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The majors may be over for another summer but the 2024/2025 Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia season remains in full swing with the Victorian PGA Championship at Moonah Links Resort.
The pro-am format that brings the tour’s best players together with golf-obsessed celebrities from the worlds of sport and entertainment on the spectacular Mornington Peninsula has proven to be a popular change.
This year, those stepping out of their comfort zone to share the stage with pro golfers include acclaimed Hollywood actor Michael Pena, three-time Paralympic gold medallist Dylan Alcott, AFL legends Dermott Brereton and Brendon Fevola and Melbourne Storm NRL star, Ryan Papenhuyzen.
They aren’t the stars of this show, though, with the likes of defending champion David Micheluzzi (pictured), Jack Buchanan, Jasper Stubbs and Anthony Quayle all seeking to advance their position on the Order of Merit.
The final two rounds of the Victorian PGA Championship will be broadcast live on both Fox Sports and Kayo with coverage to run from 3pm-6pm Saturday and 1pm-6pm Sunday AEDT.
DEFENDING CHAMPION: David Micheluzzi (Victoria)
PRIZEMONEY: $250,000
LIVE SCORES: www.pga.org.au
TV COVERAGE: Victorian PGA Championship is live on Fox Sports, available on Foxtel and Kayo.
*All times AEDT.
Round 3: Saturday 3pm-6pm (Fox Sports 503/Kayo)
Final Round: Sunday 1pm-6pm (Fox Sports 503/Kayo)
FORMAT
The tournament will be contested over 72 holes of stroke play for the professionals with a separate team competition called the Victorian Celebrity Amateur Challenge played in conjunction. The field of 120 professionals will be paired with an amateur partner and play one round on both the Open and Legends courses at Moonah Links. The leading 50 professionals and ties will qualify for the final two rounds while in the teams event, the top 24 teams advance to Round 3 which is then pared back to the top eight for the final round. The final two rounds will both be played on the Open Course.
HEADLINERS
David Micheluzzi – Fresh off qualifying for the DP World Tour Playoffs in his rookie season, Micheluzzi was fifth at the BMW Australian PGA Championship and made the cut at the ISPS HANDA Australian Open. Micheluzzi came from six strokes in the final round to beat Ben Eccles by a shot 12 months ago.
Jack Buchanan – Continued his breakout season with a top-25 finish at the Australian Open. Winner of both the WA PGA and Webex Players Series South Australia this season already, Buchanan is currently fourth on the Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia Order of Merit.
Jasper Stubbs – The 2023 Asia Pacific Amateur champion was in contention for Australian Open glory late on Sunday at Kingston Heath. In just his sixth start since turning professional, Stubbs’s tie for third saw him climb 766 spots in the Official World Golf Ranking.
Nathan Barbieri – The winner of Qualifying School at Moonah Links in April, Barbieri started the season with three top-20 finishes, the best of which was a tie for sixth at the WA Open at Mandurah.
Anthony Quayle – Tied for third at the BMW Australian PGA Championship, Quayle has returned home to play the Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia as a way of relaunching his international career.
CELEBRITIES
Michael Pena – A passionate golfer, Pena’s Hollywood acting credits include Best Picture Academy Award winning films Million Dollar Baby and Crash along with highly acclaimed films End of Watch, The Martian and Ant-Man.
Dylan Alcott: Three-time Paralympic gold medallist and 2022 Australian of the Year
Dermott Brereton: AFL legend and five-time Hawthorn premiership winner
Brendon Fevola: Carlton great who is a two-time Coleman Medal winner and three-time All-Australian selection
Ryan Papenhuyzen: The Melbourne Storm NRL star was the Clive Churchill Medal winner in Melbourne’s 2020 grand final victory
Simon Marshall: Horse-racing identity who had 15 Group 1 wins as a jockey
RECENT CHAMPIONS
2023: David Micheluzzi
2022: Andrew Martin
2021: Blake Windred
2020: Chris Wood (Feb 2021)
2019: Campbell Rawson
2018: Aaron Pike
2017: Damien Jordan
2016: Ashley Hall
2015: Aaron Townsend
COURSE RECORD
Open Course: 62, Jim Herman (2010 Moonah Classic)
Legends Course: 62, Cameron John, Dimi Papadatos (2020 Vic PGA)
COURSE DESIGNER
Open Course: Peter Thomson, Mike Wolveridge and Ross Perrett
Legends Course: Ross Perrett
WPGA CEO Karen Lunn has won a major international award for her contribution to golf’s engagement with women and girls.
Lunn was named ‘International Woman of the Year’ at the annual awards presented by Women In Golf UK.
Lunn, who is still in the dark as to how she was nominated, is nevertheless proud.
“I’m really humbled and honoured because there are so many women around the world doing amazing things in golf,” she said. “To be even considered as a part of that group is an honour.”
Lunn is a former touring professional who played in Europe (1985-2013), on the LPGA Tour (1994-2002) and in Asia (1998-2005), serving on the LET board of directors for 14 years including a 10-year stint as chair as well as chair of the players’ council. A 10-time winner in Europe, the high point was her 1993 British Women’s Open victory.
In 2022, she became the first woman elected as Chair of the Australian Golf Industry Council, the collaboration of the main stakeholders in the sport.
She has witnessed much change in that period of almost 40 years.
“We’ve made great inroads the past few years,” she said. “We’ve gone from being really frustrated and at times it’s been a tough gig, to being really excited about the direction now. We’re in a much better place.
“What we’ve achieved working so closely with the PGA and Golf Australia since we put the five-year strategy in place, it’s really exciting. It’s a great time for women’s sport to evolve and to be recognised as a separate centrepiece to our male counterparts.
“We don’t want to be the poor man’s option, and not just a token organisation. There was a lot of that in the beginning: ‘Oh, we better have a woman’. Now there’s genuine commercial support from business and I think the Australian public is opening up. The Matildas were almost a revolution and the Women’s World Cup cricket, which I was fortunate enough to see live. There have been great moments.”
PGA Associate Katie Buckley hopes to see golf clubs across Australia express their creative side after launching a recycling initiative with a difference at Townsville Golf Club.
In the first year of the PGA’s Membership Pathway Program, Buckley transferred from the New South Wales South Coast to North Queensland earlier this year, a phone call from none other than seven-time major winner Karrie Webb convincing to pack the car – and her cat Denzel – and head north.
Shortly after arriving, Buckley was made aware of broken tees from the golf course being washed into adjoining waterways and, ultimately, out onto the Great Barrier Reef.
Sensing an opportunity to make a positive contribution to the club’s environmental impact while also feeding her creative side, Buckley instigated a ‘teecycling’ program that will result in an artwork that will be displayed in the clubhouse.
“We asked everyone to pick up five tees when they went out and played and to put them in a vase that we have on the counter at the pro shop,” says Buckley.
“The members got really engaged with it and the vase filled up really fast. Then the juniors got really excited and made it a little game within themselves.
“I’d be out playing and they would run over from other fairways with bundles of tees that they had collected.”
But it is not just the members at Townsville Golf Club who are excited by Buckley’s ‘teecycling’ program.
Rosemary Veitch is not only a member and Women’s Golf Group Coordinator at Townsville Golf Club but also a Townsville Northern Suburbs Lions Club member.
She presented the idea to a meeting of Lions Clubs in North Queensland, word spreading as far as south-east Queensland as ‘teecycling’ took on a life of its own.
“Rosemary’s very passionate about recycling and the environment so she was really excited when I wanted to do it,” Buckley adds.
“As well as the wooden tees, there are lots of little plastic tees that get broken which go into the waterways which is washing into our ecosystems with the animals and then feeds out into the reef water.
“As Rosemary said, it’s a little thing that everyone can do and it’s so easy to do, but actually if you compile it, it makes such a big difference.
“It was such a little idea. We’ll pick up the tees because they’re a problem and I’ll make an art project. And then within a couple of months, it’s literally spreading across Queensland and got so much interest, which is really cool.”
It also reaffirmed to Webb why she was so eager to have someone such as Buckley complete her PGA training at Townsville Golf Club.
“You can see how enthusiastic and full of energy she is,” Webb says.
“I think she’s someone that brings people together and all golf clubs need people like her.
“I look forward to seeing what Katie’s organised when I’m home next.”
With the vase on the pro shop constantly filling up, Buckley hopes to unveil her artwork to the Townsville members in March next year.
She is keeping tight-lipped on what can possibly be created with thousands of broken tees but would love to see other creative types express their visions at golf clubs across Australia.
“I went and played an Associates match at Tropics Golf Club recently and they had my poster up and a vase on the counter with tees in it,” she adds.
“I didn’t even know they were doing that, so it was cool to walk into another golf club and see it happening.
“Hopefully we see some cool art projects popping up in random golf courses all over Australia and perhaps I could judge them.
“I would love that. That would be right up my alley.”
Two PGA Professionals have played on the Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia this season while one team boasts a two-time international winner in 2024 as teams descend on Sanctuary Cove for the 2024 Scramble Championship Final.
Nineteen teams have qualified for an unforgettable week of golf on the Gold Coast with three rounds on The Palms Course at Sanctuary Cove, accommodation at the InterContinental Sanctuary Cove Resort and nightly functions.
It is the most coveted week for club golfers across the country, one team to return home as national champions.
It has already been a summer of celebrations for Willunga Golf Club in South Australia’s McLaren Vale region.
Host to the Webex Players Series South Australia tournament, Willunga has been in the grip of ‘Spud fever’ with the success of Steve Alderson on the G4D Tour in Europe.
Alderson’s story captured the hearts of golf fans across the globe after he became the first person with autism to win a G4D event.
His winning run continued upon his return home when he took out the Webex All Abilities Players Series event at Willunga and then jetted off to Dubai where he won the nett division of the G4D Tour Series Finale.
Fresh off playing the Australian All Abilities Championship at Kingston Heath, Alderson is joined in the Willunga team by Robert and Sarah Perrau, Di Meyer and PGA Professional Cameron Bickley, who took on the tour pros at Willunga in October.
Another tour pr who has rubbed shoulders with some of the best players in the game is Kiama Golf Club’s Wil Daibarra.
Currently completing the PGA’s Membership Pathway Program, Daibarra won the PGA Associate National Final at Cobram Barooga Golf Club, a win that earned him a start at the BMW Australian PGA Championship.
Round 1 of the Championship Final begins on Tuesday. You can follow scoring each day here.
Scramble Championship Final teams
Kooindah Waters Golf Club, NSW
Mitchell Brown (PGA Professional), Jordan Deeble, Dean Smith, Lee Moore, Mitchell McDonald.
The Links Shell Cove, NSW
David Sadd (PGA Professional), Cos Scazzariello, Bronwyn Sparks, Lorraine Southwell, Darren Sparks.
Nudgee Golf Club, Qld
Stuart Irving (PGA Professional), Hayden Munck, Luke Madden, Mitchell Siebenhausen, Scott Gleeson.
Kiama Golf Club, NSW
Wil Daibarra (PGA Associate), Steven Cupitt, Paul Atkins, Alan Piper, Neil Boles.
Lithgow Golf Club, NSW
Gavin MacPherson (PGA Professional), Harrison Bender, Brandan Horner, Nathan Mitchell, Glenn Piggot.
Pacific Dunes Golf Club, NSW
Brayden Petersen (PGA Professional), Troy Lucas, Anthony Lucas, Andrew Lucas, Anthony Lucas Snr.
Fairbairn Golf Club, ACT
Gary Dowling (PGA Professional), Ben Maroney, Warren Smith, Shawn Eriksen, Brett Halliday.
Toowoomba Golf Club, Qld
Brenton Fowler (PGA Professional), Douglas Gibson, Andrew Woolfe, Ian Watson, Carl Humphrey.
Beaudesert Golf Club, Qld
Lachlan Ritson (PGA Professional), Adrian Paterson, Robert Rochford, Michelle Rochford, Ross Arandale.
Moranbah Golf Club, Qld
Joshua Bevan (PGA Professional), Daniel McGovern, Bransan Giffin, Christopher Cherry, Kyle Cherry.
Proserpine Golf Club, Qld
Roger Vandenberg (PGA Professional), Ian Dunn, Christopher Dunn, Gregory James, Darren Symons.
Laidley Golf Club, Qld
Todd Iffland (PGA Professional), Chris Frangi, Russell Lamb, Lachlan Heshusius, Danillo Livotto.
Willunga Golf Club, SA
Cameron Bickley (PGA Professional), Robert Perrau, Sarah Perrau, Di Meyer, Stephen Alderson.
Ulverstone Golf Club, Tas
Darren Spencer (PGA Professional), Glen Richardson, Andrew Woodward, Justin Tomlin, Mitch Ferguson.
Warrnambool Golf Club, Vic
Ben Ford (PGA Professional), Ross Corbett, Thomas Batten, Matthew Wines, Luke Wines.
Shepparton Golf Club, Vic
Russell Kelly (PGA Professional), Natise Vandenbroek, Cameron Kearney, Marcia Waters, Leanne Bailey.
Maffra Golf Club, Vic
Matthew Portelli (PGA Professional), Luke Clohesy, Peter Alcock, Clinton Gartung, Craig Alcock.
Nedlands Golf Club, WA
Andrew Gott (PGA Professional), Andrew Ogilvie, Ben Unbehaun, Bradley Lyon, Todd Farrell.
Bunbury Golf Club
Jason Chellew (PGA Professional), Nathan Hearn, Bailey Alexander, David Faulkner, David Eckersley.
A host of Aussie greats will seek to extend their country’s recent dominance when Final Stage of the PGA TOUR Champions Qualifying Tournament tees off in Arizona on Tuesday.
A 15-time winner on the Japan Golf Tour with more than ¥1 billion in total prize money, Brendan Jones turns 50 next March but is hoping to join the growing band of Aussies plying their trade on the over-50s tour in the US.
Twelve months ago, medallist Cameron Percy, Steve Allan, David Bransdon and Michael Wright took four of the five spots on offer while Victorian Richard Green was medallist in 2022 to secure his status.
Joining Jones in trying to complete an Aussie hat-trick are Mathew Goggin, Brad Kennedy, Andre Stolz and Scott Barr.
A three-time winner on the Korn Ferry Tour, Goggin (pictured) has two top-five finishes on the Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia in the past 18 months and was runner-up at both the NSW Senior Open and Australian PGA Senior Championship in the past month. He made two starts on the Champions Tour in 2024 at the US Senior Open and Sanford International before taking medallist honours at First Stage of Q School two weeks ago.
A four-time PGA Legends Tour Order of Merit winner, Stolz won a second Australian PGA Senior at Richmond by five strokes and is making a return to Q School.
Kennedy’s three Japan Golf Tour wins and five PGA Tour of Australasia victories have all come after the age of 35 and is making his first Q School appearance after celebrating his 50th birthday in June.
A three-time winner on the PGA Legends Tour this season, 52-year-old Barr continues to make appearances on the PGA Tour of Australasia, finishing tied for 21st at the WA PGA Championship in Kalgoorlie in October.
As the seniors look ahead to 2025, West Australian Kirsten Rudgeley brought her Ladies European Tour season to an end in Spain.
Needing to finish top 10 on the Order of Merit to earn an exemption into Final Stage of LPGA Tour Q Series, Rudgeley had to settle for 12th after finishing tied for 37th at the Andalucia Costa Del Sol Open de Espana.
A tie for 37th was the best the Aussie contingent could muster also at the International Series Qatar, Justin Warren, Travis Smyth, Jed Morgan, Matt Jones and Zach Murray all coming in 15 strokes adrift of champion Peter Uihlein.
Photo: Alex Goodlett/Getty Images
Round 1 tee times AEDT
PGA TOUR Champions
Qualifying Tournament-Final Stage
TPC Scottsdale (Champions Cse), Scottsdale, Arizona
2:41am* Dominic Barson (NZ)
3:03am Mathew Goggin
3:14am* Andre Stolz
3:36am Brad Kennedy
4:09am Brendan Jones
4:42am Scott Barr
2023 champion: Cameron Percy
Past Aussie winners: Peter Senior (2009), Richard Green (2022), Cameron Percy (2023)
Prize money: $200,000
Results
Asian Tour
International Series Qatar
Doha Golf Club, Qatar
1 Peter Uihlein 68-64-71-69—272 $US450,000
T13 Ben Campbell (NZ) 70-70-71-72—283 $33,916.67
T37 Justin Warren 71-71-74-71—287 $14,510.42
T37 Zach Murray 72-69-72-74—287 $14,510.42
T37 Jed Morgan 73-70-73-71—287 $14,510.42
T37 Travis Smyth 75-69-73-70—287 $14,510.42
T37 Matt Jones 74-70-73-70—287 $14,510.42
T49 Jack Thompson 68-73-72-75—288 $11,500
T49 Aaron Wilkin 70-74-75-69—288 $11,500
T52 Wade Ormsby 71-73-69-76—289 $9,900
T66 Maverick Antcliff 70-71-76-77—294 $6,500
MC Kevin Yuan 71-77—148
MC Scott Hend 72-76—148
MC Andrew Dodt 70-78—148
MC Marcus Fraser 74-76—150
Japan Golf Tour
Golf Nippon Series JT Cup
Tokyo Yomiuri Country Club, Tokyo
1 Shaun Norris 67-68-65-68—268
T25 Michael Hendry 70-71-72-72—285
Ladies European Tour
Andalucia Costa Del Sol Open de Espana
Real Club Guadalhorce Golf, Spain
1 Carlota Ciganda 67-66-66-71—270 €105,000
T37 Kirsten Rudgeley 74-69-73-70—286 €4,382
Holding off a group of home favourites desperate to win the Stonehaven Cup, American Ryggs Johnston scored the biggest win of his professional career at the 2024 ISPS HANDA Australian Open at Kingston Heath today.
Holding off a group of home favourites desperate to win the Stonehaven Cup, American Ryggs Johnston scored the biggest win of his professional career at the 2024 ISPS HANDA Australian Open at Kingston Heath today.
The first American champion since Jordan Spieth claimed his second title in 2016 added his name alongside a list of illustrious countrymen that includes Tom Watson, Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer, and Gene Sarazen.
Johnston (65-68-68-68) was a three-shot winner at 18-under, with West Australian Curtis Luck finishing as runner-up after a final round 4-under 68. His weekend tally of 11-under coming after a 71-68 start.
Luck held the lead late in his round, however after three weeks of consecutive golf, the man from Cottesloe admitted he was running out of steam, and bogeys at 17 and 18 ensued.
Victorians Marc Leishman and Jasper Stubbs shared third place at 14-under, after both, like Luck, looked to threaten at certain points on Sunday.
Johnston, Luck and Leishman claimed the three 2025 Open Championship spots and can start planning for Royal Portrush,, Stubbs missing out due to Leishman having a better world ranking.
Having not won a four-round event since his high school days, Johnston gained his DP World Tour status just weeks ago through Qualifying School, and has now solidified his position.
“Getting a win and hopefully getting into more tournaments and just knowing that I’ve secured pretty legit status now, it’s great,” the 24-year-old said.
Having a look at the Stonehaven Cup while the media spoke with women’s winner Jiyai Shin, Johnston was able to take in the plethora of who’s who in golf that is etched into the Stonehaven Cup.
“It’s just really cool to be in that group,” he said. “I’m just pretty honoured to be able to put my name on it now too and I’ll cherish this moment forever.”
Johnston made his intentions clear early, pouring in a putt from off the first green for eagle, and backing it up with a birdie the third.
A trio of bogeys and another birdie had the American turn in 1-under, and at that point as the leaderboard tightened, a healthy group still had chances.
It was the back nine where Johnston made the championship his own however, coming home in 3-under with the wind and the rain intensifying, and playing for the most significant result of his young career took serious grit.
“On 14, I kind of hit it right again and wasn’t in a great spot and I got myself out of trouble and made a nice 12-15 footer for birdie there,” said Johnston of the defining moment for him.
“Then made a longer one on 15 and that’s kind of when I was really like, all right, you can win this tournament.
“It was definitely a little stressful. The weather was kind of up and down. It was really nice for 15 minutes and really bad for 15 minutes.
“I knew I was right in it and then when I walked up to 17 green, I finally saw the leaderboard and saw I had a three-shot lead and then I could take a little bit of a breath.”
Runner-up Luck said: “The finish wasn’t ideal, but at the end of the day I was not really hitting balls three months ago, so I don’t think I can complain too much.
“I’ve been pretty rusty the four events I’ve played down here in Australia and I think that probably showed down the stretch and I was doing my best to clinging on, but it got the better of me.
“I think I make it pretty hard on myself quite often, so if I could clean up those areas, yeah, I still believe absolutely 100 percent that I could be right up there with the best.”
After being in the lead for most of the tournament, home favourite Lucas Herbert (74) wound up in six-way share of fifth at -12. His challenge fell away with three bogeys and no birdies on the back nine, leaving the Ripper GC team member a frustrated man as he walked off 18.
Joining Herbert in the group six shots back were defending champion Joaquin Niemann (72), BMW Australian PGA winner Elvis Smylie (72) and fellow Aussie Harrison Crowe (71), Asia-Pacific Amateur champion Wenyi Ding (72) and a charging Kiradech Aphibarnrat (68).
Smylie made a mini run with three straight birdies on the front nine but couldn’t find his Royal Queensland magic over the closing nine.
However, the 22-year-old consolidated his lead at the top of the Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia standings before he heads off to the Nedbank Challenge on the DP World Tour.
Meanwhile, after his runner-up finish at the PGA, Cam Smith ended his Summer of Golf by finishing equal 39th at 3-under.
Ryggs Johnson, Curtis Luck and Marc Leishman are all going to Royal Portrush in 2025 to play the Open Championship after finishing top-three in the ISPS HANDA Australian Open at Kingston Heath.
Ryggs Johnson, Curtis Luck and Marc Leishman are all going to Royal Portrush in 2025 to play the Open Championship after finishing top-three in the ISPS HANDA Australian Open at Kingston Heath.
For today’s runner-up, Western Australian Luck, it is bonus after a difficult period battling a bulging disc in his neck and nerve issues that impacted his season in America.
“Obviously that (the Open) is a massive perk. The finish wasn’t ideal, but at the end of the day, I was not really hitting balls three months ago so I don’t think I can complain too much.”
Leishman has a good record in the Open Championship, including runner-up (beaten in a playoff) in 2015.
“It’d be nice not to have to do the qualifier, 36 holes in one day at my age is not a lot of fun,” he said.
“Very excited to get back to Portrush. I had a great time there last time, didn’t play great but I really like the course. I can’t wait to get back there and enjoy Northern Ireland.”
PHOTO: Marc Leishman celebrates another birdie during his final round at Kingston Heath. Image: Rob Prezioso
With his Australian Summer of Golf campaign over, Cam Smith has expressed his desire to repeat the visit back home again on the 2025/26 Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia.
Smith’s run of four tournaments, which was hugely appreciated by everyone connected with Australian golf, started at the Queensland PGA at Nudgee, continued at the Ford NSW Open at Murray Downs and BMW Australian PGA Championship at Royal Queensland and ended at the ISPS HANDA Australian Open at Kingston Heath.
Although a win proved to be elusive, with two runners-up finishes the best results, he did thrill the crowds with his golf, helping to build crowd figures, broadcast ratings and media coverage.
“I would love to,” Smith said today when asked if would repeat this year’s well received longer return to the Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia.
“I think I’ve got to take that as it comes. As everyone knows now we’re expecting (a baby in March), so I think that’s going to have a big thing to do with it, which was really part of the reason why I wanted to do it this year.
“But we finish (LIV Golf) again in the middle of August, so there’s no reason that I can’t play at least one or two more again.
“I’ve loved doing it … so whether it’s the same two (Tour events) or a different two, I don’t really know, but yeah, I would love to do it again.”
Smith signed off with a birdie at the last of his 288 holes for the Australian summer, posting a round of 71 at Kingston Heath for an Open tally of -3 and a tie for 41st, well short of his goal to win the Stonehaven Cup for the first time.
After an opening round of 65 at Victoria Golf Club, he had moved to 11-under midway through his second round before a back nine of +5 put a severe dent in his chances.
“I guess that back nine on Friday really just kind of hurt and it was kind of hard to get over. I was frustrated and angry that whole night. Got a terrible sleep, up all night thinking about it,” he said.
“I feel like I did a lot right, particularly the three weeks before this, and yeah, when you have nine holes like that, when it kind of comes out the blue like it did, it’s just really frustrating, particularly the spot I was in.
“I didn’t really need to do too much more to be in the golf tournament, so it’s just really frustrating.”
Jasper Stubbs is on familiar territory, with family and friends on hand, and he is lapping up the ISPS HANDA Australian Open.
Not only that, he has put himself in contention with his third-round 68 at Kingston Heath, a chance of a win in his first few months as a professional.
Victorian Stubbs, 22, sits just two shots from the lead entering the final round on Sunday having turned pro only this season.
“I mean, my last event before this wasn’t the best, but I spent some time getting back to where I know my good golf is, and this for me around Sandbelt golf is just me playing my good golf,” he said. “So it’s not unusual. I don’t feel out place at all. So it’s a nice feeling this early on in my career.”
Stubbs plays out of nearby Peninsula Kingswood Country Golf Club, and has not wanted for support.
“I’ve got some of the guys from my golf course, PK out this week. My mum and my dad have been out this week. And yeah, golf coaches, friends, family, it’s been great to have them out and staying 10 minutes away with mum’s cooking is pretty nice as well.”
Another young Australian dreaming the dream is Elvis Smylie, last week’s BMW Australian PGA Championship victor who has backed up strongly and sits tied-third with Stubbs at 12-under par.
The 22-year-old started out hot – three birdies in the first six holes on Saturday – but then his tee shot plugged in a bunker at the par-3 eighth, and he double bogeyed the ninth to lose momentum.
But he never let it slide completely, which is a measure of his new maturity.
For the first time, he had his own mascot, an Elvis impersonator behind the green at the 15th.
“I mean, you can’t miss that outfit, so I ended up lagging my putt down from like 15, 20 feet and then I threw the ball right to him because it’s pretty cool seeing that stuff though,” he said. “That was probably one of the highlights of the day actually, besides the golf.”
Some commentary about his pace of play – Cameron Smith alluded to it on Friday – did not bother him either.
“I’m not putting too much emphasis on it,” he said. “I mean, I felt like I did a really good job today at making sure that I was always the first person to walk first off the tee box, and I did a good job with my pace today.”
Lucas Herbert has been here before, so to speak.
At the 2017 ISPS HANDA Australian Open in Sydney he played in the final group on the last day and faded, and last year at The Australian he hit the lead midway through his round but threw in a double bogey to extinguish his fire.
On Sunday, we will all find out exactly how much the Victorian has improved because in the whole world, there is no other tournament outside a major that he would rather win.
Especially at home, with family and friends in tow, on a course where he often played pennant for Commonwealth as a teenage prodigy from the provincial city of Bendigo.
Herbert shares the lead with American rookie pro Ryggs Johnston at 14-under through three rounds having cobbled a third-round 72, even-par, despite not bringing his best in wet conditions that encouraged low-scoring on soft greens.
“A little bit frustrating, but sort of no ground lost really,” he said. “I’m still in the lead, might just let a few more people back in the tournament, but still leading, still where I want to be.”
Melburnian Jasper Stubbs, Queenslander Elvis Smylie (who threw his golf ball to an Elvis impersonator behind the 15th green), defending champion Joaquin Niemann (64 today), China’s Wenyi Ding and Finland’s Oliver Lindell are all well-placed at 12 under, just two from the lead.
Another local favourite Marc Leishman (68 today) is in the group at 11-under who are also well within reach. There are 11 players within three shots at the top heading into what will be a pulsating Sunday at Kingston Heath.
Herbert begin with a four-shot lead and was quickly reeled in, then overtaken by Ryggs, the 24-year-old from upcountry Montana who’s hanging out to go back to America for a spot of fishing in a few weeks’ time.
Johnston, whose Christian name comes from Mel Gibson’s character in the Lethal Weapon movie, made five birdies in six holes from the fourth and held the lead outright for a stretch.
But Herbert made a great birdie on the par-4 ninth and parred the last nine holes. That was enough for a share of the lead thanks to the American’s meltdown double bogey at the 14th when he drove into the mulga.
He’s a different player now; more settled than he used to be, and physically stronger since he’s found the weight room for the first time in his life. His success on the PGA Tour and his switch to LIV Golf have made him wealthy; but an Australian Open win would be priceless for him.
Riggs is playing just his second pro tournament having graduated through DP World Tour school and said that the experience had helped him. “That final round (at tour school) is one of the most pressured. I mean, it’s a different type of pressure there and I did pretty well. So I just try to take that with me and use it as something we’ll look back on to kind tell myself that, ‘hey there, a lot of people watch it and a lot of pressure, but you can still do this’.”
Herbert, his playing partner, certainly noticed a certain freedom to the American’s play. “It looks so easy for Ryggs who doesn’t probably care about the Australian Open as much as I do, with no disrespect to him. It just means so much being my home national Open, I’d love to put one of these on my resume.”
One Australian who won’t lift the Stonehaven Trophy is Cameron Smith (76 today), who at one point on Friday was 11-under, but who from that point played 25 holes without a birdie.
PHOTO: Lucas Herbert drives during round three at Kingston Heath. Image: Daniel Pockett
