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Approaching his 51st birthday next month, Michael Wright says he is playing the best golf of his life and he converted it into a playoff victory over Jak Carter at Webex Players Series Victoria today.
A par on the second playoff hole – after the veteran Queenslander hit an exquisite bunker shot to inside a metre – shut out South Australian Carter who stumbled to a double-bogey to lose a third playoff of the season on the Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia.
A victor on Tour for the first time since the 2011 WA PGA Championship, Wright shot a final-round of 2-under-par 68 at Rosebud Country Club, while Carter, 10th overnight, stormed up the leaderboard with an equal best round of the day, a 6-under 64, to finish at 15-under-par.
Victorian Andrew Martin and Queenslander Brad Kennedy shared third place, one shot out of the playoff, after both shot final rounds of 68.
Heading out for the final round as joint leader with Corey Lamb, Wright, who has his scratch-golfer son Noah as fulltime caddie, pulled clear by three shots after birdies at the eighth and 10th holes.
But a bogey on the long par-4 15th, after Carter had birdied 16 and 17, left them level until the playoff was over.
“It feels fantastic (to win) and to have my son on the bag too made it even more special,” the PGA TOUR Champions member said.
“This was one for the old boys. It’s pretty cool.”
Wright says he’s a more relaxed golfer compared to when he was full-time on the Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia where he had five top-10 finishes in 2023 before going on to successfully negotiate PGA TOUR Champions Qualifying School.
He finished his rookie season in the US 52nd on the moneylist, highlighted by two top-10 finishes.
As he prepares to return to America for a second campaign, Wright said such a win is testament to playing against the likes of major winners Bernhard Langer, Ernie Els, Stewart Cink, Fred Couples and Justin Leonard every week.
“Having played over on the Champions for a year now has given me a lot of experience,” he said.
“I’ve never been on a tour where I’ve played week in, week out. Playing on that tour, I played 23 events and it was like playing 23 Australian Opens.”
Carter has now experienced the disappointment of a playoff loss at the WA Open, Queensland PGA and at Rosebud in the 2024/25 season but has climbed to 10th on the Order of Merit.
After being the joint leader with Wright after rounds two and three, Lamb (73) endured a difficult Sunday with an uncooperative putter to drop to 10-under-par. His only birdie on Sunday came at the par-4 fifth.
Reigning Vic Open champion, Ashley Lau (Malaysia), ended up as highest-placed woman, in equal seventh at 11-under after two rounds of 68 at the weekend.
Queensland’s Cassie Porter (68) and WA’s Abbie Teasdale (68) finished strongly at 10-under but their 2025 campaigns will now head in different directions – Porter to the LPGA Tour for the first time and Teasdale to Webex Players Series Murray River next week.
Kelsey Bennett’s 65 was the low Sunday round for the women and lifted her to a tie for 28th.
Carter’s 64 was matched by Cam John as the men’s best score in the final round, John joining those in a share of seventh.
The Webex Players Series Victoria All Abilities title was won by Curlewis Golf Club’s Noah Schammer (72-73), who finished two shots ahead of Sandy Links-based professional Tom Ryan (72-75).
It’s the 16-year-old plus-3 handicapper’s first Webex Players Series title.
The top two will meet again at Cobram Barooga next weekend.
Riversdale Golf Club’s Arena Tran (71-73) won the Webex Players Series Juniors event thanks to holing from off the green on the first hole of a playoff against Huntingdale’s Elbert Kim (69-75).
A sensational career-best run of seven straight birdies to start his round has helped to lift Michael Wright into a share of the lead with ultra-consistent Corey Lamb, giving him the chance to end a 14-year title wait at Webex Players Series Victoria.
At age 50, Wright, who finished with a 5-under-par 65, will tomorrow seek his first Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia victory since the WA PGA in 2011.
Meanwhile, Lamb, who had a 1-under 69 today, will desperately want to end his run of near-misses on Tour which has included three runner-up finishes in the past 18 months.
The duo sit at 13-under-par, two clear of Queenslanders Brad Kennedy (62) and Jake McLeod (71), Victorian Andrew Martin (66) and Wales’ Lydia Hall (68).
Fourteen players will start Sunday within four shots of the lead, setting up a super showdown on the Mornington Peninsula.
After starting the third round four shots adrift of Lamb and McLeod, Wright surged into the lead with a remarkable string of birdies from the first to the seventh, just two short of the all-time Tour record.
The par-3 eighth hole ended the streak – and in a big way – with the PGA TOUR Champions member finding the ditch in front of the green and walking off with a double-bogey.
“That was a lot of fun that first seven holes,” Wright, a three-time winner on Tour, said.
“I’ve never done that before and I wish I could keep doing it every time I play because it’s a lot of fun making that many birdies.
“I sort of said after a couple ‘oh, you can’t birdie ’em all if you don’t be the first two’. And I said it again after three and four and five and then it’s seven.
“And then I come back to reality on eight. Didn’t hit that bad a shot, but it wasn’t good enough. I just got punished, a severe penalty there and hit a poor putt.
“I actually played pretty nice on the back nine, to be honest. The putts just didn’t drop, whereas they dropped a bit on the front.”
Lamb held the outright lead at -14 until he bogeyed the final hole – only his third dropped shot on the opening three days.
“It was sort of a slow day,” the NSW Hunter Valley pro said.
“It was good to not have my best stuff and still come out on top (of the leaderboard).”
Wright wasn’t the only 50-year-old to have a good Saturday at Rosebud.
Playing in just the fifth group of the day, Queensland’s Brad Kennedy shot the low round of the event so far, an 8-under-par 62, to rocket onto the leaderboard at -11.
The Japan Golf Tour regular, who won this event three years ago, parred his first three holes but then birdied five of his next six, the only missing piece being a bogey at Wright’s nemesis, the par-3 eighth.
He then had a similar birdie splurge on the back nine, picking up shots on 11, 12, 13 and 15. His chance at a 59 disappeared with a par on the gettable par-5 16th,
“The last two days, it’s been a bit scrappy,” Kennedy said.
“Today I really started to keep consistent one shot after another and got my putter back online. So it was nice to see a lot of putts drop today.
“Hitting off at 20 past nine is never a good thing on a Saturday, but it also sometimes gives you an option to free wheel it and really push yourself forward.”
After an up-and-down day, Lydia Hall (68) saved her best for the 18th hole where she holed out from 140m with a six-iron for an eagle to jump from T9 to the group in third on 11-under, the Welsh visitor remaining the leading women’s contender with a round to play.
“It was kind of slipping away after double on 15,” Hall said.
“Happy with that finish and hopefully I can do a bit more tomorrow.”
Impressive Victorian amateur Jazy Roberts is just three shots behind after producing a 67 today, including a run of four straight birdies on the front nine, to follow opening rounds of 67-66.
LPGA Tour-bound Cassie Porter improved her position with a 65 to be five back.
Sandy Links-based professional Tom Ryan and amateur Noah Schammer lead the All Abilities event after opening 72s, eight clear of their nearest challenger.
The leading junior is Elbert Kim, from Huntingdale Golf Club, who carded a 69.
TV COVERAGE: Webex Players Series Victoria is live on Fox Sports, available on Foxtel and Kayo.
*All times AEDT.
Final Round: Sunday 1pm-6pm (Fox Sports 503/Kayo)
A player looking to return to the Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia Tour winner’s list after a lengthy absence and another who has been so close to a breakthrough first victory over the summer are the joint leaders at the halfway mark of Webex Players Series Victoria.
The former is Queensland’s Jake McLeod (62-66) who is back in contention for the second straight tournament after finishing equal fifth at Webex Players Series Perth a fortnight ago.
The latter is NSW’s Corey Lamb (63-65) who appears to the next in line to be a first-time winner on Tour, with three runner-up finishes and a third placing in the past 18 months.
At 12-under-par at Rosebud Country Club, the duo lead Andrew Campbell (64-66) by two shots.
The two leading women, last week’s Drummond Golf Melbourne International winner, WA’s Abbie Teasdale (65-66), and Welsh visitor Lydia Hall (64-67), share fourth place with Queenslander Blake Proverbs (66-65) at 9-under.
McLeod, whose last win on Tour came in 2018 when we went on to claim that season’s Order of Merit title, started the second round with a one-shot lead and built that to five by the time Lamb teed off for his afternoon round.
His 66 in much more favourable conditions than Thursday’s windswept afternoon included seven birdies to take his two-day total to 13, plus an eagle.
However he slipped up with three bogeys on day two, including two very unexpected ones on par-5s.
“I did a good job today. Played pretty nicely for the most part,” McLeod said.
“I just feel like I’m hitting the ball so nicely and haven’t really put myself into any trouble, which has been good.
“I think the weather is looking good, so it’ll probably be a little easier on the weekend.”
Finished by lunchtime, McLeod was expecting someone in the chasing group to catch him later in the day and Lamb achieved just that by holing a lengthy birdie putt on his second last hole, the par-3 eighth.
“Today was pretty average, I thought,” the former NSW and Queensland Junior Amateur champion said.
“I sort of got away with a few shots that I probably shouldn’t have.”
“I’m good mates with ‘Clouds’ (McLeod), so it’ll be a fun day tomorrow, I’m sure.”
Third-placed Campbell, another player who has been on many leaderboards in the past two seasons without finishing with the trophy on Sunday, has had just one bogey in the windy conditions – at the par-4 12th – today.
Hall kept her status as the leading woman, this time sharing the honours, after bouncing back from a double-bogey at the par-4 sixth with a run of three consecutive birdies to finish the front nine.
In just her third pro event, Teasdale completed her second nine today in just 31 strokes to move into contention.
Also in the mix at 8-under-par, four shots back, is 50-year-old Queenslander Michael Wright (65-67) who is getting himself ready for a new PGA Champions season after a solid debut campaign last year which saw him finish 54th in the Charles Schwab Cup standings with two top-10 finishes.
This week will be his last start for the summer on the Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia before he heads back to the United States.
“It’s always good to come back and play in your home country and especially against the young guys because I’ve been playing with geriatrics all year,” Wright joked.
“It was real challenging actually the last two days with the wind being so strong. It was a little bit stronger yesterday than today, but it was definitely a challenge.
“I’m really happy with the way I’ve been playing in the wind.”
LPGA Tour-bound Cassie Porter birdied three of her last four holes to safely make the weekend play at 3-under following a day two 68.
Thailand’s Colcheva Wongras climbed into the top 10 with the low women’s round of the day, a 5-under 65, while Victorian amateur Jazy Roberts and former Athena champion Grace Lennon carded 4-under 66s. Roberts shares eighth place, while Lennon climbed to T41.
The father-daughter duo of Peter and Chloe Wilson, at 2-over and 17-over respectively, both missed the halfway cut which came at 2-under-par.
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)
Defying the strong afternoon winds that hit Rosebud Country Club, Queensland’s Jake McLeod surpassed his own expectations to take the outright lead after round one of Webex Players Series Victoria.
McLeod thought early on that a 2-under-par score that would leave him five shots behind the morning leaders would be a pleasing result given the difficult conditions he was facing.
He ended up smashing that mark, posting an 8-under-par 62, including playing the last six holes in 5-under, to lead NSW-based trio Corey Lamb, Harrison Crowe and Nathan Barbieri by a shot.
It’s the second consecutive Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia event that McLeod has led after round one. He ended up finishing equal fifth at Webex Players Series Perth at Royal Fremantle.
“Once we got to about hole eight, (the wind) started pumping. It was pretty crazy out there,” the former Order of Merit champion said.
“I was only a couple under at that time and I was just hoping to finish a couple under, to be honest, in that wind.
“I never really hit any trouble. It was pretty much every fairway, most probably 16 greens or something, so that was very impressive in that sort of wind, being able to control the ball like that.”
Lamb, Crowe and Barbieri all played in the benign morning conditions, as did the leading woman, Lydia Hall from Wales, and another New South Welshman, Andrew Campbell, who finished with 6-under-par 64s.
With two T2s and a third place on his record this season to be seventh overall on the Order of Merit, Lamb is the highest ranked player on the season long points list in the field this week and he played like it today with seven birdies and no bogeys on his card.
Playing his first event for 2025, the 23-year-old rattled home with four birdies in his closing six holes.
Lamb was quick to sing the praises of his new Callaway Elyte driver which kept him on the short grass on all but one occasion after a pre-event tweak worked almost to perfection.
“It is pretty elite,” he said.
“I didn’t really like it on Tuesday and then Coops (Daniel Cooper), the Callaway guy, put it down a degree (from 10.5 to 9.5 degrees) and it come out a lot better. I thought ‘Why not give it a go? I mean, I love new stuff, so it was, why not?’.”
“I feel comfortable hitting it.”
Crowe, who had top-10s at both the BMW Australian PGA Championship and ISPS HANDA Australian Open, is also chasing the benefits a strong Order of Merit finish can bring and has committed to playing the rest of the local Tour season.
“I had a really, really lovely break over Christmas,” he said.
“I think I had about three or four weeks off the clubs, so definitely come back very refreshed for sure.”
Barbieri hit 16 out of 18 greens in his bogey-free 63 on one of his favourite courses on Tour to visit.
“A lot of people think this is my home track,” Barbieri said.
“I’m obviously from Sydney, so this is my home track in Melbourne, I think. I don’t mind this joint. It suits my game well and everything sort of falls together here which is nice.”
Former Ladies British Masters champion Lydia Hall may be from much further away from the Mornington Peninsula, around 17,000km in fact, but doesn’t mean the Welshwoman doesn’t feel at home.
“Australia is always a place that I love to come to,” Hall said.
“Last year was a bit scrappy on the European Tour, but I managed to finish it off with a nice win at Duntryleague. So the form has been good and I played solidly today.
“I absolutely love playing with the guys. They’re so aggressive with their golf and there’s so much to be learned and respected from their game.
“I did pretty well a couple of years ago here. I think it was in the last couple of groups and finished sixth to 10th. So I’ve had good memories from this course.”
Another person right at home at Rosebud, the three-time club champion James Marchesani, threatened to go very low on day one, turning in six-under-par 29.
Playing alongside his brother Anthony, the reigning Rosebud club champion, Marchesani’s momentum stalled with a bogey on his 10th hole, the par-4 first, and he eventually came home in 1-over 36 to post a 5-under-par 65. Anthony carded a 1-over 71.
Reigning Vic Open champion Ashley Lau and West Australian Abbie Teasdale, who won the Drummond Golf Melbourne International last week, are the second highest-placed women, at 5-under.
Peter and Chloe Wilson created history when they teed off, becoming the first father-daughter combination to play professionally in the same Tour event, Peter eventually taking the family honours with a 68 to Chloe’s 78.
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)
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
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.
On the back of securing his PGA TOUR Champions card for 2025, the 2023 New Zealand Open champion, Brendan Jones, has confirmed he will return to Queenstown for his favourite event of the year.
The 104th New Zealand Open presented by Sky Sport tees off at Millbrook Resort in Queenstown between February 27 and March 2.
A fantastic ambassador for both Queenstown and the New Zealand Open, Jones’ 2023 victory in Queenstown came after he survived the cut on the number, and then played “the two best shots of my life” to make crucial birdies on the final few holes helping him claim the title.
Speaking about the New Zealand Open Jones says he “wouldn’t miss it for anything” and is looking to add his name to the Brodie Breeze trophy once again.
“The New Zealand Open is the first event I add to my schedule every year. It’s a fabulous event and not only myself, but every one of the players can’t wait to be part of it.”
“Not only is it the best event of the year in my opinion, but the location and hospitality are something we don’t experience anywhere else in the world.”
Jones, who turns 50 on March 3, the day after the final round at the New Zealand Open, believes the experience and pressure from the PGA TOUR Champions Q-School has helped put him in great shape, both physically and mentally for returning to Queenstown.
“The Q-School process is quite tough and really tests your all-round game. Having had a few injuries this year, it’s been great to see my fitness and mentality back up to the level I want them to be at. Hopefully, these experiences will help me push on at Millbrook.”
Jones also made note of the success that Steven Alker, who is also confirmed to be playing at the New Zealand Open in 2025, has had in recent years on the PGA TOUR Champions and will be hoping to emulate his success.
“Obviously Steve has had a couple of wonderful seasons on the tour and I will definitely be having a few conversations with him in Queenstown. Maybe some of his magic will rub off on me.”
New Zealand Open Tournament Director, Michael Glading is delighted that Jones will be returning, and is also excited to see how he goes next year on tour.
“I think Brendan will do really well on the PGA TOUR Champions as he has the tools in his locker to win again, as he demonstrated so well in Queenstown in recent years,” Glading said.
For more information, please visit nzopen.com
For the first time in tournament history, extra holes were required to decide a winner of any category at Geoff Ogilvy’s Sandbelt Invitational, with Ryan Peake triumphing over David Micheluzzi at Royal Melbourne to claim the overall prize.
Joined at the presentation by Kayun Mudadana, Caitlin Peirce and Amelia Harris as winners of the men’s amateur and women’s pro and amateur sections respectively, it was all eyes on Peake as he defied a back nine struggle to lift the trophy.
Having jokingly asked members of the following crowd for the best lines off some of The West Course’s tees having last played the course as a 14-year-old, Peake limped into the clubhouse in regulation, including bogeying the 72nd hole after authoring a remarkable start to Thursday’s final round.
Three straight birdies from the first tee were followed by an eagle at the fourth and another birdie at the fifth as Peake made the turn in 6-under on a day when Royal Melbourne member Tom Power Horan equalled the professional course record of 63.
West Australian Peake signing for a 67 and 3-under total before having some lunch as he waited for what he thought was a foregone conclusion of Micheluzzi winning the title.
“Seventeen years ago, I think. So I can’t remember anything,” Peake said of when he last played Royal Melbourne.
“I mean, that front nine was pretty straightforward. What you see is what you get. Obviously, I’d just done everything right, not knowing that I was doing everything right. Just I guess a bit of luck my way.
“Then on that back nine, you’ve got to play this course a bunch of times to know your lines, know what’s good, what’s bad. I made I think three bogeys and a double out of nowhere, and I didn’t really feel like I hit bad shots.
“To be honest, I’m a bit lost for words. I’m still trying to figure it all out myself. I don’t really know what happened there, but you’ve got to expect that when you’ve never played it before.”
Far more experienced around what many consider the best course in Australia, and a previous winner at Royal Melbourne, it was another day of Micheluzzi’s score not necessarily reflecting the quality of his play, with the DP World Tour player 2-under through 16 holes before finishing bogey-bogey to match the 3-under mark and head back for the 18th tee.
Peake finding the fairway, while Micheluzzi’s tee shot missed right and found a sandy lie that resulted in a 60 metre wedge for this third as Peake found the front left portion of the green.
Micheluzzi taking two putts, but unable to send it to more extra holes after his left handed opponent rolled in his second putt to celebrate his first victory as a pro with one hole fill-in caddie Jye Pickin.
“I mean, events turned around really quickly. I guess when you’re in that position, you just expect the best and I guess hope for the worst, but expect the best. And ‘Micha’ being Micha I’m like, ‘Oh, he’s going to make a par,” Peake said of the closing stages.
“I went to the bar and I bought the boys a round of beers and the refs come in and just said, ‘Mate, you’re required for a play-off’.
Peake speaking again of his plan to enjoy the event and Sandbelt as a first priority having spoken with coach Ritchie Smith about how quickly things can turn.
“I mean, it’s a bit of self-belief. I mean, you can only beat who you’re playing against, but I think just in an event like this, like I said, at the start of the week, I really just wanted to embrace the whole, the Sandbelt culture and just really enjoy being out here.
“Even when things weren’t going my way, I was still really enjoying it. I knew what I was here for, but to get an invitation into something like this that not many people get, and then to be able to play some good golf as well.
“My coach, Ritchie Smith, he said I’m pretty much in the same predicament as Elvis (Smylie). It was so close to switching. You just don’t know when, and then Elvis just went bang, bang, bang … He told me after a missed cuts at the Open and PGA. He said, just hang in there. Because it’s so close to switching.”
Peake joking earlier in the week that he would need to win to pay for his pricey Monday night dinner. Perhaps less of a concern when he returns to the Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia at the Webex Players Series Perth at Royal Fremantle in early January.
“I’m not too sure what the whole thing is,” he said of the potential cash injection from winning.
“I haven’t looked too into it, but that trophy looks amazing. I think it’s a pretty unique and a pretty special one. So yeah, that’s the only thing I really kind of thought about. If I was to win, I just really wanted that trophy.”
Matias Sanchez finishing third alone on 1-under and one shot ahead of Cam John and Richard Green, with Mudadana on 1-over and taking plenty away from the week.
“It was going to be always tough having never played here, but I started pretty well,” Mudadana said.
“I was two through eight and missed a short part on nine and made bogey on 10. I was a bit on a back foot there, but it’s all right. I had a lot of fun out there.”
Peirce closing out her week with a 70 to finish 6-over for a second triumph since turning pro in November.
“Not really, but it’s nice to get the wins,” she said when asked if she was finding professional golf easy having won a NSW Women’s Open Regional Qualifier in recent weeks.
“It was more being able to play four rounds on four good Melbourne Sandbelt courses. I played it twice as an amateur, so playing it as a pro, I guess the money’s a little bit of a bonus, but the format and the places you get to play is probably the key highlight of it.”
Headed for a drive back to Adelaide tomorrow, Peirce will take only a slight break before teeing it up across the Australian summer and heading for the Epson Tour in America.
It will be a similar story for Harris heading into year 12 with her eyes on the adidas Australian Amateur on the Sandbelt in January before moving to America and the University of South Carolina.
“It feels really great to be able to get the title back. Obviously it feels great playing against really good amateurs, but it’s as special as my first win,” Harris said.
“I think it helps boost my confidence a lot. I hadn’t been playing good as of recent, so I think winning this is really going to help me in my big tournaments.
Tournament host Ogilvy surmising a fourth successful staging of his and “Tournament Director” Mike Clayton’s brainchild having taken in all the action over four days.
“It was unique for me to watch on this year and truly host the Sandbelt Invitational and I have loved the experience,” Ogilvy said.
“The courses and clubs have been magnificent, and our four champions exemplify the word.”
“Hearing Ryan’s words about the event is exactly why we do this.”
Final scores available at www.sandbeltinvitational.com
