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Japanese golf sensation Ryo Ishikawa will headline a strong contingent of players from Japan competing in the New Zealand Open when the tournament tees off of on February 27 at Millbrook Resort in Queenstown.
The New Zealand Open, presented by Sky Sport, will see Ishikawa join 2024 New Zealand Open Champion Takahiro Hataji as the headline players from the Japan Golf Tour.
Ishikawa, 33, has enjoyed a storied career both on the PGA Tour and the Japan Golf Tour, with 21 professional victories to his name and a reputation for his impressive ball-striking and calm demeanour under pressure.
“I’m excited to visit New Zealand and compete in the Open,” Ishikawa said.
“I have heard a lot about the tournament and the courses at Millbrook Resort from the other players on tour who have played in the event, and everything I have heard has been really positive.”
The New Zealand Open is the only national Open in the world to be played as a pro-am, has grown in stature over the years, attracting golfers from around the world.
It is co-sanctioned by the Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia and the Asian Tour.
“We are thrilled to welcome Ryo Ishikawa and all of the Japanese players to this year’s New Zealand Open,” said Tournament Director Michael Glading.
“I first spoke to Ryo in Japan a few years ago, and have never given up on bringing him to New Zealand. He really is an icon in the golfing world, and I know that will certainly add huge excitement to the field.
“It’s an honour to have such a prestigious golfer participate, and we can’t wait to see what he brings to the tournament.”
The 2023 New Zealand Open champion, Brendan Jones, another big golfing figure in Japan, was equally excited to have Ryo come and play the New Zealand Open.
“I have played many competitive rounds with Ryo in Japan, and know what a great player and fine person he is. I have told him many times about how much he would enjoy playing in Queenstown, and am delighted that he has decided to now see for himself. I know he will love it,” Jones said.
Joining Ishikawa in the field will be several rising stars and accomplished players from Japan, including a return by the No.6 ranked player in Japan, Ryosuke Kinoshita, who recorded nine top-10 finishes on the Japan Golf Tour in 2024.
In addition, Mikumu Horikawa and Taihei Sato who both finished top 25 in Queenstown last year will join the field.
Overall the strongest Japan Tour field on record brings nine of the top 20 ranked players from 2024 to New Zealand, a sure sign that Hataji’s victory in 2024 has fuelled the flame of the New Zealand Open in the land of the Rising Sun.
New Zealand Open 2025 – Japan Golf Tour Invitations
The 104th New Zealand Open will tee off at Millbrook Resort in Queenstown between February 27 and March 2. For more information, please visit nzopen.com.
There’ll be a special competition within the competition when the Wilson family creates a world first at Webex Players Series Victoria, starting on Thursday.
Long-time Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia member Peter Wilson will play alongside, and against, his daughter Chloe, who is one of the newest members of the WPGA Tour of Australasia just four years after taking up golf.
With the Webex Players Series events offering the unique format of men and women competing on the same course for the same trophy and prize money, it’s the first time that father and daughter professionals have teed it up as rivals.
Chloe, 20, made her pro debut at last week’s Drummond Golf Melbourne International at Latrobe Golf Club, finishing tied for 26th, while Peter has played 246 Official World Golf Ranking events since in 2002, including winning the 2012 WA PGA Championship.
“It’s going to be fun,” Peter said. “I’ve never competed against my daughter before in a pro event so there’s a first time for everything in this game.”
But it’s definitely not the first time the duo has gone head-to-head on the golf course, with family matches a regular event.
Chloe has yet to win one of those but with her game quickly improving, she came very close earlier this month at Woodlands Golf Club, leading by a shot coming to the last hole only to record a bogey while her determined dad birdied to keep his streak alive.
“I don’t want her to beat me,” Peter laughed.
“And it’s tricky this week because we always play together and I’m advising her on shots, but this week I can’t because we are opponents in a professional tournament. It’s going to be really tricky in that area.
“I think it’s a two-shot penalty if I said, ‘Chloe, you need to hit a little left or right shot here’. I can’t say anything.”
Although she’s been around golf all her life, Chloe hadn’t shown much interest in following her dad’s sporting career until she was 16, preferring dancing instead.
But when she did start swinging the club there was a clear intention – turn pro inside five years.
“Ever since I was little, I was always caddying for my dad at all these pro-am events,” Chloe said.
“I guess I was somewhat learning the game without even playing, which was quite cool.”
Peter recalls: “She goes, ‘Dad, I’m going to play golf now and I’m going to be a professional in five years.’ And I’m like, ‘Chloe, you haven’t even got any golf clubs.’
“So that’s where it started back in 2020. And she did, which is amazing.”
Chloe’s goal to turn pro was achieved at the WPGA Tour of Australasia Qualifying School at the end of 2024 where she finished tied 33rd.
“I have to remind her that she’s quite good,” said Peter, whose son Keefer represented Australia in skateboarding at the Paris Olympic Games.
“She’s only been playing four or five years, so some of the mistakes she makes are like, ‘Chloe, you’ve only been playing four years, so you don’t really know how to do everything.’
“I’m very proud of her. Very proud of all my kids. My son was in the Olympics and my daughter (Aaliyah) only just missed out on being in the Olympics. I’m proud of all my kids.”
Still very much in the development phase of her career, Chloe is approaching her four-round professional tournament debut with a mixture of nerves and excitement.
Having her dad alongside will help and she’ll be quickly on the phone to her mum if she does finally manage to be the “low Wilson”.
“I’m excited,” she said.
“It’s not like something everybody gets to do, get to play a professional tournament with their dad and competing against each other. I’ll just enjoy it and try to beat him.
“I’ll definitely be nervous on the first tee, that’s for sure. Very nervous. But then I think once you’ve done your first tee shot, you kind of relax and you’re like, OK, I can just play golf now.”
The Wilsons tee off in the first round at 1.35pm on Thursday with Queenslander Tim Hart completing the group.
Brett Coletta is starting a “year of opportunity” at Webex Players Series Victoria at Rosebud Country Club on Thursday.
The reigning Vic Open champion has a potentially career-defining 11 months ahead, with playing rights on the DP World Tour for the first time after finishing third on the 2023/24 Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia Order of Merit.
He comes to Rosebud having not played on Tour since the Aussie majors in November-December but he returns as one of the favourites in the third Webex Players Series event of the summer.
“It’s going to be a big year,” the 28-year-old said ahead of his 2025 debut.
“I’ve given myself plenty of opportunity just based off some good results in the last couple of years out here.
“It’s given me a good platform to move on to Europe or now the International Series (on the Asian Tour) as well.
“This will be a good test this week just to get some cobwebs off essentially.”
Just when Coletta will make his first start for 2025 on the DP World Tour is yet to be locked in. But he’s going to make sure he’s ready once confirmation comes of where he’s headed.
“You play that waiting game and see where you need to go or where you stack up,” he said.
“The hard part is we’re all the way over in Australia, so if you get the call up, you’re on a plane somewhere else in the world pretty quickly. That’s going to be a challenge for sure.”
If Coletta doesn’t get a start at the Qatar Masters, which is his next likely opportunity, he’ll be at 13th Beach next month to defend his Vic Open title.
“I might not know if I’ll be there until last minute. But if I’m there playing Vic Open, I’ll be firing on all cylinders trying to defend for sure,” he said.
But before then, the three-time Tour winner is keen to make the most of his trip to one of his favourite stops on Tour where he faces off against the best of both the Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia and the WPGA Tour of Australasia.
“I love coming back down here and I think this year is the best I’ve seen the course,” Coletta said.
“I just played the front nine this morning. I was talking to a couple of the greenkeepers out there and I was just in awe of how good the conditions look. It’s just so lush and green.”
Coletta will start his first round on Thursday morning at 8am AEDT, playing alongside Kristalle Blum and Claire Shin.
The final two rounds of Webex Players Series Victoria are live on Fox Sports, available on Foxtel and Kayo, from 3pm-6pm Saturday and 1pm-6pm Sunday AEDT.
Although it seems like it began only yesterday, Webex Players Series Victoria will celebrate its fifth staging at Rosebud Country Club this week.
Another high-quality field will be back on the Peninsula contesting the unique format which sees men and women professionals go up against each other on the same golf course, vying for the one trophy and a share of the $250,000 prizemoney pool.
It’s the men who hold the advantage after the four Webex events staged so far on Rosebud’s superb par-70 composite course.
Queenslander Brad Kennedy claimed the inaugural edition in 2021 followed by Victorian Todd Sinnott in 2022. Korea’s Min A Yoon broke through for the women with a record score of 24-under-par in 2023 before New Zealander Kazuma Kobori holed a putt on the final green to make it 3-1 for the men last year.
Kennedy is back again this year, attempting to become the event’s first two-time champion.
This year’s men’s field also features five winners from the 2024/25 Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia season which is now into its second half – Ben Henkel, Cory Crawford, Phoenix Campbell, Jordan Doull and Will Bruyeres – plus a host of other big names including Brett Coletta, Matthew Griffin, Jordan Zunic, Harrison Crowe, Anthony Quayle, and Marcus Fraser.
The women’s field is highlighted by reigning Vic Open champion Ashley Lau, 2024 Athena champion Kelsey Bennett and Cassie Porter, who is bound for women’s golf’s biggest test, the LPGA Tour, in 2025.
WA’s Abbie Teasdale will be aiming for back-to-back victories after triumphing at last week’s Drummond Golf Melbourne International at Latrobe Golf Club.
LAST YEAR’S CHAMPION: Kazuma Kobori
PRIZEMONEY: $250,000
LIVE SCORES: www.pga.org.au; www.wpga.org.au
TV COVERAGE: Webex Players Series Victoria 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)
HEADLINERS
Cassie Porter – 2025 LPGA Tour member
Brett Coletta – 2024 Vic Open men’s champion
Ashley Lau – 2024 Vic Open women’s champion
Brad Kennedy – Two-time NZ Open winner, 2021 Webex Players Series Vic winner
Kelsey Bennett – 2024 The Athena champion
Phoenix Campbell – 2023 and 2024 Qld PGA champion
Momoka Kobori – 2023 NSW Women’s Open champion
Matthew Griffin – 2024 Heritage Classic champion
Lydia Hall – 2012 Ladies British Masters winner
He’s the perennial tournament favourite yet James Marchesani has an old rival to contend with as younger brother Anthony returns to play the Webex Players Series Victoria at Rosebud Country Club.
The Marchesani name is etched across the honour boards at Rosebud, Anthony finally adding his following victory in the club championship last year.
Having spent a number of years on the Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia – including the first two editions of the Webex Players Series Victoria at his home course – Anthony took up a full-time job and regained his amateur status.
His club championship victory yielded an ‘Elite Amateur’ invitation to play this week, James not expecting Anthony to jump back on the bag for him on the weekend.
“He’ll be playing the weekend. I’ve got confidence in him there,” said James, who had Anthony caddie for him at the 2024 New Zealand Open.
“He’s actually playing some good golf at the moment, too, so it’d nice to see him do well for four days.
“He won club champs, which is his first, so he was pretty pumped about that. He always had to play against me and he wasn’t happy.
“It’ll be fun. It’ll be a fun week obviously at home. It’s always a good time with friends and fam, so I’m looking forward to it.”
Anthony’s last professional tournament was the 2022 Webex Players Series Victoria where he and James were paired for the opening two rounds.
Three years on, it is a pairing James would welcome once again.
“Since he’s gone full-time work, we haven’t played heaps together so hoping for a nice pairing,” said James, who was runner-up in 2023 and has not finished outside the top 20 in four starts at Rosebud.
“It’d be nice to play with him for a couple of days. We grew up playing together, we went to college together, we’d push each other along so it’d be fun if we did.
“I’m not asking for it but, if anyone’s listening, it would be fun.”
More than the renewal of a family-friendly rivalry, James has the opportunity to convert good form and home course advantage into a maiden win on the Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia.
The 34-year-old’s 8-under 64 was the equal-best of the final round at Webex Players Series Perth and earned him a tie for fifth.
It's raining birdies @RoyalFremantle 😮💨@JamesMarchesani | #WebexPlayersSeries
— PGA of Australia (@PGAofAustralia) January 12, 2025
It is his best result since his near miss at Rosebud two years ago and cause to be confident heading back to such familiar turf.
“It’s nice to get some confidence in the game,” James added.
“Obviously I know Rosebud probably as good as anyone ever and have been close a couple of times.
“It’s nice to find a bit of form and then hopefully take that into Rosebud and just see what happens.”
Inaugural Webex Players Series Victoria champion Brad Kennedy returns to Rosebud again, joining six of the winners on tour this season.
Women seeking to replicate Min A Yoon’s triumph in 2023 include reigning Vic Open champion Ashley Lau, 2023 Women’s NSW Open winner Momoka Kobori and WPGA Tour of Australasia winners Cassie Porter, Kelsey Bennett and Lydia Hall.
The final two rounds of the Webex Players Series Victoria will be broadcast live on Fox Sports and Kayo. Coverage is from 3pm-6pm Saturday AEDT and 1pm-6pm Sunday AEDT.
Two players returning home from a year in Europe are heading to Queenstown next month aiming to lift the Brodie Breeze trophy and set the record straight on a long overdue Kiwi winner.
The New Zealand Open presented by Sky Sport will be held at Millbrook Resort between February 27 and March 2, and both Daniel Hillier and Sam Jones are the latest homegrown talents to stake their claim for their national Open.
Wellington-born Hillier is a familiar name at the New Zealand Open having played six times between 2016 and 2024. He has also racked up seven professional wins overseas, most recently, a stunning two-stroke victory at the 2023 Betfred British Masters.
Speaking ahead of the New Zealand Open, Hillier expressed his affection for the tournament and believes he is ready to make a charge for the title.
“The New Zealand Open is always such an incredible week,” he said.
“Millbrook is such a special place and I feel like my game’s at a point now where I can actually go and compete, so it’d be nice to try to have a little shot at the trophy.
“I think it’s most golfers dream to win their national and it’s been a few years since we’ve had a Kiwi name on it, so to be the next one would be incredible.”
Hillier joins Steven Alker and Ben Campbell in bidding to restore a Kiwi name to the Brodie Breeze trophy, acknowledging that current champion Takahiro Hataji and 2023 champion Brendan Jones will be strong contenders.
“I’ve got a job to do and hopefully I’ll be as ready as I can be,” said Hillier.
Taranaki’s Sam Jones has also confirmed his entry in next month’s event, saying he believes it is “one of the best tournaments in the world.”
Jones has spent the past year playing on the DP World Tour, and while he acknowledges not everything went to plan he says his game is improving and he’s positive about the future.
“I’ll be playing maybe four or five tournaments on the main tour in 2025 and a full season on the Challenge Tour but it would be awesome to come to my home tournament and see if I could get my name on the trophy.”
“I’m pretty sure that the New Zealand Open has been won more times by Australians than New Zealanders so hopefully one of us gets to win our national Open. That would be awesome.”
The 104th New Zealand Open will tee off at Millbrook Resort in Queenstown between February 27 and March 2. For more information, please visit nzopen.com.
The cream rose to the top as the 2024-2025 Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia resumed at Webex Players Series Perth hosted by Minjee and Min Woo Lee.
A two-stroke leader going into the final round, Kirsten Rudgeley fought hard to stay in the hunt until the very end, her tee shot at the par-4 15th one of the shots of the tournament.
She would ultimately fall one shot short of the playoff won by Jordan Doull and in a tie for third with Queenslander Anthony Quayle.
It was a continuation of superb form at the back-end of 2024 for Quayle who now has Order of Merit rewards very much in sight.
The action ramps up this week with the WPGA’s Drummond Golf Melbourne International starting Wednesday and tournaments on the DP World Tour, PGA TOUR, Korn Ferry Tour and PGA TOUR Champions.
10. Kelsey Bennett
Makes her first start for 2025 at the Drummond Golf Melbourne International starting Wednesday at Latrobe Golf Club. After a breakthrough win on the LET Access Series, ended 2024 with a tie for seventh at the ISPS HANDA Women’s Australian Open and then came up clutch down the stretch to secure her 2025 Ladies European Tour card at Qualifying School.
9. Minjee Lee
Turned tournament host this past week for the Webex Players Series Perth at Royal Fremantle. Seventh at the ISPS HANDA Australian Open, Lee looks like starting her season at the Founders Cup in Florida in early February.
8. Cam Davis
Missed the cut at Sony Open after opening his 2025 PGA TOUR season with a tie for 13th at The Sentry in Hawaii. High on confidence after second PGA TOUR win last year and tie for sixth at the BMW Australian PGA Championship.
We’re pretty sure @KRudgeley loves the 15th @RoyalFremantle !#WebexPlayersSeries pic.twitter.com/7IHylluniH
— PGA of Australia (@PGAofAustralia) January 12, 2025
7. Kirsten Rudgeley
Set up a big 2025 season with an excellent showing first up at Webex Players Series Perth. Twelfth on the Ladies European Tour Order of Merit in 2024, Rudgeley led by two going into the final round and only missed the playoff won by Jordan Doull by one stroke.
What it means to win at home 🥹#WebexPlayersSeries | #TheChaseIsOn pic.twitter.com/qoXXVoMeOg
— PGA of Australia (@PGAofAustralia) January 12, 2025
6. Jordan Doull
Moved to second on the Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia Rookie of the Year standings with a breakthrough victory at Webex Players Series Perth hosted by Minjee and Min Woo Lee. Runner-up to Jack Buchanan in a playoff at the WA PGA, Doull exacted some revenge of his own with a playoff win over Haydn Barron at the second extra hole.
5. Anthony Quayle
A tie for third at Webex Players Series Perth was Quayle’s third consecutive top-five finish and fourth in his past five starts since returning to the Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia. Although he stayed eighth on the Order of Merit, narrowed the gap to those ahead of him to bring the top five within reach.
4. Elvis Smylie
After a breakthrough victory at the WA Open, Smylie claimed the co-sanctioned BMW Australian PGA Championship to earn status on the DP World Tour. He puts that new-found status to good use this week at the first Rolex Series event of the year, the $US9 million Hero Dubai Desert Classic.
3. Cameron Smith
The Ripper GC skipper has another month before the start of the LIV Golf season in Saudi Arabia. Given a strong showing in four events on the Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia, Smith starts 2025 chasing his first individual win since July 2023.
2. Adam Scott
A tie for 15th at The Sentry was a solid way for Scott to start his 25th season on tour, the 44-year-old returning to the DP World Tour this week for the Hero Dubai Desert Classic.
1. Hannah Green
Will start her 2025 campaign at the Hilton Grand Tournament of Champions in Florida in the last week in January after a three-win season on the LPGA Tour in 2024 where she rose as high as No.5 in the Rolex Women’s World Golf Ranking.
The Australian Golf Power Rankings is a subjective list developed with input from members of the Australian Golf media team.
West Australian Jordan Doull has won the inaugural Webex Players Series Perth hosted by Minjee and Min Woo Lee at the second playoff hole at Royal Fremantle Golf Club.
Flawless throughout the final round, Doull’s only blunder in a round of 5-under 67 came at the 72nd hole when he flared his second shot right and then three-putted the par-5 18th green.
That opened the door for fellow West Aussie Haydn Barron (68) to birdie the final hole and match Doull’s four-round total of 17-under par.
On the back edge of the green for two, Barron ran an eagle try that would have won him the tournament 10 feet past, coolly stepping up to hole the birdie putt and send the tournament to extra holes.
The pair both made birdie at the first playoff hole with clutch putts from behind the hole, heading back to the 18th tee to do it all again.
Barron was blocked out with his second after hitting into the left rough, Doull able to fashion a shot just short of the green after also hitting out of the trees left of the fairway.
Barron missed his birdie putt from the front left of the green, Doull clinching a breakthrough Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia title in his rookie season with a birdie from 12 feet.
A loss to Jack Buchanan at the second playoff hole at the WA PGA Championship in October was vindication that Doull could compete at this level, his win projected to move him inside the top 10 on the 2024-2025 Order of Merit.
“It was more telling myself that I could compete out here with these guys,” Doull said of his near miss at Kalgoorlie.
“I mean, the second event, you’ve got Q School status, you don’t really know where you sit. You see scores of 17, 18-under and you think, How can I get to that?
“And then going out and actually doing it, you then know that you can do it. That was the big thing coming out of ‘Kal’.”
Paired with girlfriend and joint runner-up at Webex Players Series South Australia, Kathryn Norris, for the first two rounds, Doull was ecstatic to have Kathryn caddie for him over the weekend.
Keeping him calm throughout the back nine and into the playoff, Doull struggled to hold back the tears as the weight of his win finally sank in.
“You dream about this kind of thing your whole life and for it to finally come to a head, you just let it all out,” he said. “I think that’s mainly where it comes from.”
Defying the age-old adage that it is hard to back up a low round with another after shooting 64 in Round 3 – particularly on Sundays – Doull signalled his intent from the outset.
Three back of Rudgeley through 54 holes, the 25-year-old birdied each of his opening two holes to draw within one of the lead.
When Rudgeley dropped a shot at the par-3 third, she was joined on top by Doull, Barron and Jake McLeod at 14-under par.
What shaped as a Sunday shootout with potential for a playoff turned into a one-man procession as the afternoon unfolded.
Barron dropped a shot to halt his momentum, McLeod made a second double-bogey to go with two eagles and three birdies and Rudgeley missed a golden opportunity to make eagle after driving the green at the par-4 15th.
Hooley-DOULLY 🤯
— PGA of Australia (@PGAofAustralia) January 12, 2025
Jordan Doull has a two-shot lead!#WebexPlayersSeries | #TheChaseIsOn pic.twitter.com/4zWeaRQ8Bp
Out on 5-under 31 with a one-stroke lead from Barron and McLeod, Doull reached 18-under and 6-under on his round with a birdie at the par-4 10th.
As others faltered, he remained steady with six pars in succession.
He hit a brilliant approach shot from the left rough into the 16th green yet was unable to convert a birdie chance that may have closed the door on his pursuers.
Barron was left to rue a three-putt par after also driving the green on 15 and then both missed their birdie putts on 16 from the back edge of the green.
A successfully navigated three-foot par on 17 sent Doull to the 72nd hole with a two-stroke buffer as in the group behind Barron and Rudgeley both saw birdie tries slip agonisingly by on the left side of the hole.
The Webex Junior Players Series Perth also required a playoff hole before Krishav Sheth edge Kloden Brown while Steve Alderson made it two on the trot with his 10-shot win in the Webex All Abilities Players Series.
Photo: Cassandra Edwards/PGA of Australia
West Australian legend Brett Rumford played his way into contention and then immediately turned teacher on day three of the Webex Players Series Perth hosted by Minjee and Min Woo Lee.
With a history at Royal Fremantle Golf Club dating back to his days as a 12-year-old junior, Rumford shot 6-under 66 on Saturday to sit just two strokes back of fellow West Aussie Kirsten Rudgeley heading into Sunday’s final round.
Playing partner Anthony Quayle also shot 66 in Round 3 to be tied with Rumford and three others at 12-under par, the pair heading straight to the chipping green for a short game lesson from one of the world’s greatest exponents.
Now spending his time as a PGA Professional teaching out of Wembley Golf Complex, Rumford was happy to share his insights with a player he will be trying to beat in the final round.
“He asked me on the 15th and I said, ‘Yeah, let’s go’,” said Rumford.
“Then we both started to make a couple (of birdies),” added Quayle.
“I was just signing my scorecard thinking, I wonder if he’d prefer to do it tomorrow, because I didn’t want to fill his head with anything.”
Quayle eagerly took up the offer, however, from a short game wizard who he has admired ever since his junior days in Queensland.
“I still remember watching ‘Rummy’ win on tour,” Quayle recalled.
“He won back-to-back DP World Tour events and I remember being a bit of a kid at the time and just thinking, Holy, that guy’s a gun.
“The first time I got to play with ‘Rummy’ was at Queensland PGA and I just loved it. I was just like, This is awesome.”
Having committed to play the Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia season rather than continue his career on the Japan Golf Tour, there is much for Quayle to play for on Sunday.
Currently in eighth position, he is the highest-ranked player on the current Order of Merit thanks to his tie for third at the BMW Australian PGA Championship and top-five finishes at both the Victorian PGA Championship and Gippsland Super 6.
With three spots on the DP World Tour up for grabs at season’s end, Rumford is backing his latest student to play his way back onto a major tour sooner rather than later.
“He’s got such a massive game,” said Rumford. “There’s a massive chance he’ll run top three.
“There’s a pathway to Europe and there’s always a pathway from Europe onto the PGA TOUR where his game is going to flourish anyway.
“What the PGA Tour of Australasia have done with the alliance with the DP World Tour, it’s a fantastic incentive for the guys to stay here.”
Kirsten Rudgeley snatched the 54-hole lead from a trio of fellow West Australians with a final-hole eagle at Webex Players Series Perth hosted by Minjee and Min Woo Lee.
Starting with a day’s best 8-under 64 from WA rookie Jordan Doull, it was a frenetic Saturday afternoon of scoring at Royal Fremantle Golf Club that at one point saw 13 players within three strokes of the lead.
Seeking to become the fourth woman to win a Webex Players Series event, Rudgeley gave the contenders something to chase, however, with an eagle at the par-5 18th for a third straight round of 5-under 67 and 15-under par total.
A monster drive across the dogleg left Haydn Barron just 147 metres into the 497m 18th hole to also close out his round with an eagle and claim outright second at 13-under, one clear of Doull, veteran Brett Rumford (66) and Queenslander Anthony Quayle (66).
New Zealand’s Kerry Mountcastle (69) and 36-hole co-leader Jake McLeod (71) share sixth at 11-under par, Sunday shaping as a genuine shootout in the west.
With a throng of family and friends set to flood her gallery again on Sunday, Rudgeley is feeling right at home in her quest for a maiden professional victory.
“I had quite a few actually. It was nice; family, friends. It was nice to see actually,” Rudgeley said of her fan base.
“I’m kind of in the zone, just focusing what I need to do, but you do hear those voices and you’re like, That’s him, that’s her.”
✅ Eagle down the last
— PGA of Australia (@PGAofAustralia) January 11, 2025
✅ Two-shot lead heading into Sunday@KRudgeley is our 54-hole leader! #WebexPlayersSeries | #TheChaseIsOn pic.twitter.com/yeLaYwD1Xd
Disappointed not to make it three straight birdies at the par-5 second, Rudgeley didn’t add to her overnight total of 10-under until she made back-to-back birdies at five and six.
She dropped a shot at the par-3 eighth but moved to 3-under on her round with birdies at 11 and 13.
Playing 248 metres from the women’s tee, Rudgeley set up birdie by driving the green at the par-4 15th and then hit 8-iron from 143 metres into the par-5 finisher, converting the eagle putt from the back edge to pull two strokes clear.
On the back of his rookie season on the DP World Tour where he failed to keep his card, Barron is pleasantly surprised to be so prominent in his first tournament since he was tied 13th at the Victorian PGA Championship in early December.
The 28-year-old eagled 18 and the par-5 sixth in a bogey-free 7-under 65 on Saturday at a course where he has enjoyed success in the past.
An 𝙚𝙖𝙜𝙡𝙚* on 18 gives @haydnbarron the clubhouse lead 😎#WebexPlayersSeries | #TheChaseIsOn pic.twitter.com/yPBgIP4qcy
— PGA of Australia (@PGAofAustralia) January 11, 2025
Second to Hayden Hopewell at the 2020 WA Open at Royal Fremantle, Barron is revelling in his familiarity with the venue and the comforts of home.
“It’s so nice to just be at home, going home to my missus and my dog every night has been pretty cool,” said Barron.
“Coming off last year when every single week just felt so big and so scary, to come back to an event like this – which is obviously an amazing event – but comparative to what I’ve been playing doesn’t feel that crazy.”
Second in a playoff at the WA PGA Championship in October, Doull delivered his lowest round on the Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia to date to join the hunt for his breakthrough win.
Having played alongside partner Kathryn Norris for the first two rounds, Doull admitted that he felt more relaxed having Kathryn on the bag on Saturday.
“She played well, but you don’t want to see her miss the cut,” said Doull, who had eight birdies on Saturday, the highlight his 20-footer on 13 after skipping his second shot through a bunker.
“That was kind of hard but having her on the bag, it just reinforces lines off the tee and on putts.”
Saturday also saw the start to both the Webex All Abilities Players Series Perth and Webex Junior Players Series Perth tournaments.
Lake Karrinyup’s Krishav Sheth leads the Junior Players Series by three after a round of 1-under 71 while Willunga Players Series winner Steven Alderson has a three-stroke lead in the All Abilities tournament.
The final round of the Webex Players Series Perth will be broadcast live on Fox Sports and Kayo from 2pm-7pm AEDT on Sunday with the final group to tee off at 2:10pm AEDT.
