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.

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 🤯

Jordan Doull has a two-shot lead!#WebexPlayersSeries | #TheChaseIsOn pic.twitter.com/4zWeaRQ8Bp

— PGA of Australia (@PGAofAustralia) January 12, 2025

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

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.”