John’s bogey-free round of 7-under 63 was enough for a one-stroke win over Scott Strange (64) and Alex Simpson (64) with Deyen Lawson (65) outright third having won the 2022 Western Australian Open at the venue.

The 35-player field boasted current DP World Tour players in Jason Scrivener and Haydn Barron, former DP World Tour winners in Strange and Marcus Fraser, WPGA Tour of Australasia players in Whitney Hillier, Jess Whitting and Kathryn Norris and Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia winners in Lawson, Jarryd Felton, Rick Kulacz, Daniel Fox and Braden Becker.

John joined that list of PGA Tour of Australasia winners in March when he took out The National Tournament at The National Golf Club.

For the former 2017 Australian Junior champion who required wrist surgery little more than a year ago, it marked a major breakthrough that he has now backed up with wins at Kwinana and WA Golf Club in the past week.

“It was something that I have wanted to achieve for quite a long time,” said John, who won the 2017 Interstate Teams Matches in a Victorian team that also included David Micheluzzi and Zach Murray.

“Obviously since we’re young and start playing the game, we all want to win at the professional level.

“To get my first Tour win was something special and definitely something that I will cherish for a long, long time.”

HOW THE WINNING ROUND UNFOLDED

Tied for sixth at the Sanwell Cottesloe Open on Sunday, John was out off the third tee on Monday afternoon.

A birdie at his opening hole was an ideal start which he followed up with a birdie at the par-5 sixth.

As the likes of Strange, Simpson and Lawson took front-running positions, John was forced to bide his time.

His third birdie didn’t come until the par-3 11th but then they came in a flurry, picking up shots at five of his next eight holes before closing out a blemish-free round with pars at one and two.

Strange had an eagle at the par-5 eighth in his round of 6-under 64 while Simpson had eight birdies and two bogeys to also earn a share of second.

WHAT THE WINNER SAID

“Really, really good,” John said when asked to sum up his round.

“I had seven birdies and no bogeys. It’s always good when you keep those bad ones off the scorecard.”

LEADERBOARD RUNDOWN
1          Cameron John              63
T2        Scott Strange               64
T2        Alexander Simpson      64
4          Deyen Lawson             65
5          Jess Whitting               66
6          Nathan Barbieri            67
T7        Haydn Barron               68
T7        James Marchesani        68
T7        Jarryd Felton                68

NEXT UP

The adidas PGA Pro-Am Series now begins the northern run of its WA swing with the 50th anniversary of the Mitchell and Brown Spalding Park Open over three rounds starting in Geraldton on Friday.

Two shots back of the course record 7-under 65 set by Curtis Luck and Braden Becker on day one, Barbieri ignited his round with an eagle at the par-5 eighth and then claimed a second at the par-5 17th for a two-round total of 13-under.

Playing on his home course on a rare trip back to WA from the US, Luck (67) held on for outright second with Becker (68) a further shot back in third at 11-under.

After missing out on retaining a full card by the narrowest of margins at The National Tournament in March, Barbieri went on to win Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia Qualifying School in April.

Last week he teamed up with Josh Greer to win the WA PGA Foursomes Championship at Nedlands and is relishing spending an extended period in the winner’s circle.

“I won Q School a couple of weeks ago and I guess that was a bit of a monkey off the back because I’d never really won anything,” Barbieri said.

“Little win the other day with Joshy which was good.

“I had a good feel this week and thought that the course suited me and the greens were awesome so I was able to put two good rounds together.”

HOW THE WINNING ROUND UNFOLDED

Early in Sunday’s second round it appeared Luck would canter towards what would have been a popular win amongst the Cottesloe members.

He began the day with a birdie at the first and an eagle on four to reach 10-under early but a dropped shot at six brought a whole host of challengers into the mix.

Greer birdied three of the first five holes to get to 8-under and was suddenly within one of the lead along with Becker, Barbieri, Jack Pountney and amateur Connor Fewkes.

A long putt for birdie on eight saw Fewkes slip past Luck and get to 10-under before Luck hit back with one of his own to be 10-under at the turn.

Birdies at 10 and 11 got Greer to 10-under where he was joined by Barbieri, the pair now part of a four-way tie at the top with Fewkes and Luck.

Greer’s birdie on 12 gave him a one-stroke edge but it would be Barbieri’s eagle on his penultimate hole that would seal the deal.

In the Lyndsay Stephen Invitational run for the over-50s in conjunction, Jason Norris had rounds of 68-71 to win by seven shots from Tim Elliott and Brendan Chant.

WHAT THE WINNER SAID

“I played the first 14 holes not knowing (the leaderboard) and then I noticed a couple of people watching Josh ahead of me and I always want to beat him,” said Barbieri.

“I looked on the 15th fairway and saw that I was one back of him and Curto was a couple back but with the par-5s still to play.

“I knew I had to push a little bit but not too much because I still had a couple of chances. I chipped it from the left of 16 and then holed a good putt and then eagled the 17th.

“I wasn’t planning on that. I thought a couple of birdies might have done it but that gave me less stress playing the last.

“I honestly didn’t think it would be enough. I thought I might be going down to a playoff with Curto but lucky I guess.”

LEADERBOARD RUNDOWN
1          Nathan Barbieri            67-64—131
2          Curtis Luck                   65-67—132
3          Braden Becker              65-68—133
T4        Deyen Lawson             68-66—134
T4        Joshua Greer                67-67—134
T6        Josiah Edwards (a)        68-67—135
T6        Cameron John              66-69—135

NEXT UP

The WA swing of the adidas PGA Pro-Am Series stays in Perth on Monday for another new event, the Toro Australia – TQUIP Pro-Am at Western Australian Golf Club.

Enjoying a rare trip home from his commitments on the Korn Ferry Tour in the US and at the course he called home as a junior, Luck and Braden Becker both established a new men’s benchmark as Kathryn Norris set a new women’s course record.

One of the most popular stops on the adidas PGA Pro-Am Series drew a star-laden field not only for the open event but for the Lyndsay Stephen Cottesloe Invitational, a PGA Legends Tour event played in conjunction.

South Australian Jason Norris leads the senior event with a round of 4-under 68 but is three strokes behind both Becker and Luck who set a new course record of 7-under 65 following design changes made by Graham Marsh Golf Design.

Luck had eight birdies in his round of 65 that was aided by an unusual ruling following a wayward tee shot.

“The one tee shot that was in a bit of trouble nestled right in close to a snake,” Luck revealed post-round.

“We tried to get it to move so I could play the shot and the thing was just not budging and ended up staying in the bush that I needed to pretty much stand on.

“Got a nice drop from that which was lucky.

“I haven’t spent a lot of time here over the past seven years which is weird considering I spent pretty much every day here for the first 20 years of my life.

“It’s really nice seeing a lot of familiar faces out there and the home crowds there to watch is awesome.”

In a field boasting current DP World Tour players in Jason Scrivener and Haydn Barron and former DP World Tour winners Brett Rumford, Marcus Fraser and Scott Strange, Becker went bogey-free having gleaned some insight from playing with close friend Cameron John at the WA PGA Foursomes mid-week.

John went on to win at Kwinana on Friday and Becker is hoping to turn their foursomes strategy into his own success on Sunday.

“Playing the Foursomes on Thursday, I learnt a bit of stuff playing with Cam John,” said Becker.

“Obviously we talked about a few things that we should be focusing on, going at flags or going for centre-greens so I kept that in the back of my head.

“I played away from the pins on a few of them and see if I can roll in a couple. I’m good with the putter so if I can give myself half a chance to get things going then we’ll do it that way.”

John is part of a four-way tie for third just one stroke back at 6-under followed by Foursomes champions Josh Greer and Nathan Barbieri and Brett Rumford and Zinyo Garcia, all at 5-under.

While pleased to plunder birdies on Saturday, Becker expects Cottesloe’s coastal setting to throw up some more challenging conditions in the final round.

“I think it might be a bit more like we normally play Cottesloe with the wind in the afternoon so that might be a bit more like we normally like to see it,” he added.

“If we can keep doing the same thing – keep hitting it on the fairway, hit it on the green and hole a couple of putts – we’ll be right back up there.”

Norris is in a tie for 16th after her course-record round of 3-under 69, a mark that could have been one better if not for a lone bogey on the par-4 18th.

Tied for 12th at Kwinana, Norris continued her outstanding recent play with birdies at one, eight, 11 and 16 to be level with Rick Kulacz, Marcus Fraser, Brady Watt, Jordan Doull and John Boulton.

Round 2 begins at 7am AWST with the final group of Becker, Luck and Lachlan Aylen to tee off at 12:40pm.

Live scores

Champion at the season-ending National Tournament on the Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia, John led after Round 1 before finishing third at the South West Isuzu South West Open a week ago.

He and close friend Braden Becker were tied for second at the WA PGA Foursomes Championship at Nedlands and he carried that form into Kwinana, posting 6-under 66 to win by two in his fourth appearance at Kwinana Golf Club.

West Australian Ben Ferguson built his 4-under 68 on a run of four-straight birdies to snare second, one clear of James Marchesani (69), Scott Strange (69) and Jordan Doull (69), making his professional debut after representing WA at the Australian Interstate Teams Matches earlier in the week.

HOW THE WINNING ROUND UNFOLDED

Paired with fellow professionals Caleb Bovalina and Jose De Sousa and starting from the par-4 eighth, John took just two holes to get into red figures.

He cashed in a birdie at the 505-metre par-5 ninth and then picked up three birdies in the space of four holes from the par-5 12th.

He continued to take advantage of the three-shotters with birdies at 18 and one and, despite a dropped shot at the par-3 third, got back to 6-under on his round with a birdie at the par-3 sixth.

WHAT THE WINNER SAID

“Obviously had a great day with the boys. I was fortunate to play in an all-pro group with guys that I have known for a long time.

“There weren’t too many tricky situations that I got myself into, which was nice. I managed to hit most of the greens and holed a few putts as well.”

LEADERBOARD RUNDOWN
1          Cameron John              66
2          Ben Ferguson              68
T3        James Marchesani        69
T3        Scott Strange               69
T3        Jordan Doull                69
T6        Marcus Fraser              70
T6        Jarryd Felton                70
T6        Brady Watt                   70
T6        Andrew Kelly                70
T6        Jason Norris                 70

NEXT UP

The adidas PGA Pro-Am Series continues its WA swing at the ever-popular Sanwell Cottesloe Open this weekend at Cottesloe Golf Club.

Greer and Barbieri were among a group of four players with the unique sock game but it was Greer and Barbieri who emerged victorious, their round of 5-under 67 enough for a one-stroke win.

Legends Tour pair Andre Stolz and Brendan Chant and close mates Braden Becker and Cameron John were eyeing off a possible playoff after posting 4-under 68, only to be pipped at the post.

Alex Simpson backed up from his share of victory at the Wembley Pro-Am to snare fourth with Jayden Cripps with 2-under 70.

For Sydney’s Barbieri, it was a rewarding first look at the former host venue of the Nedlands Masters.

“It was fun; it was a good day,” said Barbieri, he and Greer paired with Haydn Barron and Ben Ferguson and Jarryd Felton and James Marchesani.

“First time at Nedlands. Everyone was raving about how good it was and I loved it. It’s a little bit dinky but it’s fun. It’s a good track for foursomes, I really enjoyed it.

“We obviously had a really good group with the boys and had a little money game going as well, which kept it interesting.”

The WA swing of the adidas PGA Pro-Am Series continues on Friday with the DJ Di Stasio Transport Kwinana Pro-Am at Kwinana Golf Club.

Straight off the plane after a week at the CJ CUP Byron Nelson tournament in Texas, Rumford was shrugging off jetlag as he played his first seven holes of the adidas PGA Pro-Am Series event in 1-over par.

Birdies at eight, 10 and 11 brought the six-time DP World Tour champion into the mix but it would be the eagle at the par-5 17th and chip-in for birdie on 18 that saw the 46-year-old post 6-under 66 at the Wembley Golf Course Old Course where he now coaches.

He was one of five players to post 66 along with fellow veteran Daniel Fox, Ryan Peake, Brody Martin and Alexander Simpson.

Rumford wasn’t the only player to close out their round with a birdie.

Bogey-free, Fox made his sixth and final birdie at the par-4 14th, Peake made birdie at the par-4 eighth while Simpson needed birdies at both 16 and 17 to also earn a share of victory.

Dillon Hart, Brady Watt and James Marchesani all shared sixth position just one back with rounds of 5-under 67, Deyen Lawson and Josh Greer among the five players to finish tied for ninth at 4-under.

Rumford is partnering with Scott Strange on Thursday for the WA PGA Foursomes Championship to be played at Nedlands Golf Club.