Amateur and was second in the 2021 Australian Boys’ Amateur before, at just 17, becoming the second youngest winner in the history of the British Amateur Championship.
The two-shot win in The Bahamas, thanks to a closing 65, was followed by two other top-10 finishes to see Potgieter finish 29th in the end-of-season standings.
“Growing up in WA, I always enjoyed watching the big tournaments each summer every year in Australia,” Potgieter said.
“I can’t wait to get to Royal Queensland and experience everything about the BMW Australian PGA Championship. There’s plenty of the guys I came through the amateurs with who are now professional who I’m looking forward to catching up with.
“And then there’s the challenge of going up against players like Jason Day, Cam Smith, Min Woo Lee and Cam Davis.”
The affable Higgs, who has won twice on the KFT in 2024, has been a popular figure on the PGA Tour where his best results have included two runner-up finishes and T4 at the 2021 US PGA Championship.
“Australia has always been on the destination list for Kailee and I,” Higgs said.
“We love travelling and seeing new parts of the world.
“It’s all worked out for me to come down to play both of the Aussie majors this year which I’m sure is going to be a great experience.
“It will be a real honour to play in both the Australian Open and Australian PGA in front of the Aussie fans.”
Del Solar’s 2024 highlight was a four-shot victory in The Ascendent, his fifth worldwide success.
“Seeing my great mate Joaquin (Niemann) play so well in Australia last year and hearing from him how much he enjoyed the country, the golf courses and the atmosphere of the events, made it an easy decision to come down and experience it for myself,” he said.
For BMW Australian PGA Championship tickets, go to ticketek.com.au
The Australian PGA Championship is supported by the Queensland Government, through Tourism and Events Queensland’s Major Events Program and Brisbane City Council, through Brisbane Economic Development Agency.
Quinn Croker knows he left some money on the table last season.
As he shored up the final phases of his amateur career, Croker made nine starts on the Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia, making the cut in each one and finishing inside the top 10 four times, his best result a runner-up finish at the Heritage Classic.
“I don’t know the exact figure, but I know that I did miss out on a little bit of money last year,” Croker reflected.
“Hopefully it just banked up and maybe I’ll be able to get it this year.”
The exact figure was $48,042.76 of prize money not received.
But as Croker prepares to make his professional debut at Webex Players Series South Australia at Willunga Golf Course this week, the 22-year-old views it as an investment he needed to make.
“I finished maybe ninth at the NT PGA and obviously I played solid, but I didn’t feel like I played out of my skin,” Croker said.
“The last finish that really stuck at home for me was The Heritage playing with Matty Griffin and Jak Carter in the final round.
“‘Griffo’ went on to have 23-under that week and I finished second so that made me think that if I play good, there’s definitely an option to winning some of these events.
“That kicked home and that was very confidence boosting.”
A week later Croker won the Australian Amateur Championship at Yarra Yarra Golf Club before embarking on a final international amateur expedition to America that yielded two top-three finishes, including runner-up at the prestigious Southern Amateur.
He advanced through First Stage of Korn Ferry Tour Q School last week and has now set his sights on maximising the Future Tour membership that provides direct entry to the PGA Tour of Australasia this season.
“I definitely feel like I’m ready to be out here,” said the Toowoomba-born Croker.
“It’s just now I’m actually a professional now. I’m not an amateur doing it.
“Even if you’ve proved yourself as an amateur, which I did out here last year, it just feels different now. Now I feel like every shot matters more.
“I know it’s still the same golf shot, it’s still executing what you can, but it feels like it matters more because there’s just that little bit more pressure.”
Crediting his parents for their early guidance, Croker says the move into Brisbane to start working with Chris Gibson at Royal Queensland Golf Club was critical in turning potential into professionalism.
“He really started to push me in the right direction to make sure I was doing things how I should be,” he added.
“Then I was in QAS (Queensland Academy of Sport) and they’ve helped me over the last four years along with Golf Australia. They really dial in what it is to be a professional.
“They’ve been instrumental to where I am now. Hopefully in the next couple of years I’m able to show that it was worth it.”
Webex Players Series South Australia is live on Fox Sports, available on Foxtel and Kayo on Saturday (3pm-6pm AEDT) and Sunday (1pm-6pm AEDT).
Five playoff holes couldn’t split Brad Burns and Andre Stolz before darkness set in and joint winners were declared at the Kent Relocation Group NSW Senior PGA Championship at Cromer Golf Club.
The two prolific winners on the PGA Legends Tour tied at 1-under-par after 36 holes and then had matching pars across the sudden-death playoff, staged on the 351 par-4 eighth hole, before it was agreed they would share the title.
In the quickly fading light, a resolute Burns had forced a sixth hole by draining a five-metre putt.
It was the third PGA Legends Tour win in a row for Order of Merit leader Stolz, who was coming off wins in the ACT Senior PGA Championship and the Cowra Lamb Legends Pro-Am.
Burns made it six victories for 2024, but his first since June.
The duo both posted rounds of 71-68 at Cromer to finish one shot ahead of David Mackenzie (70-70). The Victorian would have made it a three-way playoff had he not bogeyed his second last hole, the par-4 18th.
Lucas Bates had led after an opening round of 68 but dropped to T7 with a 75 on day two.
Meanwhile, Peter Lonard produced the low round of the event in the second round, a 5-under 65, but a 77 on the opening day left him too much ground to make up.
HOW THE WINNERS’ SCORES UNFOLDED
After finishing round one tied for sixth, Stolz began his second round on the ninth hole and Burns on the 18th.
It was Stolz who looked like taking the title outright when he picked up his fourth birdie of the day, at the par-4 sixth, but he dropped back to -1 with a bogey on his last hole, the par-4 eighth.
Burns hit stride with back-to-back birdies at the second and third but put himself into a difficult position with consecutive bogeys at 13 and 14.
However he birdied the par-3 15th, made an up-and-down for par after finding the water on 16, and birdied and his final hole, the par-4 17th, to secure his playoff spot.
WHAT THE WINNER SAID
“That wasn’t bad, was it. First putt I holed all day,” Burns joked after denying Stolz the outright win on the 41st hole.
Stolz said: “We probably shouldn’t have really played that last hole, to be honest. We couldn’t really see. Everyone in the clubhouse was all excited so we thought we’d keep going. It’s a great big boy golf course this one and I was happy to have a chance to try and win.”
LEADERBOARD RUNDOWN
-1: Andre Stolz (Qld) 71-68; Brad Burns (Qld) 71-68
Even: David Mackenzie (Vic) 70-70
+1: Anthony Summers (NSW) 72-69
+2: Peter Lonard (NSW) 77-65; Mark Gibson (Qld) 69-73
NEXT UP
The PGA Legends Tour heads to the Blue Mountains for the Fidelity Capital Group Charity Legends Pro-Am at Springwood Country Club on Thursday and The Blackheath Centenary Year Legends Pro-Am at Blackheath Golf Club on Friday.
The wind that whipped up on the Bellarine only served to inspire Brock Gillard as the Victorian claimed a two-stroke win at the Anglesea Golf Club Pro-Am.
After nursing a soft tissue injury through the winter months, Gillard upped his practice intensity in recent weeks.
While the ball-striking reflected that over the first eight holes, the scores didn’t.
It took until the par-4 14th to snare his first birdie, and then they came in a rush, adding three more at 18, one and two in some of the more difficult conditions.
“The first nine holes, I hit it really, really good and made no birdies,” said Gillard.
“Then the wind got up in my last six holes and I made all my birdies.
“The golf guards… go figure.”
Gillard’s round of 3-under 70 was two better than Legends Tour regular Tim Elliott (72) with Ashley Hall (74) and Ryan Lynch (75) third and fourth respectively.
WHAT THE WINNER SAID
“I felt pretty good the last few days with practise,” said Gillard.
“Been hitting it good. The scores haven’t been relating and today just sort of managed to hold it together and holed some good putts.
“I will definitely be playing the Gippsland swing coming up and then got my eyes on trying to qualify for the New South Wales Open.”
LEADERBOARD RUNDOWN
1 Brock Gillard 70
2 Tim Elliott 72
3 Ashley Hall 74
4 Ryan Lynch 75
T5 Steven Jones 76
T5 Nick Dastey 76
T5 Michael Choi 76
T5 James Briggs 76
NEXT UP
The adidas PGA Pro-Am Series has a short break before resuming with the Gorilla Ladders Box Hill Pro-Am at Box Hill Golf Club on November 1.
Queenslander Mitchell Smith has fired a 5-under 67 on day one of the PGA Professionals Championship National Final to lead by two at the Heritage Golf and Country Club.
With an increased $65,000 prize purse, two spots in the BMW Australian PGA Championship up for grabs, as well as Four Nations and Women’s PGA Cup spots on offer, the 66 vocational members from around the country have plenty to play for this week in Melbourne, and Smith’s campaign is off to a dream start.
Trailing him in second is New South Welshman Daniel Nesbitt at 3-under, with another Sydneysider ,Michael Smyth, tied third with West Australian Scott Barr at 2-under.
Barr will be a player to watch this week, coming off a T21 finish at the CKB WA PGA Championship presented by TX Civil & Logistics.
Australia’s Women’s PGA Cup captain Katelyn Must (Qld) is a further shot back at 1-under, tied with Alexander Simpson (NSW) in fifth.
Coaching out of Sanctuary Cove Golf and Country Club on the Gold Coast as well as The Sim Range in Brisbane, Smith is happy to have made a positive start to his first PGA Professionals Championship National Final.
“I putted really well, that was pretty much just the thing there,” he said. “I holed a lot of putts. That saved me heaps.”
Starting his day on the 12th hole, Smith started with a birdie, however his round peaked later when he backed up a strong birdie on the eighth by eagling the par-five ninth.
“I hit a really good drive, which was actually rare today,” he laughed. “I had a really good group today with Rhys (Granger) who’s a local, so he gave some good lines to hit and yeah, I just managed to flush two in a row and then hold the putt again.”
Being a Queenslander now, Smith says today’s warm weather probably benefited him more than the rest of the field, while his years growing up in Tasmania helped on the putting surfaces.
“Anytime I come down south, I love playing on the bent grass and the soft greens, it’s sort of like coming home a little bit,” he said.
“You get a good roll on the ball, so I always feel like I’ve got a chance of rolling a few putts in and I generally give it a good go.”
Having gone to university straight out of school, 32-year-old Smith has only been a full PGA Member for two years, but says completing the Membership Pathway Program (MPP) was life changing for him.
“Went to Uni and then I was working as a greenkeeper and just podding along basically,” he said.
“The MPP sort of just popped up and I thought, well that’s something that I actually want to do with my life.”
Defending champion Matt Docking shot a 73 to be T11.
Damon Stephenson rattled around Windaroo Lakes golf course the day’s equal-low round, a 66, to seize control of the Queensland PGA Associate Championship today.
Queenslander Stephenson had six birdies, an eagle at the short par-4 eighth hole and a lone bogey in his 7-under round, having started the day in a tie for the lead with Canadian Adam Migur.
Through 36 holes he is 9-under overall and four shots clear of the Melbourne-based Migur at 5-under.
Queenslander Joshua Holbrook also shot a 66 today and leapt into a tie for third at 4-under with Victorian Joel Mitchell (68 today) in the 72-hole event.
Stephenson, 32, played both the WA PGA and the WA Open on the Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia this month and his missed cut at Mandurah in the Open meant that he was able to race back to Queensland to compete this week.
“A couple of dramas but I think yeah, maybe a blessing and a curse in hindsight,” he said of his performance in WA. “But yeah, I’ve had a good two weeks been playing pretty solid, pretty consistent. It was good to be back out there on the main tour playing against world-class players really and skills are great for the last two weeks so I feel like that’s made me sort of look at where I need to get to and kind where I’m at now. But it’s been nice come back with the associates being in the mix again, top of leaderboard.”
The quality of players on the main tour has inspired him to get better. ”I mean you see the scores and you realise the quality of play out there, so it is just about getting to that next level. Elvis Smylie shooting 20 or 21 under at Mandurah and Jack Buchanan shooting 20 under the week before. So it is mid-60s every round for four days if you’re going to compete and shooting 2-under or 1-under doesn’t really get it done.”
PHOTO: Damon Stephenson on his way to a 66 today.
