Want to recieve exclusive news, videos, tournament highlights, golf important tips and more ?
Want to recieve exclusive news, videos, tournament highlights, golf important tips and more ?
US-based Kiwi golfer Tim Wilkinson is on a voyage into the unknown when he tees off in the 103rd New Zealand Open presented by Sky Sport at Millbrook Resort in Queenstown this week.
The 45-year-old left-hander is making a return to the game after more than two years out following injury and surgery, choosing to make his competitive return at the New Zealand Open, a co-sanctioned event with the Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia and the Asian Tour, in partnership with the Japan Golf Tour.
Wilkinson, a former leading amateur, turned professional two decades ago, joining the Nationwide Tour in 2005 and progressing to the PGA Tour in 2008, where he had a meteoric start, finishing third in the Zurich Classic and runner-up in the Texas Open.
The Florida-based Kiwi, who has mixed his professional life on the PGA and Korn Ferry Tours, has been hampered by injuries that have tested his resolve.
His knee issues have been the most debilitating, rendering him unable to swing or workout without pain, choosing to get a full repair done, which has required extended time out. Worse, his surgery was delayed five months because of a covid spike in his home city of Jacksonville.
“I’ve lost a lot of muscle and strained an abductor which caused a lot of inflammation for a long time. And there’s no muscle regrowth nor mobility,” said Wilkinson, who has always prided himself on his fitness regime.
“I’ve worked hard on recovery although I still do not have full mobility back by any means. But I need to get going if I want to keep playing. I can do regular activities but not hit balls to the amount required.
“Coming back to the New Zealand Open was an opportunity to come home – it’s been five years – and an opportunity to play competitively.”
He has not contested the New Zealand Open since 2019 and he was tied for 11th 2018.
Wilkinson has not played the revamped and extended Millbrook Resort course, and is putting no pressure on himself next week.
“I could be pushing it slightly but I just have no idea how I am going to play. I can hit all the balls I want but until I tee it up in a tournament, I have no idea. It will be a good baseline to see how I am playing.
‘’Four rounds in the 60s would be good. Play solidly and be composed but I am not getting ahead of myself. But the drive is still there to play at the highest level.’’
Wilkinson will be among the field of 156 players who will all be looking to claim their share of the $2m NZD prize purse in the 103rd New Zealand Open presented by Sky Sport which tees off on Thursday at Millbrook Resort, Queenstown.
Live coverage will be available on Fox Sports via Foxtel and Kayo
For more information about the New Zealand Open please visit nzopen.com
Kelsey Bennett has blitzed her way through the Sunday match-play finals to be crowned – literally – The Athena champion.
The 24-year-old, who celebrated her birthday only weeks ago, played consistently in Saturday’s Combine skills challenges, plotting her way around without any stand-out shots, before a clinical Sunday performance.
“I just thought I’d aim for the win yesterday, and worse case I’d finish where I was,” she said.
“I didn’t end up using the mulligan because I was playing steady enough that I just couldn’t really choose a time to play it.”
Today the woman from New South Wales revealed she was saving her best game for the Sunday matches, going -1, -1 and Even in her three four-hole matches.
“I just felt like I knew exactly where the ball was going to go the whole time, so yeah, it’s a good feeling,” Bennett said, drenched in champagne.
Bennett faced the in-form Jess Whitting in her first match of the day, and looked to have the win secured before a long par-saving Whitting putt on the last.
Forced to make a tester now for par herself to tie and force a putt-off, Bennett stepped up and poured it in, and again in the putt-off while Whitting missed. One down.
Her second match proved to be a little easier, with Sarah Yamaki Branch – who knocked out day one leader Cassie Porter – struggling off the tee against Bennett. Two down.
Amy Chu, who defeated Steph Bunque in an extended putt-off and Elmay Viking in rounds one and two, stood between Bennett and the trophy.
An eagle-par-par start for Bennett, to Chu’s birdie-bogey-bogey afforded Bennett a three shot buffer heading down the last.
Finding the fairway bunker off the tee, then the back greenside bunker, Bennett’s buffer began to shrink.
The shrinking continued on the putting surface with a couple of missed putts, but the scoring and hard work over the first three holes allowed for that, Bennett finally tapping in to make The Athena trophy hers.
Bennett heads to the Singapore Women’s Open next week, before the Women’s NSW Open and the Australian Women’s Classic, where a another win could prove life-changing.
The Athena is Bennett’s biggest win, adding to her WPGA Tour of Australasia Qualifying School win last year.
In true Athena fashion, all the competitors were out supporting the remaining groups all day, where the camaraderie and fun atmosphere bleeds into the strong competition.
In its fourth year, The Athena has demonstrated again that this is golf done different. It is fun, exciting, and let’s Australia’s brightest golfers showcase their skill and personality.
The dancing was back. The camaraderie was back. The serious golf was back. The Athena’s fourth iteration picked up right where it left off at Peninsula Kingswood Country Golf Club today, with Cassie Porter finishing The Combine skills challenges on top, picking up $5000 in the process.
Porter, who played on the Epson Tour last year, is enjoying her summer back home and will begin the day two Playoffs as the number one seed.
The Queenslander had a somewhat slow start to the day, but an expertly crafted shot – using PK’s slopes to her advantage – on the nearest the pin final challenge secured her the maximum 25 points and her position atop the leaderboard.
The second hole on PK’s North Course is stout but is protected by a tricky perched green, and off the club Porter’s ball looked to be heading straight for the right bunkers.
“It felt so strange because I haven’t hit many balls,” Porter laughed.
“I’ve played the hole few times, I know it slopes left so it was nice to get a good kick, and obviously it just kind of fed down to the pin.”
Each player was able to take one mulligan for the day, with Porter taking advantage of the opportunity on the long drive, her second ball earning her the maximum points in that challenge too.
While obviously pleased with her golf, the highlight for Porter today was the fun. The Athena is golf done different, with the players relishing in the opportunity to wear what they want, dance to the music and egg each other on.
“Hopefully I just continue that fun. It’s a fun week, and whether I come out on top or whether I don’t I’m ok,” she said.
“We’ve got such a great group of girls this year.”
Steph Bunque’s driving iron on the 200-metre optimum drive, which came within centimetres of the flag, was the clear shot of the day.
Another highlight came early in the day, with Danni Vasquez almost holing the tricky flop-shot over the creek, bouncing it off the flagstick.
While Skye Lampton shook off the nerves of being on camera and stuck it close on the first challenge of the day, the 100-metre shot.
The non-golf related highlights were headlined by a Rhianna Lewis backflip on the tee-box, right before piping her long-drive attempt.
A strong contender was Sarah Yamaki Branch’s dance moves, which didn’t stop all day, the staff making sure the speaker followed the players wherever they went.
While the vibes are still high, four players from today do miss out on advancing to Sunday’s Playoffs.
The only place to watch The Athena live is on Fox Sports, available on Foxtel and Kayo.
Skye Lampton is tremendously proud to be the first Indigenous woman to play The Athena, the unique women’s tournament which visits Peninsula Kingswood Country Golf Club for the first time this weekend.
The Dagoman, Wardaman and Gurindji woman was named Darwin Sportsperson of the Year at last year’s NAIDOC Week celebrations, and this week the amateur gets to test her game against some of the country’s best professionals.
“Proud. Very proud. If I talk about it too much I’ll cry,” Lampton said ahead of the Saturday afternoon kickoff.
Although this week will be a new test for Lampton, she has rubbed shoulders with the big names once or twice before, most notably playing in the ISPS HANDA Australian Open pro-am alongside Jan Stephenson and Grace Kim.
“I was playing with Jan Stephenson, so I had to you know practise to impress. Which I think I did because I got invited to this,” said Lampton.
Practice has been high on Lampton’s agenda over the last few months, spending three to four hours a day working on her game in preparation for The Athena.
That preparation will be crucial over the two days of competition, with the format of The Athena designed to test every part of a golfer’s game and skill-set.
“I think probably the 100-metre nearest-the-pin shot, and the long-drive,” Lampton said of the challenges she fancies on day one.
“I’m very nervous about the bunker shot, and the flop shot. I hope I don’t skinny it and like knock somebody out on the other side,” she laughed.
Of course she hopes to play her best and compete, but Lampton knows how important this weekend, and her being here, is for the younger generations coming through.
“Whatever happens out there happens. At least I made it here, and I hope this is kind of a stepping stone for other Indigenous girls and boys,” she said.
Those girls and boys, as well as thousands of others, will be watching Skye over the weekend, with The Athena broadcast live on Foxtel and Kayo.
While her competitors may be veteran on-screen golfers, this another element of the weekend that Skye will have to adjust too.
“I’m trying not to think about everybody watching me at home,” she said.
“When I was in the bar where everybody sits after golf, and like on the TV was the women’s golf, and I was like ‘ahhhhh that’s going to be me!’.
While she might not like to think about it, it’s likely the Darwin Golf Club will be packed over the weekend, proud to cheer her on.
The only place to watch The Athena live is on Fox Sports, available on Foxtel and Kayo.
A red-hot Peter Lonard produced the first round of 59 in PGA Legends Tour history to score a remarkable victory at the Moama Masters on Rich River Golf Club’s East Course on Friday.
The three-time Australian PGA champion and two-time Australian Open winner collected 12 birdies on his record-setting day and would have posted a 58 had he not bogeyed his final hole, the short par-3 ninth, where he found the greenside bunker.
Feeling some nerves in the moment, the 56-year-old holed a bogey putt from just inside two metres to break the magical 60 barrier for the first time in his career. He had two rounds of 60 more than two decades ago.
Lonard’s great day out sent PGA Legends Tour officials searching through their records to establish whether he had become the first player to beat 60 in an over-50s professional event in Australia.
While there have been a number of 60s on a par-64 course and a 61 on a par-67 course, the check revealed that no-one had managed to achieve what Lonard had just completed.
After starting the second day nine shots behind the overnight lead after an opening 3-over 73, the Sydneysider’s 14-shot turnaround was enough to claim the 36-hole Masters by one stroke over John Onions, who closed with a 63 to finish on 7-under.
American Shaquill Mongol and England’s Ben Jackson had a chance to draw level with Lonard at -8, but they both bogeyed their final hole to drop back to a share of third.
Simon Tooman produced another final-round highlight with a hole-in-one on the 145m eighth hole.
HOW THE WINNING SCORE UNFOLDED
Starting his day on the 10th tee, Lonard picked up six birdies in three groups of two on his first nine (holes 11-12, 14-15 and 17-18).
Another spurt of birdies, three in a row from the second to the fourth, moved him to 9-under-par for the day and he reached double-figures under-par with a three on the par-4 sixth.
Two more birdies on the seventh and eighth holes had him standing at 12-under for his round coming to the last.
WHAT THE WINNER SAID
“It was a bit of a day today,” Lonard said.
“Yesterday I was never playing again, giving up golf and getting a job and today all of a sudden I’m back, I love the game and everything’s happy.
“It’s a funny game. Sometimes it gives it to you and sometimes it doesn’t.
“It’s the first time I’ve had a 59. I’ve had a couple of other goes at it. I parred the last in Sao Paulo years ago for a 60 and at the Jack Newton Classic at Twin Waters (in 2002) I missed a putt for a 59.
“I didn’t think I’d get another chance of doing it. It’s a nice little thing to happen towards the end of my career I suppose.
“I was very happy to see that last putt go in.”
LEADERBOARD RUNDOWN
-8: Peter Lonard (73-59)
-7: John Onions (70-63)
-6: Shaquill Mongol (68-66); Murray Lott (66-68); Ben Jackson (64-70)
-5: Mark Boulton (65-70)
-4: Terry Price (70-66); Peter Senior (69-67)
NEXT UP
The Melbourne swing on the PGA Legends Tour gets underway with the Southern Golf Club Legends Pro-Am on Monday followed by Settlers Run (Tuesday), Albert Park (Thursday) and Gardiners Run (Friday).
Ahead of the Webex Players Series Hunter Valley last week, Jess Whitting put in a special request to her parents before they made the journey east from Perth to watch her play.
With a few consecutive missed cuts, Whitting thought she’d take a chance on welcoming back an old friend – the Scotty Cameron California Del Mar putter she used as a junior.
After a top-10 finish and $7000 payday, it’s safe to say the West Australian made an inspired call, and that the old Scotty is staying in the bag for The Athena at Peninsula Kingswood this weekend.
“The newer putter hasn’t been rejected, it’s just been pushed aside,” she joked.
Hailing from Marandurah Country Club, Whitting has been honing her craft on the college golf scene over the last few years at Rogers State University and the University of South Florida.
In the professional ranks, her career highlight to date came just weeks into the new year, where a hole-in-one at the Webex Players Series Murray River earned her a $93,000 BMW i4 eDrive35, one seriously life-changing shot.
“It makes me feel a little bit more confident with my game,” Whitting said off the back of her strong week in Hunter Valley.
“My game is at a good place that I can feel pretty confident going into this week, but then again this is my first time (at The Athena) so I have no idea what to expect.”
With the unique format of The Athena which involves skills challenges on day one and four-hole matchplay on day two, first timers like Whitting make take a while to find their feet, but the 26-year-old knows she will be able to play to her strengths.
“The long drive, and I think one of them is like a 130-metre shot, and I’m like ‘I do like that distance’,” she said.
The player Whitting sees as the one to beat is her close friend Cassie Porter, and with the social nature of the event, she suggests some good natured trash-talking may be needed.
“You can’t fault Cassie. You know her game is pretty good at the moment. She’s pretty dialled in,” said Whitting.
If Whitting can make it through the day one combine, she’s confident she can really make a good run for the trophy in the day two matchplay playoffs.
If that old Scotty gets hot on Sunday again, watch out.
He might be the most unlikely player on the PGA TOUR Champions in 2024 but Queensland’s Michael Wright is determined to make the most of his rookie season on the senior tour.
Wright will make his Champions Tour debut in Morocco on Thursday night AEDT the day after celebrating his 50th birthday.
Teeing it up against major champions including Tom Lehman, Jose Maria Olazabal, John Daly and Angel Cabrera might be the best birthday present Wright could hope for, a gift that has been 10 years in the making.
Winner of the 2011 WA PGA Championship when it was on the secondary Von Nida Tour, Wright’s career has been largely spent just fighting to keep the dream alive.
He has juggled professional golf with his career as a PE teacher but changed the trajectory of his career in spectacular fashion when he holed his third shot for birdie on the 72nd hole of Champions Tour Final Qualifying School last December.
As improbable as it all may seem, it’s the culmination of a plan hatched a decade ago.
“I could not fast forward time quick enough,” Wright said of the goal he set himself after turning 40.
“As soon as you get into adulthood you want to rewind the clock. But I was always trying to fast forward it.”
“Now I’m trying to pause it because I’m obviously the youngest of the lot over there.”
Inspired by the performances of Kiwi Steven Alker the past two years, Wright begins his Champions Tour journey in good form.
Thanks in no small part to a dedicated gym regimen and daily stretching routines, Wright is physically in good shape and has amassed four top-10 finishes this season on the Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia.
It’s why he joins the senior circuit with high hopes.
“I’m such a more complete player now,” Wright insists.
“That’s partly maturity, partly that flexibility and strength. I’m probably stronger now than I ever was.
“It’s always been hard because I’ve had that financial gremlin knocking at my head in the subconscious.
“I think I’ll even play better as the year goes on because that financial bug that’s in the back of my head will disappear.
“This year will be great and then the following years, if all goes well, it’ll just keep getting better and better I think.
“But I’ve really got to make my mark in the first few years. That’s my best chance.”
"It was one shot, but it was 25 years of hard work." ❤️
— PGA TOUR Champions (@ChampionsTour) December 9, 2023
With a hole-out birdie at the 72nd hole, Michael Wright is a 2024 Champions Tour member! pic.twitter.com/MrQpmollJf
As Wright expands the Aussie presence to nine in Morocco, West Australian Hannah Green makes her first appearance for 2024 at the Honda LPGA Thailand.
Starting the year No.28 in the Rolex Women’s World Golf Ranking, Green will be keen to stave off the challenge posed by both Grace Kim and Stephanie Kyriacou with the Paris Olympics less than six months away.
Harrison Endycott and Aaron Baddeley will be joined by Kiwi Ryan Fox at the PGA TOUR Mexico Open and there are 17 Aussies teeing it up at the International Series Oman on the Asian Tour.
Round 1 tee times AEDT
PGA TOUR
Mexico Open at Vidanta
Vidanta Vallarta, Vallarta, Mexico
12:41am* Maverick McNealy, Ben Taylor, Ryan Fox (NZ)
1:47am Harrison Endycott, David Skinns, Matt Atkins
5:15am Nate Lashley, Aaron Baddeley, Alex Smalley
Defending champion: Tony Finau
Past Aussie winners: David Graham (1980), Jarrod Lyle (2008, Nationwide Tour)
Prize money: $US8.1 million
TV times: Live 2am-11am Friday, Saturday; Live 1am-10am Sunday, Monday on Fox Sports 503 and Kayo.
DP World Tour
Magical Kenya Open
Muthaiga GC, Nairobi, Kenya
3:20pm* Josphat Rono, Connor McKinney, Kristian Krogh Johannessen
4:30pm Sam Jones (NZ), Om Prakash Chouhan, Ronald Rugumayo
9:10pm* Haydn Barron, Benjamin Rusch, Andrea Pavan
9:40pm* Thomas Power Horan, Oliver Bekker, Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen
Defending champion: Jorge Campillo
Past Aussie winners: Nil
Prize money: $US2.5 million
TV times: Live 9pm-2am Thursday, Friday; Live 8:30pm-1am Saturday; Live 8pm-1am Sunday on Fox Sports 503 and Kayo.
Asian Tour
International Series Oman
Al Mouj Golf, Oman
1:45pm Aaron Wilkin, Justin Quiban, William Harrold
1:45pm* Justin Warren, Ye Wocheng, Saud Al Sharif
2:15pm* Wade Ormsby, Sebastian Munoz, Jinichiro Kozuma
2:35pm Andrew Dodt, Michael Maguire, Jeev Milkha Singh
2:55pm* Poom Saksansin, Sihwan Kim, Harrison Crowe
3:15pm Faisal Salhab, Deyen Lawson, Yeongsu Kim
6:25pm* Tatsunori Shogenji, Joshua Grenville-Wood, Maverick Antcliff
6:35pm Sampson Zheng (a), Jaco Ahlers, Jack Thompson
6:45pm Ratchanon Chantananuwat (a), Danny Lee (NZ), Eugenio Chacarra
6:45pm* Richard T Lee, Scott Hend, Matt Jones
6:55pm Ben Campbell (NZ), Branden Grace, Scott Vincent
7:05pm Travis Smyth, Dean Burmester, Kieran Vincent
7:15pm Denwit Boriboonsub, Lucas Herbert, Takumi Kanaya
7:15pm* Pavit Tangkamolprasert, Seungtaek Lee, Jed Morgan
7:35pm* Kevin Yuan, Rattanon Wannasrichan, Mingyu Cho
7:45pm* Carlos Pigem, Junggon Hwang, Todd Sinnott
7:55pm Jared Du Toit, Marcus Fraser, Chikkarangappa S
7:55pm* Zach Murray, Ervin Chang, Wooyoung Cho
Defending champion: Takumi Kanaya
Past Aussie winners: Nil
Prize money: $US2 million
TV times: Live 8:30pm-12:30am Thursday on Fox Sports 507; Live 10:30pm-12:30am Friday on Fox Sports 505; Live 7pm-11pm Saturday, Sunday on Fox Sports 507 and Kayo.
LPGA Tour
Honda LPGA Thailand
Siam Country Club (Old Cse), Chonburi, Thailand
12:02pm Hannah Green, Natthakritta Vongtaveelap, Chanettee Wannasaen
12:26pm* A Lim Kim, Stephanie Kyriacou, Anna Nordqvist,
12:38pm Sarah Kemp, Xiyu Lin, Emily Kristine Pedersen
12:50pm Erika Hara, Nasa Hataoka, Grace Kim
Defending champion: Lilia Vu
Past Aussie winners: Nil
Prize money: $US1.7 million
TV times: Live 2:30pm-7pm Thursday; Live 2pm-7pm Friday; Live 5pm-7:30pm Saturday, Sunday on Fox Sports 503 and Kayo.
Ladies European Tour
Lalla Meryem Cup
Royal Golf Dar Es Salam (Blue Cse), Morocco
7:25pm* Hannah Burke, Anne-Lise Caudal, Momoka Kobori (NZ)
12:07am Sophie Witt, Cara Gorlei, Kirsten Rudgeley
Defending champion: Maja Stark
Past Aussie winners: Karen Lunn (2012)
Prize money: €450,000
PGA TOUR Champions
Trophy Hassan II
Royal Golf Dar Es Salam, Rabat, Morocco
7:52pm Rob Labritz, Ángel Cabrera, Stuart Appleby
7:52pm* Tim Petrovic, John Senden, Olin Browne
8:16pm Tom Gillis, David McKenzie, Billy Mayfair
8:40pm* Steve Allan, Ricardo Gonzalez, Carlos Franco
8:52pm* Michael Jonzon, Russ Cochran, David Bransdon
9:04pm* Michael Wright, Esteban Toledo, Joakim Haeggman
9:16pm Richard Green, Billy Andrade, Boo Weekley
9:28pm Ken Duke, Rod Pampling, Paul Broadhurst
9:40pm KJ Choi, José María Olazábal, Mark Hensby
Defending champion: Stephen Ames
Past Aussie winners: Nil
Prize money: $US2 million
TV times: Live 1am-3am Friday; Live 12:30am-3am Saturday; Live 12am-3am Sunday on Fox Sports 505 and Kayo.
Challenge Tour
NMB Championship
Humewood GC, Port Elizabeth, South Africa
5pm* Hayden Hopewell, Peter Karmis, James Kamte
Defending champion: Dylan Mostert
Past Aussie winners: Nil
Prize money: $US350,000
Cancer-survivor Michael Hendry firmly believes he can add a second New Zealand Open title to his resume when the 103rd event tees off in Queenstown next week.
Now a cancer-free, leaner, fitter Hendry – more worldly for his experiences – is confident he can play a major hand at the New Zealand Open at Millbrook Resort. And what has changed, should he not attain his goals, is that he is at peace with his journey to return to the game he loves.
His last biopsy has come back negative of any trace of leukaemia and now he is turning his attention to achievement on the golf course.
“Success nine months ago would have been just being able to turn up,” said Hendry.
“Fortunately, the hard work I have done has put me in a position where I feel I have a genuine chance to win the tournament if things click.”
For the full story click here
Photo: Courtesy of Photosport NZ
Everything you need to know ahead of the fourth edition of The Athena on February 24-25.
Being played for the first time at the renowned Peninsula Kingswood Country Golf Club, The Athena is golf done differently. Each of the players will face nine skills-based challenges on day one with the top eight players on the points tally proceeding to the matchplay play-offs on the second day.
Most of the day one skills challenges will take place on PK’s world-class short-game practice facility, with all players completing a challenge before they move on to the next as a group.
The day two playoff matches are over four holes of the North Course, with the eventual winner having to win three matches in a row to claim the trophy.
The Athena provides a platform for some of Australia’s best young players to showcase their skill and tell their stories.
While the comradery will be high, so too will the competitive atmosphere, with the 12 players battling it out for a $50,000 prize purse.
FORMAT
Day 1: The Combine – Saturday
Day 2: The Playoffs – Sunday
HOW TO FOLLOW
For live scoring and the latest news visit https://theathena.wpga.org.au/
Exclusive content and tournament updates will also be posted regularly on the WPGA Tour of Australasia channels.
Instagram: @WPGATour
Twitter: @WPGATour
Facebook: @WPGATour
Official hashtag: #TheAthena
HOW TO WATCH
In person – spectators will be admitted FREE at Peninsula Kingswood Country Golf Club.
On your screen – the only place to watch The Athena live is on Fox Sports, available on Foxtel and Kayo 3pm-7pm AEDT on Saturday and Sunday. Click HERE.
FORMER CHAMPIONS
2023: Grace Lennon (Vic)
2022: Kirsten Rudgeley (WA)
2021: Kristalle Blum (SA)
COURSE DESIGNER
OCMM – Mike Cocking (lead designer)
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Cassie Porter: 2023 Epson Tour player
Jess Whitting: Top-10 at Webex Players Series Hunter Valley
Kelsey Bennett: Consistent Webex Players Series performer since 2022
Click HERE to find out more about all 12 players.
PHOTO: the 18th green on PK’s North Course. Ross Flannigan.
A blistering finish over the final five holes enabled Grahame Stinson and Greg Smith to split the Victorian PGA Seniors Foursome Championship with Guy Wall and Perry Parker.
Playing for the Jack Harris and Brian Twite Trophy on the West Course at Rich River Golf Club, the winning pairs both posted scores of 4-under 67 but did so in vastly different fashion.
Out in the first group of the day, Wall and Parker began their round with a birdie and were 2-under through five holes before making the turn at 1-under.
They moved back to 2-under with a birdie at the par-4 11th and then edged clear with back-to-back birdies on 15 and 16.
When they walked off the 11th hole in the group directly behind, Stinson and Smith were 1-over par and three shots off the pace but would turn that around in spectacular fashion.
A birdie on 12 got them back to level par and followed that up with four straight birdies from the 14th hole to match Wall and Parker’s 4-under total.
The legendary Peter Senior and great mate Greg Rix were outright third at 3-under 68 with four pairings sharing fourth spot at 2-under.
The PGA Legends Tour stays at Rich River Golf Club for the next two days to play the Moama Masters on the East Course.
