Now engaged to girlfriend Erika after popping the question on a hill overlooking Lake Wakatipu, the Ripper GC team member, currently ranked third on the Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia Order of Merit, is hunting down the No.1, Elvis Smylie, at Millbrook Resort, starting on Thursday.

Smylie, the BMW Australian PGA champion, comes into the week with a 512-point lead, but he can be overtaken, or alternatively he can secure the title, with 760 points to be awarded to the winner on Sunday.

Another three events remain on the Tour schedule in March, with Smylie and Herbert yet to lock in any further appearances – for now anyway.

Herbert, the 2024 Ford NSW Open champion, would love to tick off three items on his hitlist  – winning the NZ Open after coming close in 2020, an event he says still haunts him, earning The Open Championship berth which goes to the victor and claiming the Order of Merit top spot for the first time.

Currently, both Herbert and Smylie don’t have a major on their 2025 schedule – or an Order of Merit title.

“There’s certainly a lot going on this week and to be honest, it’s a week that I’ve looked forward to for a few weeks now, because I knew this challenge would come up,” Herbert said.

“There’s not much I can do about Elvis this week. If he plays well, he’s probably going to put the Order of Merit too far away for any of us to catch.

“If I win I’ll give myself the best chance to obviously win that order of merit. So that’s the main focus.”

Back on his home tour for the first time since the ISPS HANDA Australian Open, Smylie knows he’s a hunted man this week as he tries to consolidate his hold on No.1 or even clinch the OOM title by winning on Sunday afternoon.

“It was a goal of mine at the start of the season last October – to win the order of Merit and the accolades that do come with winning the Order of Merit are quite big.

“Two out of the four majors, potentially more. It’s a dream of mine to play majors. It’s a dream of mine to compete against the best players in the world and to see where my game adds up and I’ve just got to keep playing well and keep giving myself opportunities.

“It’s exciting though to have the opportunity that I have. It’s obviously a position I’ve put myself in by playing great golf over the past seven months. We’ll see what happens this week and let it be.”

Both Herbert and Smylie have back-up plans should the battle for No.1 not be decided this week.

The current leader has targeted the season-ending The National Tournament (March 27-30), while Herbert may line up at the Heritage Classic (March 20-23) should he still be able to clinch top spot.

This week’s event features 18 of the top 20 on the Order of Merit with only Herbert’s Ripper GC teammates Cam Smith (No.2) and Marc Leishman (No.4) not making the trip to New Zealand.

While Smylie and Herbert are favourites to earn the 2024/25 OOM title, there’s still a chance it could go to any player currently inside the top 10 should results go their way.

However plenty of those will drop out of contention without a win at Millbrook.

Photo: NZ Open

The Kiwi stuck to that script early during the final round before his total control of his own game loosened as Jake McLeod found his.

Matching fellow New Zealander Kazuma Kobori’s winning total of 25-under 12 months earlier, Voke’s final round of 3-under 69 was enough to finish one-stroke ahead of McLeod (66) with Will Florimo (66), Travis Smyth (69) and Tyler Wood (69) sharing third at 18-under.

What became a nerve-wracking finish that was a two-horse race from a long way out, Voke’s stranglehold on the tournament almost slipped through his fingers.

A four-stroke overnight lead grew by one after Voke made birdie at the par-5 first for the fourth straight day before McLeod clawed back that shot with a birdie at the par-3 fourth.

Voke once again stretched the lead to five with birdie at the par-5 fifth yet a mis-directed lay-up and birdie by McLeod led to a two-shot swing at the short par-4 sixth, narrowing the 30-year-old’s lead to just three shots with 12 holes still to play.

McLeod could only match one of Voke’s birdies at eight and nine as the lead moved out to four strokes at the turn, Voke’s advantage back out to five again with a birdie at the short par-4 12th.

A ridiculous putt from the back fringe down over a tier that hit the centre of the flagstick before dropping was Voke’s sixth birdie of the day and perhaps the putt of his life in the tournament wash-up.

“When I walked back to the caddie, I said, ‘Tom (Power Horan), good putt is inside eight feet’,” said Voke.

“He goes, ‘You’re a content guy, surely just hole it, give it a good roll’.

“As soon as I hit it, I was like, Oh, this looks pretty good.”

After the excitement of the following crowd settled, an unflappable challenger in McLeod again stayed in the fight with a birdie of his own from just outside 20 feet and the golden run of Voke took a stumble.

Voke dropped a shot at 14 and McLeod made birdie on 15. After taking iron off the tee at the short 16th, Voke hit his approach left of the green and had to make a putt from five feet to narrowly avoid a double bogey.

The tenacious Queenslander, who has been knocking on the door of a win all season, then converted his birdie chance from 15 feet and, after leading by five with five to play, Voke’s advantage was just one heading to the 17th tee.

“I was five back and I thought I was out of it,” McLeod admitted post-round.

“All of a sudden, coming up the last two I was one back.

“It changed pretty quickly. I’m proud of how I played.”

A superb tee shot gave McLeod another look at birdie at the par-3 17th but his 12-foot putt just slipped underneath the right edge as Voke again needed to make a clutch par save to stay one in front playing the 72nd hole.

With persistent rain dousing the final group as they played the 18t, both players had 78 metres into the par-5 for their third. Voke almost flew his shot into the hole before it released to the back edge as McLeod’s came to rest 15 feet short and right of the hole.

After Voke putted down to a foot, McLeod had a putt to force a playoff, his birdie attempt hanging agonisingly on the right edge, leaving Voke to merely tap in and claim victory.

“Like that bad fart, that just doesn’t go away,” Voke joked of McLeod’s tenacity over the closing stages.

“’Clouds’ is going to be in my nightmares going forward. He was lurking all day and great bloke … I’m sure he’ll get one shortly.”

Suggesting with a smile that he may have peaked too early ahead of the New Zealand Open next week, the affable Voke turned more serious for a moment when asked what it meant to win again after last lifting a trophy in 2018.

“Golf is so hard. You can play a while, you can go through stretches and not win,” the part-time YouTuber said.

“Gosh, that feels good. That’s why you practise as a kid. That’s why you have the late-night range sessions. It’s why you do everything.”

With a flight back home to New Zealand on Monday, Voke was left to ponder the difficulty of transporting his extra piece of luggage as he dried off the champagne sprayed by fellow Iowa State alumni Lachlan Barker and Tyler Wood on the 18th green.

“How am I going to get this to Queenstown?” he asked, holding one of the three trophies handed out for the Webex Players Series Sydney at Castle Hill.

Castle Hill Country Club junior Nicholas Heanes shot rounds of 71-75 on his home course to claim the Webex Junior Players Series Sydney by seven strokes as Lachlan Wood recorded a 10-stroke win with rounds of 70-72 in the Webex All Abilities Players Series Sydney tournament.

The ‘Kiwi Challenge’, a key feature of the New Zealand Open this year, brings together the nation’s top golfers as they compete against an international field for the Brodie Breeze trophy.

This won’t be an easy task though as the tournament, which will be played for the 104th time, will feature arguably the strongest professional field in recent history.

“The ‘Kiwi Challenge’ is something we have done to support the current generation of Kiwi pros who are not only representing the country around the world, but all desperately want to see the next name on the trophy a Kiwi name,” said Tournament Director Michael Glading.

Millbrook Resort’s picturesque location in Queenstown will be the backdrop for a thrilling week of golf, with the leading players from Asia and Australasia competing for a slice of the NZD $2 million prize purse. Fans are encouraged to come out and support the Kiwi Challenge as they take on the world.

In a move to enhance the spectator experience at the New Zealand Open, all the Kiwi players will feature special caddie bibs featuring the New Zealand flag.

The distinctive bibs, featuring the iconic red, white, and blue design of the New Zealand flag, will allow spectators to quickly spot New Zealand’s top golfers and cheer them on throughout the tournament.

“This is a fantastic way for fans to show their support and recognise the incredible talent representing New Zealand. It’s all about celebrating local players and creating an unforgettable experience for everyone involved,” said Glading.

The Kiwis who are in the field for the 104th New Zealand Open presented by Sky Sport are:

• Ben Campbell
• Charlie Hillier
• Cooper Moore (a)
• Daniel Hillier
• Danny Lee
• Denzel Ieremia
• Dongwoo Kang
• James Tauariki
• Jayden Ford
• Josh Geary
• Joshua Bai (a)
• Kerry Mountcastle
• Kingston Taylor-Voyle (a)
• Mark Brown
• Mason Lee
• Micah Dickinson
• Michael Hendry
• Nick Voke
• Pieter Zwart
• Robby Turnbull (a)
• Sam Jones
• Steven Alker
• Sunjin Yeo
• Tyler Hodge
• Tyler Wood
• Up to three qualifiers to be added

Hailing from Shellharbour on the South Coast of New South Wales, Smyth already boasts two top-20 finishes in 2025 and is one of the favourites in his return to the Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia.

“I try to play as good as I can every single time, whether it’s at the start of the year, end of the year,” Smyth said Wednesday.

“I’m just really happy that the schedule allowed me to come back and play an Aussie Tour tournament.

“The schedule’s really hard to try and play both nowadays. I’m just super stoked. I can sleep in my own bed and play a familiar golf course. Although it has changed.

“I probably haven’t played here for, I don’t know, seven or eight years. It’s in great shape. I’m really excited.”

Like every player, a tournament week is also a chance to practise and work on his body, with Smyth having a big circle around next week’s co-sanctioned New Zealand Open. A dream scenario of two victories in two weeks has the potential to change his plans further for 2025.

Noting the limited pathways on offer in Asia and the current state of the men’s professional game, Smyth is fully aware of what’s on offer on his home Tour where he won as an amateur at the 2017 NT PGA.

“You always like to play two or three events before something big,” Smyth said of his appearance this week.

“It doesn’t always work out that way. I feel like you learn a lot from the week prior that you’re not as intense about. And obviously next week New Zealand Open being a big event, a co-sanctioned Asian Tour event.

“I feel like whatever I learn from this week, there’s just that little bit more sharpness and intense focus on what I need to do to be better.

“There isn’t really a pathway out of Asia.

“I’ve finished top 10 three years in a row now and normally I would be exempt to final stages of DP World (Tour) and Korn Ferry (Tour) and that sort of thing. And I feel like with three attempts at final stage, I would probably see myself on a bigger tour.”

Asked if the attraction of three DP World Tour cards via his home circuit Order of Merit was on his mind, Smyth was clear that the life of a professional golfer means changing plans at the drop of a hat. Especially having seen and heard of the success of the likes of David Micheluzzi and last year’s Webex Players Series Sydney champion, Kazuma Kobori.

“I guess if I were to win then I would probably purposely miss a bigger event in Asia just so I could get my four events and maybe have a run at it,” Smyth admitted.

“That’s probably on the cards. That’s probably a more reasonable pathway than what Asian Tour has to offer.”

Beyond the perfect result of winning this week and next, the familiar faces and home comforts have a smile permanently across the face of Smyth. It is sure to continue over the opening rounds in one of the marquee groups alongside Ladies European Tour rookie Kelsey Bennett and two-time Queensland PGA winner, Phoenix Campbell.

“It’s great,” he said of playing at home.

“I mean, there aren’t too many Aussies on the Asian Tour. It’s great seeing familiar faces and I look forward to competing alongside them coming down the stretch on the weekend.”

Webex Players Series Sydney is live on Fox Sports, available on Foxtel and Kayo.