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Queenslanders Louis Dobbelaar and Blaike Perkins kicked off the Western Australia swing of the 2025 adidas PGA Pro-Am Series by sharing the title at the Urban Quarter Dunsborough Lakes Pro-Am on Thursday.
Rounds of 6-under-par 66 gave the duo a one-shot margin over PGA Legends Tour member Scott Barr (WA) in a field full of Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia talent.
For Perkins, it was his first pro-am series title, while the joint win continued a resurgence of form for Dobbelaar, who regained his Tour card at the recently completed Qualifying School at Moonah Links.
Turning point
Perkins rattled off five birdies in six holes on the back nine but was brought undone by going out of bounds which led to a double-bogey on the par-4 18th, his 12th hole of the day.
However a three on his final hole, the par-4 sixth, ensured he kept a share of top spot.
Meanwhile, Dobbelaar, who started on his round on the 14th, had seven birdies and a sole bogey in his round. He birdied the back-to-back par-fives on the back nine, 12 and 13, to get to 6-under.
Quick quotes
Perkins said: “I was flying at 6-under through 10 and then hole 18 hit me. I knew I had to get a few more birdies then to catch Louis and made a really nice short putt on the last there to tie him. It’s my first pro win so I’m pretty stoked about it.”
Dobbelaar said: “I got off to a good start and played the tough holes well. Hit the ball really nice and had a lot of opportunities during the day. It’s great to play a course in really nice conditions like here at Dunsborough Lakes. It was a bit of a treat.”
Leading scores
T1 Louis Dobbelaar 66
T1 Blaike Perkins 66
3 Scott Barr 67
4 Braden Becker 68
T5 Jordan Doull 69
T5 Cameron Kelly 69
T7 Cameron John 70
T7 Tim Hart 70
T7 Aaron Pike 70
Next up
The WA swing reaches Bunbury Golf Club for the South West Isuzu South West Open over 36 holes this weekend.
There were plenty of players on the Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia who definitely trended in the right direction in season 2024/25.
Here’s a look at some of our biggest improvers in the top 20.
Cory Crawford (pictured above) – up 118 to No.13
The highlight of Crawford’s summer was a one-shot win at the Vic PGA Championship at Moonah Links in December, his first on Tour in more than seven years. In a consistent run in the first half of the 2024/25 season, the 32-year-old had top-20s in five consecutive events. He added a tie for seventh at Webex Players Series Victoria after the Christmas-New Year break.
Tyler Hodge – up 101 to No.20
With thoughts of retirement from Tour life in his head, the New Zealander produced the best result of his career with a win at the Wallace Development NZ PGA Championship at Hastings. His other big point hauls came with an 11th at the Ford NSW Open and share of eighth at the Heritage Classic.
Ryan Peake – up 79 to No.2
The West Australian’s thrilling one-shot win at the NZ Open presented by Sky Sport was one of the big highlights of 2024/25. It changed his life. Less than 12 months after playing in the Tour Q School, the lefthander earned a winner’s category on the Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia and Asian Tour and a 2025/26 DP World Tour card. He also had five other top-10s on his summer record.
Jack Buchanan – up 65 to No.6
In his second year as a professional, Buchanan was one of the stars of the first half of the 2024/25 season, beating Jordan Doull in a playoff for his first Tour win at the CKB WA PGA Championship presented by TX Civil & Logistics before coming from behind to claim Webex Players Series South Australia in front of a home crowd. He also produced a T5 finish at the Ford NSW Open and a season-ending T6 at The National Tournament.
James Conran – up 64 to No.15
Conran came close to his first Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia title last August, finishing as runner-up to Will Bruyeres in the PNG Open. When he next made it into contention at the Heritage Classic, he completed the job, producing a fantastic wedge shot on the final hole to set up a tournament-clinching birdie and a one-shot margin over Nathan Page.
Jack Thompson – up 60 to No.16
The South Australian cashed in at the NZ Open presented by Sky Sport, coming within a shot of forcing a playoff with Ryan Peake after closing with a brilliant 63 at Millbrook. That result came after a T9 at Webex Players Series Sydney and gives him plenty of confidence for an Asian Tour campaign in 2025.
Corey Lamb – up 53 to No.9
The phrase “knocking on the door” was made for Lamb who was equal second at Webex Players Series SA and the Ford NSW Open and third at the Gippsland Super 6. He was also well in contention at Webex Players Victoria before finishing tied for 11th. A place inside the top 10 on the Order of Merit represented a huge jump for the NSW pro who came through Qualifying School last April.
Elvis Smylie – up 30 to No.1
Two victories, including an Aussie major, plus another five top-10 finishes made it a season to remember for the young Queenslander who now has a DP World Tour card and a position in The Open Championship at Royal Portrush. Smylie also produced arguably the shot of the year – an approach in near-gale force winds to inside a metre, setting up a birdie to clinch the Bowra & O’Dea Nexus Advisernet WA Open at Mandurah Country Club.
Blake Proverbs – up 24 to No.17
The Queenslander was one of 13 first-time winners on Tour this season, triumphing in a playoff against Jason Norris at Webex Players Series Murray River. Earlier in the season, he again showed his linking for Nudgee Golf Club with a tie for third at the Queensland PGA Championship after being a joint runner-up in the same event 12 months earlier.
Harrison Crowe – up 18 to No.8
A victory at the season-ending National Tournament was a just reward for a strong season from the former Asia-Pacific Amateur Champion and GA Rookie Squad member. He fired in the big events with a T5 at the ISPS HANDA Australian Open, T7 at the Ford NSW Open and T8 at the BMW Australian PGA Championship. His bogey-free 68 in strong winds to close out the win at The National was one of the rounds of the season given the circumstances.
He may not have a win to his name yet in 2025 yet Lucas Herbert’s consistently strong performances for Ripper GC have finally made his claim to No.1 spot undeniable.
Winner of the Ford NSW Open during the Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia season and tied for fifth at the Australian Open, Herbert shot a stunning 10-under 61 in the final round at LIV Golf Mexico City to finish tied for second.
With Min Woo Lee taking the week off in Las Vegas and Hannah Green missing the cut at the Chevron Championship, Herbert’s third top-five finish of the year elevates him to top spot in this week’s Power Rankings.
PGA TOUR rookie and Puerto Rico Open winner Karl Vilips also moved up the rankings courtesy of his tie for fourth alongside Michael Thorbjornsen at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans.
10. Kelsey Bennett (Last week: 10)
Holds onto 10th spot despite cooling her heels back home in Mollymook ahead of the Aramco Korea Championship next month. Tied for eighth and tied for third in her two most recent starts, Bennett sits 16th on the Ladies European Tour Order of Merit.
9. Marc Leishman (8)
A winner at LIV Golf Miami, Leishman was tied 30th at LIV Golf Mexico City as Ripper GC finished two shots back in second place in the teams event.
8. Stephanie Kyriacou (9)
Continues to solidify her place within the upper echelon of the women’s game. On a day in which only four players broke 70, Kyriacou’s even-par 72 in the final round saw her climb into a tie for 30th at the Chevron Championship in Texas.
7. Elvis Smylie (6)
Began the final round of the Hainan Classic just two strokes off the lead but three bogeys on the trot early on the front nine on Sunday cruelled any hopes of a second DP World Tour win. A closing 2-over 74 saw Smylie drop into a tie for 16th after he was tied for 15th at the Volvo China Open.
6. Minjee Lee (5)
The only Aussie ever in the mix at the first LPGA major of the year. Lee began the final round of the Chevron Championship five strokes off the lead in a share of 10th but shot 74 in the final round, finishing tied for 14th.
5. Jason Day (4)
Tied for eighth at The Masters and holding steady at No.32 in the Official World Golf Ranking, Day’s next start is likely to come at next week’s Truist Championship at The Philadelphia Cricket Club.
4. Hannah Green (3)
Missed the cut at the Chevron Championship for the third consecutive. A tie for ninth at the JM Eagle LA Championship is one of three top-10 finishes this season.
3. Karl Vilips (7)
It’s either feast or famine for ‘Koala Karl’. The Puerto Rico Open winner had missed three cuts and finished tied 54th at RBC Heritage before teaming up with former Stanford University teammate Michael Thorbjornsen to finish tied fourth at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans. Moves up to 53rd on the FedEx Cup standings.
2. Min Woo Lee (1)
Took to the socials to whip up support for sister Minjee ahead of the Chevron Championship in his week off. Will skip this week also before teeing it up at the Truist Championship in Philadelphia.
1. Lucas Herbert (3)
Dating back to his win at the Ford NSW Open and tie for fifth at the Australian Open, no Aussie has put themselves in contention more than Herbert in 2025. Shot 10-under 61 to finish tied for second at LIV Golf Mexico City, his third top-four finish in six starts on LIV Golf this season. A win beckons.
The Australian Golf Power Rankings is a subjective list developed with input from members of the Australian Golf media team.
Australian Min Woo Lee says he is better placed to handle the cauldron of TPC Sawgrass’s Stadium Course after earning a share of the lead at the halfway mark of THE PLAYERS Championship.
Two years after playing his way into the final group alongside world No.1 Scottie Scheffler in his debut appearance, Lee backed up an opening round of 5-under 67 on day one with 6-under 66 to be tied with American Akshay Bhatia at 11-under par.
The pair are one stroke clear of another American, JJ Spaun, with major champions Rory McIlroy and Collin Morikawa and American Alex Smalley tied for fourth at 9-under par.
Lee leant on his 2-iron off the tee to navigate his way around the Pete Dye masterpiece, a course he has already shown a great affinity for.
A birdie at the par-4 10th was the ideal springboard to Round 2, further birdies at 15 and 16 seeing the 24-year-old make the turn in 3-under.
That would be just a precursor to what was to follow as he picked up four birdies in five holes from the par-4 first.
It is familiar territory for the West Australian who believes he has the tools both physically and mentally to finish the job.
Lee was tied for the lead through three holes of the final round in 2023 before hitting a shot into the par-4 fourth that spun back into the water, the resulting triple bogey all but ending his chances.
“Big learning curve. Especially the fourth hole, that’s probably one shot that I regret in my career,” said Lee, whose tie for sixth was his first PGA TOUR top 10.
“It was a wedge that I got steep on and it’s been the narrative for a long time.
“My approach play, I just see the ball flight coming in low and I get a little bit too steep. It’s nice to actually just hit it up in the air and trust it.
“That’s a big part of why I’m getting a little bit better with my approach play.
“A bit more level-headed and a lot of learning between then and now.”
The secret weapon to Lee’s success at Sawgrass this week is a 2-iron that has been a fixture in his bag for a number of seasons.
“If your 2-iron goes 300 yards, it’s pretty good. I just love the club,” said Lee, who would have had the outright lead if not for a closing bogey at the par-5 ninth.
“I can step up on the tee and hit a little draw and if it just gets past some hills and bounces off hills, it goes a long way.
“It can nearly go as far as 3-wood or a driver sometimes if it plugs. Instead, it rolls all the way. It rolls 50, 60 yards sometimes.
“When I hit it good it ends up going a long way. That helps.”
Lee will play a lone hand for Australia across the final two rounds after Adam Scott (72), Karl Vilips (78) and Cam Davis (80) all missed the cut, Kiwi Ryan Fox (70) tied for 49th at 2-under par.
Photo: Richard Heathcote/Getty Images
After more than two decades of facing up to the examination that is TPC Sawgrass, Adam Scott has developed a formula for not just survival but success: Don’t make mistakes.
The 2004 champion of THE PLAYERS Championship has been a constant presence dating back to 2002 with a tournament resume that also includes top-10 finishes in 2005, 2007 and 2017 and six top-20 finishes.
With the late addition of Karl Vilips courtesy of last week’s Puerto Rico Open victory, Scott is one of five Aussies in the field for golf’s unofficial ‘fifth major’.
He is also one of five Australians to have conquered the Pete Dye masterpiece, if at least for one week at a time.
While those who get on its bad side view TPC Sawgrass as a beast, Scott acknowledges the inherent beauty of a layout with no let-up.
“It’s the kind of course where you need a lot of things to go right to be in the mix,” Scott said.
“The penalty is extreme. That’s a trait of Pete Dye golf courses. There’s water everywhere and it’s hard to recover from the water. A couple of visits to the water during the week makes it hard playing catch-up, because then you have to force it and you have to risk.
“It’s there, but if you’re not on it, it’s hard to always post a good number here. Hard to get it in the clubhouse the last three holes.
“Scottie (Scheffler) was the first guy to successfully defend last year, so it’s been challenging for every champion.”
Scott has twice shot rounds of 7-under 65 at golf’s most famous purpose-built theatre – in 2004 and 2016. In his 25th year as a professional, he remains adamant that he can continue to be a force in the sport’s biggest events.
“I don’t think my days are numbered just yet,” said the 44-year-old.
“There’s no signs pointing to that. I still think I have the form to be out here and believe, on my week, I can compete and hold my own.
“I’m enjoying being out here very much. And I say that knowing that it’s not going to last forever.”
While Scott acknowledges his career at the highest level is closer to its end than its beginning, he is excited to see the emergence of a new Aussie star in Karl Vilips.
THE PLAYERS Championship represents the latest step in Vilips’ meteoric rise that has caught the eye of his veteran countryman.
“It’s incredible,” Scott effused. “Understanding where he came from and coming through the college system, I think the college system is just unbelievable these days.
“He’s done an incredible job, even down to doing the YouTube and putting himself out there.
“It’s a different generation than me, for sure, but I know he’s working, he’s got a great team around him, and it’s paying off.
“He’s set himself up for the beginning of what can be an incredible career on the PGA TOUR.”
Elsewhere this week, Ripper GC will defend their teams title at LIV Golf Singapore, the trio of Su Oh, Robyn Choi and Caitlin Peirce are in action on the Epson Tour and West Australians Hayden Hopewell and Haydn Barron are in the field for the Kolkata Challenge on the HotelPlanner Tour.
Round 1 tee times AEDT
PGA TOUR
THE PLAYERS Championship
TPC Sawgrass (Stadium Cse), Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida
11:46pm* Jason Day
12:08am Cam Davis
3:45am Ryan Fox (NZ)
4:07am Min Woo Lee
4:40am Adam Scott
5:13am* Karl Vilips
Recent champion: Scottie Scheffler
Past Aussie winners: Steve Elkington (1991, 1997), Greg Norman (1994), Adam Scott (2004), Jason Day (2016), Cameron Smith (2022)
Prize money: $US25m
TV times: Live 10:30pm-10am Thursday, Friday, Saturday; Live 10:30pm-9am Sunday on Fox Sports 503 and Kayo.
LIV Golf
LIV Golf Singapore
Sentosa Golf Club, Singapore
Australasians in the field: Cameron Smith, Lucas Herbert, Marc Leishman, Matt Jones, Ben Campbell (NZ), Danny Lee (NZ)
Recent champion: Brooks Koepka
Past Aussie winners: Nil
Prize money: $US20m
TV times: Live from 11:30am Friday, Saturday, Sunday on 7 Plus.
HotelPlanner Tour
Kolkata Challenge
Royal Calcutta Golf Club, Kolkata, West Bengal, India
1:15pm* Haydn Barron
5:10pm* Hayden Hopewell
5:30pm Sam Jonez (NZ)
Recent champion: Rasmus Neegaard-Petersen
Past Aussie winners: Nil
Prize money: $US300,000
Epson Tour
IOA Golf Classic
Alaqua Country Club, Longwood, Florida
Australasians in the field: Robyn Choi, Su Oh, Caitlin Peirce
Recent champion: Jessica Peng
Past Aussie winners: Hannah Green (2017), Grace Kim (2022)
Prize money: $225,000
The climb of ‘Koala’ Karl Vilips shows no signs of abating. The former child prodigy is now a PGA TOUR winner in just his third start as a full member.
Including last year’s US Open, the Puerto Rico Open was just Vilips’ fourth start on the PGA TOUR, making him just the 12th player to win in so few starts dating back to 1970.
Not bad for a kid who was still in college less than 12 months ago.
Since graduating from Stanford University, Vilips has won on the Korn Ferry Tour, won on the PGA TOUR, risen more than 1,000 spots on the Official World Golf Ranking and become the first brand ambassador for the Tiger Woods clothing line, Sun Day Red.
He’s also a big mover in this week’s Power Rankings as Minjee Lee continued her stellar start to the LPGA Tour season, Cassie Porter returns after a top-five finish in her second start on the LPGA Tour and Jason Day and Lucas Herbert both log top-10 results.
10. Ryan Peake (9)
Failed to make the cut at the Wallace Development NZ PGA on the back of an emotional NZ Open triumph. With two events left in the season, remains in the hunt for the Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia Order of Merit on the back of top-10 finishes at Webex Players Series Murray River and Webex Players Series Sydney.
9. Min Woo Lee (8)
Narrowly missed advancing to the weekend of the Arnold Palmer Invitational but is showing a greater level of consistency in the game’s showpiece events. Returns to one of golf’s great theatres – TPC Sawgrass – where he played his way into the final group on Sunday on debut two years ago.
8. Cam Davis (3)
Shot 80 in the second round in brutal conditions to miss a second straight cut at the Arnold Palmer Invitational. Shapes as one of our best hopes at THE PLAYERS Championship this week at TPC Sawgrass.
7. Cassie Porter (New)
Responded to a missed cut in her LPGA debut with a tie for fourth at the Blue Bay LPGA. Tied for 13th at Webex Players Series Sydney after shooting 63 in the third round at Castle Hill, Porter entered the final round in China in a share of second, just two strokes off the lead. She closed with even-par 72 for a top-five finish and career high of 177th in Rolex Women’s World Golf Ranking.
6. Elvis Smylie (2)
Entered for next week’s Heritage Classic as he endeavours to wrap up the 2024/2025 Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia Order of Merit. Top 10 at the New Zealand Open, Smylie skipped the NZ PGA as he looks ahead to rejoining the DP World Tour.
5. Lucas Herbert (7)
Continues to be the form player for Ripper GC early in the LIV Golf season. Shot 6-under in the final round to finish outright fourth at LIV Golf Hong Kong on the back of a tie for 21st at the New Zealand Open.
4. Jason Day (6)
Reunited with former coach and mentor Col Swatton, Day delivered one of the best rounds seen at Bay Hill in recent years with a superb 64 in Round 2. Finished tied for eighth at the Arnold Palmer Invitational and rose to No.33 in the world ranking.
3. Minjee Lee (4)
Gave younger brother Min Woo Lee something to live up to with numerous chip-ins across the weekend of the Blue Bay LPGA in China. A runner-up finish to Rio Takeda continued her strong early season form that includes a tie for fourth and tie for 11th in four starts.
2. Karl Vilips (10)
Completed a historic rise to claim his maiden PGA TOUR win in just his fourth start at the Puerto Rico Open. Still to graduate from Stanford University 12 months ago, Vilips has climbed from a world ranking of 1,185 last July to be now ranked 106th in the world.
1. Hannah Green (1)
Tied for seventh in the defence of her HSBC Women’s World Championship title in Singapore, Green will next tee it up at the Ford Championship in Arizona from March 27-30.
The Australian Golf Power Rankings is a subjective list developed with input from members of the Australian Golf media team.
Louis Dobbelaar has opened up for the first time on the struggles that have plagued him the past two years, the moment he hit rock bottom and why he returns to the New Zealand PGA with more self-belief than at any other time in his career.
Still just 22 years of age, Dobbelaar has endured a dip in the trajectory that had him pointed towards a prosperous career on golf’s international stage following his Wallace Development New Zealand PGA Championship triumph in 2023.
He won the 2016 NZ Amateur at Royal Wellington Golf Club as a 15-year-old, in so doing becoming the youngest winner in the championship’s history.
The trans-Tasman double was complete when Dobbelaar claimed the Australian Amateur in 2021 and, shortly after turning professional that same year, he earned playing rights on the PGA TOUR’s Latin America tour.
Highlighted by a third-place finish at the 2021 Australian PGA Championship, Dobbelaar had four top-five finishes in his first 12 months on the Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia and then broke through two years ago with a maiden professional win at Gulf Harbour Country Club.
What happened next is not only a cautionary tale but a reminder of the reality young players accustomed to winning must face.
“You get a bit of a taste of success but what came after that was a little bit of a false sense of where I was at and maybe a bit of complacency,” concedes Dobbelaar.
“When you do have a nice amateur career and you are in contention a lot and you maybe have a few trophies, you just think it’s going to be this slow, constant progression and the graph keeps trending upwards.
“You’ve got to go back a couple steps every now and then. Not that you want to, it’s just all part of it.
“Maybe I have run off a bit of confidence in my past when I’ve been doing well. It’s just been an easy thing to keep doing, but playing poorly took a toll on me mentally.
“I’ve had to really take a step back from my emotions with the game and stand out on the golf course naked to a degree, embarrassing yourself a few times to kind of work through it.
“You’ve got to hit some rock bottoms and ask some hard questions.
“That’s something that can be so hard with your ego on the line.”
‘My head was getting the best of me’
Two key elements conspired to derail the momentum of one of Australia’s most promising young professionals.
Dobbelaar’s physical development convinced him that he had to play the game differently. As the boy matured into a young man, there was a temptation to use his more muscular frame to hit the ball harder. Make the ball fly further.
He also ventured down a path where Dobbelaar evaluated his game by how his swing looked on video, not by how many shots it took to get the ball in the hole.
“A couple of little technical things that I probably hyper-fixated on that probably didn’t need the amount of attention I was giving it,” Dobbelaar reflects.
“That took my focus away from playing good golf.”
In the 12 months after his NZ PGA win, Dobbelaar made 18 starts, missed nine cuts and didn’t have a single top-25 finish.
That trend continued to start the 2024-2025 season, walking off after shooting 81 in Round 2 of the Queensland PGA Championship at Nudgee just six months ago his breaking point.
“My head was getting the best of me. I just couldn’t be present and play golf,” he added.
“I was just all over the shop. I had a couple sit downs with my psychologist (Jonah Oliver) and identified some stuff that actually needed attention.
“I was driving myself nuts and every swing meant more than just a golf score.
“Most guys go through something similar as a pro, but that was the first time I’d ever experienced it with a game that I just love so much.”
‘Believing more than ever’
No longer trading on confidence accumulated as a star amateur, Dobbelaar has sought to build belief to become the professional he has proven he can be.
He has drawn inspiration from the way the past two Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia Order of Merit winners, David Micheluzzi and Kazuma Kobori, have identified and owned who they are as players.
As he prepares to tee it up at Hastings Golf Club on Thursday morning alongside last week’s NZ Open winner, Ryan Peake, and the 2024 NZ PGA champion, Pieter Zwart, Dobbelaar is a believer once again.
“I’m believing more than I ever have,” said Dobbelaar, who was tied for 11th at Webex Players Series Sydney a fortnight ago.
“The last few events, in my eyes, have shown the calibre of player that I think that I am more so than I have probably ever in my career, which is exciting to me.
“Who knows if that means I’m going to play well or not, but I’ve been able to actually do the things that I believe I can do lately, which has been fun.”
The Wallace Development New Zealand PGA Championship tees off at 5:45am AEDT Thursday morning.
West Australian Ryan Peake has completed a remarkable story of redemption with a pulsating one-stroke win at the 104th New Zealand Open presented by Sky Sport.
Trailing Korean star Guntaek Koh by four strokes at the start of the final round at Millbrook Resort in Queenstown, Peake needed to make a 10-foot putt for par on the 72nd hole to avoid a playoff with fellow Australian Jack Thompson (63), Japan’s Kazuki Higa (66) and South African Ian Snyman (66).
The 31-year-old went bogey-free for his final 55 holes and shot 5-under 66 on Sunday to finish atop the leaderboard at 23-under par, in so doing becoming the first lefthander to win the NZ Open since Sir Bob Charles in 1973.
Sixty-two years after Charles become the first New Zealander to win The Open Championship, as champion, Peake will now contest the 153rd Open Championship at Royal Portrush in July and is now in contention to claim the Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia Order of Merit.
Given his back-story that includes amateur golf alongside Cameron Smith and a five-year stint in jail for assault while a member of the Rebels bikie gang, Peake did not have the necessary visa to travel to New Zealand until the start of the week.
He arrived in Queenstown on Tuesday, played 36 holes on Wednesday and leaves with another extraordinary chapter added to his story.
“I’ve just changed my life,” Peake said post-round.
“This is what I do. I want to be here and just play golf. The story is what it is but I’m just out here playing golf.”
It was while he was incarcerated that renowned coach Ritchie Smith reached out and asked whether Peake wanted to play competitive golf again.
He wondered whether he was a charity case, but also knew Smith enough to know he wouldn’t waste time on an assignment he saw no future in.
It was a heart-to-heart at the end of 2024 that reaffirmed to Peake that while a win had proved elusive, they were on a path towards something special.
“I always knew I could do it; it was just a matter of time of when I was going to do it,” he added.
“Elvis Smylie was in the same predicament not too long ago and our coach, Ritchie Smith, said it was going to switch and that you’ve just got to commit to it.
“He had the same chat with me when I missed the cut at the Aussie Open and the Aussie PGA.
“We set out some goals of how we wanted to finish off the rest of the year and along with my family, my team, everyone believed. But most of all I believed as well.”
Given the play of Koh over the previous 36 holes, Peake’s belief in his chances of winning had to have been tested early on Sunday.
A birdie at the fifth hole lifted Peake into a tie for second but still three shots off the lead, that deficit trimmed to two by the seventh hole.
Koh moved three shots clear again with birdie at the par-4 eighth but Peake stayed in the frame with crucial birdies at nine and 12 to join Koh at 22-under and tied for the lead.
Three bogeys in succession by Koh from the 13th hole dramatically changed the complexion of the tournament, Peake suddenly sharing top spot with Thompson, Snyman and Higa with two holes to play.
Thompson and Snyman both missed birdie chances at the final hole in the groups ahead, leaving Peake to two-putt for birdie from the back fringe at the par-5 17th to move one clear, his first putt coming to rest just two feet to the left of the cup.
It meant that par at a par-3 finisher framed by water would seal victory, only for Peake to add to the tension when he missed the green to the right with his tee shot.
Left with a testing chip across the green towards water on the far side, Peake came up short with his chip. He then showed remarkable composure to hole the putt for par and add his name to the New Zealand Open’s remarkable history.
That history will continue to be written in Queenstown, with Millbrook Resort confirmed as the host venue for at least the next seven years at the tournament presentation.
There’s a couple of clear signs for Brendan Jones that he’s about to hit 50.
One, he’s now got a card on the lucrative PGA TOUR Champions for the first time, with his first seniors tournament coming up next month.
Two, his waistline has increased from a size 32 to a size 34.
Before venturing to the United States for his PGA TOUR Champions debut In Tucson, Arizona after coming through Qualifying School at the end of 2024, Jones has stopped off at his favourite tournament of the year, the NZ Open presented by Sky Sport, at Millbrook Resort.
It’s his second Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia event of 2025 after missing the cut at last week’s Webex Players Series Sydney event at one of his home clubs, Castle Hill Country Club.
“I missed the cut by plenty, so there’s a bit to work on, but this time of the year I’m always fresh,” the former NZ Open champion said.
“It doesn’t generally take me a lot to get back to where I want to be and I’ve got some pretty exciting times ahead, so hopefully the enthusiasm that I’ve got for the game right now is going to be enough not just for a good week this week, but for the year ahead.”
Jones is looking forward to being a rookie in the United States, thinking that at age 50 – his milestone birthday comes next Monday (March 3) – this year could be his best chance to cash in.
And far from being a “fat belly”, the moniker many seniors Tour players wear, Jones looks as fit as when he was in his prime, winning 19 titles worldwide, although he’s quick to say that isn’t the case.
“It’s funny because I’ve always been a size 32 waist and ever since I’ve sort of joined the Champions Tour in December, the waist size is going out,” the ACT resident said.
“So yeah, I can see that my body’s changed. I haven’t worked as hard on my fitness as what I should, but hopefully I’ll get into some sort of rhythm and I can do that again. But going to the US where it’s burgers everywhere, it’s going to be hard to avoid.”
The 2023 NZ Open champion will be on the Coronet course for round one on Thursday, teeing off at 8:35am local time and he’s confident of again being in the mix on Sunday.
“These two courses here at Millbrook, I think it brings a lot of people into the equation” Jones said.
“It’d be nice to have a little bit more distance, but you’ve got to position your ball on the greens here as well. I think there’s no reason why a 50-year-old can’t win.”
Photo: Michael Thomas/Photosport
It stands as a pathway or purgatory. Sitting one rung below the promised land, secondary tours the world over are the equivalent of quicksand: The longer you stay there, the harder it is to get out.
Queenslander Cassie Porter had two top-10s and finished 54th in the Race for the Card standings in her rookie season on the Epson Tour in 2023, the primary pathway to the LPGA Tour.
It gave her the grounding to push ahead in her second season, a year in which she broke through with a one-stroke victory at the FireKeepers Casino Hotel Championship in Battle Creek, Michigan.
From that moment forward, Porter was in position to secure one of the 15 cards to the LPGA Tour in 2025 yet wasn’t guaranteed until after the final round of the Epson Tour Championship.
A 5-under-par round of 66 in Round 3 elevated Porter from 42nd to 22nd on the Tour Championship leaderboard, a 2-under 69 in the final round enough to end the week tied for 17th and claim the 10th of the LPGA Tour cards on offer.
By moving inside the top 10, Porter receives the Category 9 exemption category on the LPGA Tour next year while those who finish 11-15 earn the Category 15 exemption category.
A third-place finish in the opening event of the season was the ideal start to 2024 for Porter, who had two additional top-10s along with her victory to join fellow Aussies Hannah Green and Gabriela Ruffels as recent graduates of the Epson Tour.
