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Unsung Queenslander Cory Crawford has produced his own comeback for the ages with a one-shot victory in the Vic PGA Championship at Moonah Links.
Unsung Queenslander Cory Crawford has produced his own comeback for the ages with a one-shot victory in the Vic PGA Championship at Moonah Links.
More than seven years after his one and only Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia victory – in Port Moresby in May, 2017 – he has logged his second win after at least two years of struggle with a back fracture that was not originally diagnosed.
The 32-year-old who plays out of Sanctuary Cove holed a right-to-left 12-foot birdie putt at the 72nd hole which turned out to have secured the victory at 14-under par.
But before he knew that the championship was his, he had to hit the driving range to keep warm while American Tyler McCumber came down the par-5 18th on the Open course.
McCumber was at 13-under and needed birdie for a playoff. The Floridean missed the green left with his long iron second shot, chipped up to just more than two feet, and had that putt for four to extend the contest.
But inexplicably, the man who has played 60 times on the US PGA Tour and who had looked the winner for much of the day, missed the putt and could only make a par.
Out on the range 100 metres away, the news passed through to Crawford, who had played superbly shooting a final-round 68 with seven birdies.
He was presented with the Jack Harris Cup by Marilyn Harris, the daughter of the late tour star and six-time winner of this event.
Much of the attention fell to potential miracle man Anthony Quayle, who had been penalized seven strokes in round one because of a mistake over preferred lies, and who shot a closing 69 to finish 12-under and in third behind Crawford and McCumber.
But it was Crawford who wrote the better redemption story on the day.
Victorian Darcy Brereton, who shot the equal-low round of the day, a 4-under 68, was tied-fourth at 11-under with overnight joint leader Jason Hong and WA’s Braden Becker.Crawford said he was on his “third restart” from a tough couple of years with the injury.
“A lot’s gone on. It’s been pretty difficult at times. To be in this is pretty special,” he said afterward.
Injuries have prevented him from playing much golf at all in the past few years since he injured his back in the gym. The injury turned out to be a fracture of the T10 vertebrae but the diagnosis came later, after he had attempted to play through the pain.
“It’s still a management process,” he said. “I’m still at the stage where if I move the wrong way it can come back again. But every day that doesn’t happen I’m getting further and further away from going back to where I was.”
Five or six players were deep in contention throughout a pulsating final day in difficult, 30km/h winds, but beyond bogeys at the fourth and sixth, the Queenslander was brilliant. He picked up shots at 8, 9, 12 and 13 with brilliant approaches to the green and then at 16, another lasered iron gave him the birdie that put him in front.
Crawford described himself as being “on my third restart” from the back issue, but today he felt vindicated for all the work he has done.
“I’ve worked really hard with (coach) Terry Price on trying to improve the ballstriking. It feels really good to hit some good shots under the pump,” he said.
He also paid tribute to caddie for the weekend Blake Proverbs, his fellow tour pro, especially for guidance over the putt on 18. Crawford had his read of a little right-to-left, but called Basic over to confirm it.
“Under pressure sometimes it can get a little hazy, but he was awesome. To have that bit of reassurance was awesome, and we hit a great putt.”
McCumber was the nearest-pursuer and he at one point had a two-shot lead through 12 holes. The American had flown to Australia to get some golf after his own long period of injury troubles, and he appeared on track for a win.
But he slipped out of the lead with a bogey at at the 15th, lipped out for birdie downhill at the par-3 17th hole and then could not make the birdie he needed at 18. Like Quayle, he would have reflected on the fact that in round one, he was penalized two strokes for taking preferred lie mistakenly.
Joint overnight leaders Jye Pickin (75 today) and Jason Hong (73) quickly slipped back into the pack with Pickin sliding to tied-eighth.
Quayle threw everything into his redemption story, but he fell two short.
“I’m sure when I reflect on this in a little bit of time, I’ll be really proud of this week,” he said.
Meanwhile Victorian pro James Gibellini and Tim Snow won the teams event, the Victorian Amateur Challenge, at 33-under par.
PHOTO: Cory Crawford celebrates his second main tour win. Image: Daniel Pockett
Rookie pro Jye Pickin and another New South Welshman, Jason Hong, will take the joint lead into the final day of the Vic PGA at Moonah Links tomorrow but it is a jam-packed leaderboard.
Pickin conjured an excellent third-round 68 on the Open course today to join midway leader Hong at 12-under par and give himself the chance of a first victory as a professional.
But American star Tyler McCumber is at 11-under and only a shot back after a 67 today, and three players – Queenslander Cory Crawford, WA’s Braden Becker and South Australian Lachie Barker (67 today) are only a shot farther back at 10-under.
Queenslander Anthony Quayle, who has recovered from an astonishing seven-stroke penalty called on himself in round one to haul himself back into the tournament, is among those at 9-under and in sight of a victory for the ages.
Newcastle’s Pickin, 24, turned pro in May this year after an outstanding amateur career in which he represented NSW and Australia with distinction. But coming from the coast, he is no stranger to the fierce winds that whipped across the Mornington Peninsula late today and which are forecast to return on Sunday.
He has had three scores in the 60s and has coach Khan Pullen on the bag.
“I like playing in wind,” he said. “Playing in the wind and even the rain to a certain point keeps me present.”
His previous best finish is tied-fifth in the Webex Players Series SA earlier this season, and he is feeling a level of comfort midway through his first season.
“Playing a few events with all the guys has got me playing some good golf and getting me up on the leaderboards,” said Pickin. “I’ve been more motivated the last six months than I’ve ever been and I’m trying to work off the back of that.
“The biggest thing is to play a few of these events as an amateur the last few years, really having that experience and not being in foreign territory. I knew a few guys, I knew the sort of level of competition was at. When I did come out here this year, I was able to roll with a bit of momentum that I did have.”
Hong rolled in an eight-footer for birdie at the 18th today to shoot 71 and push himself into the last group for round four, so he will sleep on good memories.
“I spoke to my caddie, I said ‘I really want to be in the final group,’ he said afterward. “It was downhill left-to-righter, right in the middle.”
But the Sydney pro, who only reached the field through Monday qualifying, said he needed to work on his swing. “I hit it everywhere today. I probably hit six or seven greens today and I was able to shoot 1-under. My putting and chipping saved me today. I don’t want to be doing that tomorrow.”
McCumber’s 67 was impressive in what began as calm conditions but ended up in a 40 km/h mini-gale. The American, 33, will be returning to the PGA Tour in America next season but he has been through a tough period with surgery on both hips and his left shoulder.
“It’s been a long time off of golf,” he said. “I’ve had three major surgeries. I came over to get some ’reps’ and play some tournament rounds. The PGA Tour of Australasia was good enough to offer me some invitations to play and I’m grateful for that.”
With 14 players within three shots, it promises to be a cliffhanger tomorrow. As for Pickin, he knows he will be nervous, but he embraces it. “They’ll be there no matter what. But I’m pumped to be in the last group and happy to be on the first tee tomorrow.”
PHOTO: Jye Pickin plays himself into the final group with his 67 today.
Anthony Quayle is within reach of the comeback of the century at the Vic PGA Championship – the Queenslander having had to carry the load of a whopping seven-shot penalty he called on himself in round one.
Quayle today told how he called the penalties – for illegal taking of preferred lies on four shots – as soon as he realized that he had erred on Thursday, and said how embarrassed that he was to make such “a rookie mistake”.
His opening 66 turned into a 73 but with rounds of 67 on Friday and 66 today, he is at 9-under for the tournament, an astonishing story of resilience. Through three rounds he is just three shots from the lead.
“It’s a mistake that’s totally on me and I totally own it,” he said after today’s 6-under round.The drama started on the 15th green in round one on Moonah Links at the Open course on Thursday.
The 30-year-old professional, who plays mostly in Japan, had just been asked by his playing partner, Tyler McCumber, if preferred lies were in play, and answered that yes, they were, and “I’ve been doing it all day”.
McCumber ultimately was penalized two shots as well for playing from a preferred lie.
At this point, he re-read a document handed out to all players by the Tour, which stated that preferred lies would be allowed on a portion of the third fairway.
The problem was, he had originally read the document as allowing preferred lies across the whole course.
“The fairways were decent,” he said. “You could see how maybe we needed preferred lies because there were a lot of collection areas with divots. Our last three tournaments on tour have been preferred lie. The document I was handed is a little half-page document that is highlighted ‘preferred lie’ and highlighted scorecard length.
“It’s a massive rookie error on my part. I had just assumed on this tour we play preferred lie a lot. I just didn’t think too much more of it. I’m kicking myself now. Turns out on that document it only said it was preferred lie on the third hole in the blue painted area. I guess that sort of sat more in the fine print of the document.”
Quayle could not even play on without addressing the issue. So at 15 green, he asked to speak to the Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia referee and Tournament Director Heath McLeod. “I didn’t feel comfortable hitting another shot without addressing it. I felt like I’d done something really wrong. As soon as I realized, I felt sick in the stomach, I thought I’d done something terribly wrong.”
McLeod told Quayle that he would be penalized two strokes for hitting from the wrong place on three of his shots, and one stroke for the other (because he replaced the ball in the same place, just a few centimetres off the green). In one instance, he told McLeod that he very likely placed his ball back in the same spot. “But I couldn’t be 100 percent certain, so I opted to take the two shots (penalty).”
McLeod said: “We’re proud of how Anthony’s handled it. As soon as he realised his mistake, he’s called me over, and went through it out at No. 15 green.
“He took responsibility for his actions straight away and we worked through the four separate occasions he had breached the rules and he accepted the penalty without any fuss.
“It’s just shows the character of Anthony really. To have something like that happen on Thursday, to put it behind him and come out and play some great golf the last two days is great to see.”
Quayle has contemplated it all and played brilliantly since.
“After I had a bit of time to process what happened on Thursday night, I sort of grew the opinion that ‘let’s treat this as a bit of a challenge and see what we can do. Making the cut with a seven-stroke penalty is going to be impressive’,” he said.
“After I made the cut, now it’s ‘finish as high as I possibly can because it’s going to be pretty impressive wherever I finish this week’. I sort of want the story to be as good as it can be going forward. It could be one that I remember for a long time.”
PHOTO: Anthony Quayle on his way to a 66 at Moonah today. Image: Daniel Pockett
Brendan Jones is the latest Australian to earn playing rights on the PGA Tour Champions, and he will begin his life as a 50-something on the most lucrative senior tour in the world.
Jones, who turns 50 in March, birdied the last two holes in an extraordinary finish at TPC Scottsdale’s Champions course to achieve his aim and sneak into the top five from Tour School who earn cards for next year.
But it was close and there were heartbreak stories including a couple of Australians – Scott Barr bogeyed the 18th hole to miss out by a shot, and Andre Stolz was also in the slot for a big stretch of his final round, also missing out by a shot at 13-under.
Ultimately Soren Kjeldsen at 24-under easily won the Tour School, with Freddie Jacobson (-16) in second, and three others at 14-under – Jones, Mark Walker and Felipe Aguilar taking the last three places. Jones shot 67-69-66-68 to earn his place, making six birdies in the last 10 holes and shooting 31 for the back nine.
His birdie at the last eliminated both Stolz and Barr, his compatriots.
Mat Goggin also was in with a chance but eventually finished tied-14th.
Players who reach final stage but finish from sixth to 30th earn rights to play qualifying in 2025.
Jones has won 15 tournaments on the Japan Tour. His most recent win at home was the 2023 New Zealand Open.
Australians are a powerful force on the tour, with Richard Green finishing third on the points list this year, and at least 10 players competing regularly.
PHOTO: Brendan Jones is headed to the senior tour in America.
Jason Hong has had a long week already at Moonah Links, including a practice round last Sunday and a pre-qualifying round on Monday from which he found his way into the Vic PGA Championship field.
But the Sydney professional is developing a love for the linsky Mornington Peninsula lay-outs, and he will sleep on the halfway lead at 11-under par after two superb rounds.
Hong, 26, shot a 5-under 66 today on the Legends course to go with his opening 66 on the Open course, and at 11-under he has opened up a lead of a shot from Queenslander Cory Crawford in the $250,000 Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia event.
If he wins it would be his first on the tour and it would give him playing rights that he craves. As it stands, he is hanging out in Sydney and waiting for tour school to come around next year.Hong has been exceptional in what have been unusually benign conditions at Moonah, with light winds.
He played his first 34 holes of the tournament without a single bogey – a streak only broken when he dropped a shot at the par-4 17th today on the Legends.
He made a long birdie putt on the sixth, and chipped in for another on the seventh, and it was all a far cry from his early chapters as a touring pro, struggling on the PGA Tour Americas and the Canadian Tour.
“I feel like my game’s improved a lot since last year, but no one would really know because I haven’t had the opportunity to play and perform,” said Hong. “I’ve finally got an opportunity this week and I’m taking it.”
After six years of college golf in America, Hong turned pro and won a stage of tour school on the Canadian Tour, but he has lost all his playing rights, a situation that would be rectified by a win at Moonah this week. “It’s pretty much ‘win or go home’,” he said.
It has been a steep learning curve for Hong. “You’re travelling so much and just learning to be a pro. It’s still something I’m trying to get used to. I’ve got a couple of years of experience, and I’m just trying to learn as fast as I can. I’ll probably be back here for a year or so and then see if I can get back to America.”
Queenslander Crawford is the closest at 10-under after his 67 on the Legends course today. WA’s Brayden Becker, who holed out for an eagle from 112 metres on the par-4 eighth hole of the Legends, is outright third at 9-under, a shot ahead of a group that includes first-round leader Corey Lamb (71 today on the Open course).
Lamb was disappointed to tread water with the course playing “the easiest I’ve seen it”, but embellished his round by holing a 30-footer for birdie at the last. “It wasn’t a great day,” he said. “Got away with a birdie at the last to shoot 1-under.”
A double bogey 6 at the par-4 14th hole did not help, after his approach plugged in the front bunker and compounded the trouble with a three-putt.
The tournament favourite David Micheluzzi is at 3-under through two rounds after an even-par 71 on the Legends today.
The Victorian Amateur Challenge for teams is led at 20-under by Deyen Lawson and Phil Bannister.
PHOTO: Jason Hong on his way to a 66 on the Legends course today. Image: Daniel Pockett
Queenslander Nigel Weldon has put his three-stroke win at the Elgin Valley Beerwah Legends Pro-Am win among his greatest achievements in golf.
The 51-year-old joined the PGA Legends Tour this year after coming through both stages of Qualifying School and is proving to be something of a multi-round specialist.
His breakthrough win came at the 36-hole Moree Legends Pro-Am in September and he has had three top-10 finishes at two-round events since October.
But over two days at Beerwah Golf Club on the Sunshine Coast Weldon had to line up alongside the likes of PGA TOUR Champions member David Bransdon, Australian golf legends Peter Senior and Terry Price and prolific Legends Tour winners Brad Burns and Adam Henwood.
It’s why this latest win was one to savour.
“It’s very inspiring,” Weldon said of the company he is now keeping.
“These guys that I’ve watched and followed their careers in my life and then finally be out here playing with them against them, and then to finish on top against that sort of a field, it’s a special feeling for me.
“It’s up there with my biggest achievements in this sport.”
Weldon trailed Scotsman Dell Bain by two strokes heading into Round 2 but compiled a superb 5-under 67 for a 9-under total, three clear of Nigel Lane (68) with six players sharing third.
HOW THE WINNING ROUND UNFOLDED
Trailing by two at the start of the day, Weldon leant into that patient mindset from the outset.
Four pars to start kept him in contention before back-to-back birdies at 12 and 13 elevated him up the leaderboard.
A third birdie followed at 17 but he gave that back almost immediately with a dropped shot on 18.
There was no sign of panic, however, as Weldon picked off birdies at three, five and seven to put some distance between himself and the rest of the field.
WHAT THE WINNER SAID
“It’s not just like a one day shootout. You’ve got two days,” said Weldon.
“You can be a little bit patient the first day. You don’t have to come out and fire at everything.
“You can get yourself in the mix and then know what you’ve got to do the next day.
“I do like the multi-round events more than the single round events.
“I’ve been struggling a little bit with my putting of late. I’ve been working hard on it and my short game, chipping, 100-in that sort of stuff. I identified that that was letting me down and the boys are doing it a lot better than I in that department.
“It did click today and great greens, great course and the putts went in. That was the biggest difference.”
LEADERBOARD RUNDOWN
1 Nigel Weldon 68-67—135
2 Nigel Lane 70-68—138
T3 Tim Elliott 68-72—140
T3 Perry Parker 70-70—140
T3 David Bransdon 68-72—140
T3 Euan Walters 70-70—140
T3 David Diaz 67-73—140
T3 Dell Bain 66-74—140
NEXT UP
The PGA Legends Tour heads south to the Gold Coast on Tuesday for the $40,000 Sanctuary Cove G&CC Legends Pro-Am hosted by Peter Senior and Adam Scott, one of the richest one-day events on the calendar.
Corey Lamb came to public notice in a tournament he did not win, the Ford NSW Open this season, but he is out front in the Vic PGA Championship after an opening 64 on the Legends Course at Moonah Links today.
Lamb, 23, went head-to-head with Cameron Smith and Lucas Herbert at Murray Downs a few weeks ago, with Herbert coming out on top. He finished equal runner-up, assumed a certain cult hero status, and the experience has been emboldening for him.
“I’ve taken a lot out of it. It’s definitely helping me play how I’m playing,” he said today after nailing seven birdies in a bogey-free round, and sprinting home through the back nine in 30 in perfect conditions for round one on the Mornington Peninsula.
The Hunter Valley product leads by a shot from a cluster of players at 6-under – Queenslanders Dylan Gardner and Cory Crawford, Victorian Connor McDade and New South Welshman Jason Hong and Western Australian Josh Greer, who all played the tougher Open course.
Tournament favourite David Micheluzzi opened with a 3-under 69 on the Open course and is well placed moving to the Legends on Friday. Another of the marquee group, Jack Buchanan, struggled to a 76.
But it was Lamb’s day. “It was weird, I hit it really close on probably the first seven holes and only holed two of the putts,” he said. “I got a bit cranky there, but then everything started going in.”
Moonah Links is familiar to him having graduated from Q School here a couple of years ago, and he knows that all players need to capitalize when they get their run at the slightly easier Legends course. Exactly as he did today. “I hit the ball so good, on any course today, I think I would have played really well.”
A former NSW and Queensland Amateur champion and an Australian All Schools champion, he has largely struggled to make an impact as a pro until this year, with his good result at Murray Downs and a T2 at the Webex Players Series SA.
Prior to this week he was seventh on the Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia Order of Merit; effectively he is fifth because Marc Leishman and Lucas Herbert have not hit the required number of four tournaments played, and they are ahead of him. The top three at the end of the season in March will pick up DP World Tour playing rights, and it is on his radar.
“I haven’t played too good the first couple of seasons,” he said. “This year I’m finding out what works for me leading up. I’m looking at that (Order of Merit). That’s for sure.”
Lamb also leads the Victorian Amateur Challenge teams event with playing partner Andrew Colliver after they posted a net 58.
Micheluzzi was off the pace until he conjured a barnstorming finish, chipping in for birdie at 17 and then wedging up close for another birdie at 18. It is his 14th tournament in the past 17 weeks, but he is hanging tough. “I should be more tired than I am but once it’s ‘clubs up’ I think I’m going to be done for a few weeks,” he said.
The player with the biggest regrets would have been WA’s Jordan Doull, whose opening even-par 71 on the Legends was remarkable. Doull was 9-under through 11 holes and in the mix for something sub-60. He then gave all those shots back in the last seven holes including a quadruple bogey at the par-4 15th hole.
PHOTO: Corey Lamb drives at 18 on his way to 64 at Moonah Links today. Image: Kirsty Wrice
A slam-dunked birdie putt from 20 feet by Luke Wines on the final hole has clinched Warrnambool Golf Club a thrilling victory at The Scramble Championship Final at Sanctuary Cove Golf and Country Club on the Gold Coast.
Ten teams made the cut to contest the final round of The Championship Final on The Palms Course on Thursday with nine teams left to fight it out for the Consolation Final.
Shepparton Golf Club shot 17.7-under par in the final round to claim the Consolation Final, just 0.6 of a shot ahead of Moranbah Golf Club whose PGA Professional, Josh Bevan, produced one of the highlights of the week with a hole-in-one at the par-3 12th.
Leaders since day one, the Warrnambool team of Luke and Matthew Wines, Tom Batten, Ross Corbett and PGA Professional Ben Ford started brilliantly on Thursday, playing the first nine holes in 11.3-under par.
They maintained that pace with three straight birdies after the turn yet opened the door to the Kooindah Waters Golf Club team with pars at 13, 15 and 17.
A birdie at 17 and nett eagle at the par-4 18th saw Kooindah Waters post 56.6-under par, giving the Warrnambool boys a simple equation that Ford was not willing to share.
“Our scorer told us that we needed a birdie at one of the last two, but there was no chance I was telling these boys,” said Ford, who is based at Eynesbury Golf Club in Melbourne and joined the team at the Regional Qualifier.
“If I told him we needed to hole it to win, it would’ve been missing by three metres.
“I was the only one that went nuts at first. Then I told them it was for the win and then we went really crazy.”
Lead putter as he had been all week, Luke Wines stepped up to the downhill 20-footer for the win and slammed it into the back of the hole, the ball popping up for a final look before disappearing into the bottom of the cup to clinch victory by just 0.3 of a shot.
Even more remarkable was the fact that the left-handed Luke switched to putting right-handed four weeks ago.
“I was putting so bad, I was missing everything,” said Luke.
“One of the boys mentioned it, I just borrowed a mate’s putter and went from there.
“I’ll definitely stick with it; I can’t go back to left-handed now.”
After a heart-breaking one-point grand final loss playing for the North Warrnambool Football Club, Luke believes their victory at Sanctuary Cove will come as something of a shock back home.
“I think most people will be happy for us,” he added.
“They were surprised we got up here, to be honest with you.
“Didn’t expect much from four hacks from Warrnambool but we’ve come here and managed to win, which is nice.”
The 19 Scramble teams were joined by Tour players Michael Sim and Cassie Porter on Thursday, Sim playing the par-3 eighth with each team and Porter the par-3 12th, Porter not required when Bevan made his first career ace for the Moranbah team.
Photo: Lachie Millard/PGA of Australia
Queenslander Elvis Smylie has wasted no time in putting his recently acquired status on the DP World Tour to good use, teeing it up in this week’s $US6 million Nedbank Golf Challenge in South Africa.
Exempt on the DP World Tour for the 2025 and 2026 seasons courtesy of his stirring victory at the BMW Australian PGA Championship a fortnight ago, Smylie flew straight from the ISPS HANDA Australian Open to Sun City to take on the likes of defending champion Max Homa, Presidents Cup representatives Corey Conners, Mackenzie Hughes and Christiaan Bezuidenhout and DP World Tour stars Danny Willett and Nicolai Hojgaard.
Australian Open champion Ryggs Johnston is also in the field as he and Smylie seek to further entrench their positions on the Race to Dubai rankings.
With his victory at Royal Queensland and tie for fifth at Kingston Heath, Smylie sits atop the rankings after just two events.
The 22-year-old had no status just three weeks ago yet is now leading the Order of Merit with the global tour card he has been chasing since turning professional more than three years ago.
It’s a quick turnaround for a host of Aussies who played the Australian Open and are now in Saudi Arabia for the PIF Saudi International.
With Round 1 teeing off on Wednesday preparation time was limited for the Ripper GC trio of Cameron Smith, Marc Leishman and Lucas Herbert, Brett Coletta, Jak Carter and Daniel Gale.
Travis Smyth was out early in Round 1 and was the best-placed Aussie in a share of seventh at 3-under through nine holes.
Two Aussies have also started well at Final Stage of the PGA TOUR Champions Qualifying Tournament in Arizona.
Brendan Jones and Scott Barr are both in a share of fifth after Round 1, Mathew Goggin and Andre Stolz two shots further back in a tie for 22nd with three rounds left to play.
Photograph: Dan Peled/Golf Australia
Round 1 tee times AEDT
Asian Tour
PIF Saudi International
Riyadh Golf Club, Saudia Arabia
2:40pm Maverick Antcliff
3:10pm Nick Voke (NZ)
3:10pm* Ben Campbell (NZ)
3:20pm Jed Morgan
3:20pm* Danny Lee (NZ)
3:30pm Travis Smyth
3:50pm* Matt Jones
7pm Lucas Herbert
7:30pm Cameron Smith
7:40pm Marc Leishman
7:40pm* Brett Coletta
7:50pm Wade Ormsby
8:10pm Jak Carter
8:20pm* Daniel Gale
2023 champion: Abraham Ancer
Past Aussie winners: Nil
TV times: Live 7:30pm-12:30am Wednesday on Fox Sports 503; Live 7:30pm-12:30am Thursday; Live 7:30pm-12am Friday, Saturday on Fox Sports 507 and Kayo.
PGA TOUR
Hero World Challenge
Albany Golf Club, Albany, Bahamas
3:52am Jason Day
2023 champion: Scottie Scheffler
Past Aussie winners: Nil
TV times: Live 5:30am-8:30am Friday, Saturday; Live 4am-9am Sunday; Live 3:30am-8:30am Monday on Fox Sports 503 and Kayo.
DP World Tour
Nedbank Challenge
Gary Player CC, Sun City, South Africa
6:54pm Elvis Smylie
7:16pm* Daniel Hillier (NZ)
2023 champion:
Past Aussie winners: Marc Leishman (2016)
TV times: Live 8pm-1:30am Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday on Fox Sports 503 and Kayo.
PGA TOUR Champions
Qualifying Tournament – Final Stage
TPC Scottsdale (Champions Cse), Scottsdale, Arizona
Round 1 scores
T5 Brendan Jones 67
T5 Scott Barr 67
T22 Mathew Goggin 69
T22 Andre Stolz 69
T37 Brad Kennedy 71
T57 Dominic Barson (NZ) 73
2023 champion: Cameron Percy
Past Aussie winners: Peter Senior (2009), Richard Green (2022), Cameron Percy (2023)
LPGA Tour
LPGA Q-Series: Final Qualifying
Magnolia Grove Golf Course, Mobile, Alabama
Australasians in the field: Robyn Choi
Legends Tour
MCB Tour Championship Mauritius
Constance Belle Mare Plage, Mauritius
Australasians in the field: Scott Hend, Michael Long (NZ), Michael Campbell (NZ)
2023 champion: Peter Baker
Past Aussie winners: Nil
Warrnambool have maintained a slight edge after Kooindah Waters missed a golden opportunity to take the outright lead on day two of The Scramble Championship Final at Sanctuary Cove.
Leading by 1.1 shots overnight, the Warrnambool Golf Club team of Luke and Matthew Wines, Ross Corbett, Tom Batten and Eynesbury Professional Ben Ford had a nett score of 17.3-under par on Wednesday for a two-round total of 37.6-under par.
Their lead is just 0.2 of a shot from the Kooindah Waters team of Jordan Deeble, Lee Moore, Dean Smith, Mitchell McDonald and Toukley Golf Club Professional Mitchell Brown, who could only manage a par on their final hole at the par-5 10th in Round 2.
Less than five shots separates all 10 teams who made the two-round cut, setting the stage for an enthralling third and final round at Sanctuary Cove’s The Palms Course on Thursday.
As their playing days for the North Warrnambool Eagles draw to a close, the Warrnambool boys have turned to golf. They are now the envy of their mates as they close in on Championship Final victory at their first attempt.
“We’ve had a few mates who have actually come up here a few years back,” said Matthew Wines.
“The three of us are only 12 months into playing golf. We only started around December last year so this is our first real golf trip.”
Although more confident off the tee in their second look at The Palms Course, Warrnambool were somewhat slow out of the blocks.
They were 4-under through seven holes courtesy of a nett albatross at the par-5 14th but picked up 6.3 shots in their final five holes to post a number, closing out with a nett eagle on the par-5 10th.
“We had to take Tommy’s drive and he smacked it down there to about 205 to the flag,” said Ford.
“We had to take it no matter what and then our highest handicapper pulls out a hybrid from nowhere, hits it to about 25 feet and then sinks the putt.
“We went nuts. We needed that one.”
Kooindah Waters needed a birdie on their final hole – the par-5 10th – to snatch the lead but had to settle for a par despite being 190 metres out hitting their second.
It was a disappointing finish for a team that was 12.2-under par through nine holes.
“It would’ve been nice to close it out with a birdie,” admitted PGA Professional Mitchell Brown.
“Yesterday we holed a lot of long putts – we holed three bombs yesterday – but today we were just in that mid-range and didn’t really make any of those.”
Lithgow Golf Club played their way into the final round with the low round of the day on Wednesday.
The team of Brandan Horner, Glenn Piggott, Harrison Bender, Nathan Mitchell and PGA Professional Gavin MacPherson combined for a nett score of 20.6-under par to climb into seventh position, less than four shots off the lead.
The final round begins at 8am AEST on Thursday with Tour players Michael Sim and Cassie Porter to join the teams as they strive for Scramble Championship glory.
