Want to recieve exclusive news, videos, tournament highlights, golf important tips and more ?
Want to recieve exclusive news, videos, tournament highlights, golf important tips and more ?
Two late birdies and a judicious decision on the final hole has secured Brady Watt a one-stroke victory at the 50th playing of the Mitchell and Brown Spalding Park Open in Geraldton.
A round of 6-under 66 gave Watt a one-stroke lead after Round 1 at Spalding Park Golf Club, an advantage he extended to three courtesy of a 4-under par round of 68 in Round 2.
Paired with Ryan Peake and Scott Strange for the final round, Watt was somewhat slow out of the blocks.
Six pars and a bogey in his opening seven holes gave the likes of Jordan Doull (64) and rwo-time champion Daniel Fox (68) a glimmer of hope that Watt could be reined in.
Birdies at eight, nine and 11 re-established Watt’s ascendancy, building a two-stroke buffer with further birdies at 15 and 16.
He dropped a shot at the par-4 17th to reduce the deficit to one but used a conservative approach to secure the par he needed for his first adidas PGA Pro-Am Series win in close to a year.
“It’s always hard to win wire-to-wire,” Watt said post-round.
“I felt a little nervous this morning but how the course was set-up was kind of tricky, so you’ve got to hang in there.
“I didn’t look at the live scoring too much. I looked after nine and saw that a few guys were going quite well so just tried to have a couple more birdies coming home, checked it on the last and managed to get it done.”
Although not quite wire-to-wire, it was a solid performance from PGA Legends Tour Order of Merit leader Chris Taylor to claim the Mitchell and Brown Spalding Park Legends Open.
One back of Terry Pilkadaris after Round 1, Taylor opened up a four-stroke buffer with a second straight round of 3-under 69 on day two.
Two early birdies in the final round saw that lead balloon to six early, Taylor completing a comfortable three-stroke win despite making bogey at each of the final two holes.
HOW THE WINNING ROUND UNFOLDED
With Watt out in front, it did not take long for contenders to make their move in the final round.
New South Welshman Alex Edge made three birdies and an eagle in his first four holes after starting on the 10th tee while Cameron John threatened to make it three wins on the WA swing when he used two birdies and an eagle to draw within two of Watt.
As Watt struggled early, Doull made his move.
A week into his professional career, Doull started the final round seven shots back of Watt but had drawn to within one courtesy of an outward nine of 5-under 31.
He added three further birdies in a bogey-free round that would ultimately come up one shot shy.
Watt’s two birdies prior to the turn proved crucial in building momentum into the back nine.
He took advantage of the short par-4 11th to edge further ahead and following a dropped shot at 13, responded with birdies at 15 and 16.
WHAT THE WINNER SAID
“I try to make as many (birdies) as I can while limiting the bogeys,” said Watt.
“I like playing quite aggressive so it’s hard sometimes to aim away from the pin but on the last, being in the middle of the fairway, it’s 100 metres, it’s actually hard to aim right of the flag and try to make a four.
“But that’s how you close out golf events and really happy that I did today.
“I got my card back at Q School and I’ve just been continuing to work and tie in these pro-ams to test how I’m going.
“It’s all starting to come back to where it can be so it’s exciting to get a win, especially at a place I’ve been coming since I was a junior.”
LEADERBOARD RUNDOWN
1 Brady Watt 66-68-70—204
T2 Jordan Doull 68-73-64—205
T2 Daniel Fox 68-69-68—205
4 Tom Addy (a) 69-72-65—206
5 Scott Strange 68-69-70—207
T6 Cameron John 70-70-68—208
T6 Kim Felton 69-71-68—208
T6 James Marchesani 70-70-68—208
NEXT UP
The WA swing of the adidas PGA Pro-Am Series moves on to Watt’s junior club, Sun City Country Club, on Wednesday for the Total Tree Services Perth Sun City CC Pro-Am where he is also the defending champion. On the east coast of the country, the Queensland run begins on Thursday with the $50,000 Lexus Townsville Classic.
Sydney professional Josh Clarke broke through for his first adidas PGA Pro-Am Series victory by shooting a Sunday 65 to claim the Cowra Lamb Pro-Am by a single shot.
Coming off two top-three pro-am finishes in February and regaining his Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia card at Qualifying School in April, Clarke posted a 36-hole total of 9-under-par to overtake the first-round leader James Conran (66-68),
Matthew Docking (68-67) and Blake Windred (68-67) shared third place.
With the Asian Tour Qualifying School as his next major target, Clarke said he is seeing the results of plenty of time on the practice fairway with coach Blake Dowd at Castle Hill.
Former Australian amateur representative Jye Pickin made his professional debut at Cowra and finished in 12th at 3-under-par.
HOW THE LEADING SCORE UNFOLDED
Clarke rode a hot putter across the two days, collecting 13 birdies.
Six of those came on day one when he also mixed in three bogeys.
In his 6-under 65 on Sunday, which matched John Lyras for low round of the day, Clarke rolled in another seven birdies with his sole bogey coming on the 383m par-4 ninth which he also bogeyed in round one.
WHAT THE WINNER SAID
“I putted pretty well on both days,” Clarke said.
“I didn’t hit it the greatest on day one but much better day two and still just holed heaps of putts whether it was pars or birdies and even a couple of bogey putts. I just putted really good.
“I’ve been continuing to work hard with my coach Blake who is now at Castle Hill. Working on the same type of swing stuff. Still trying to hit fades just control the flight a little bit better.”
LEADERBOARD RUNDOWN
133: Josh Clarke (68-65)
134: James Conran (66-68)
135: Matthew Docking (67-68), Blake Windred (67-68)
136: Jack Walden (69-67)
137: Andrew Evans (71-66), Nathan Page (70-67), Anthony Choat (69-68), Justin Warren (68-69)
(*all NSW)
NEXT UP
The next adidas PGA Pro-Am series event in New South Wales is the Northbridge Pro-Am in Sydney on July 26.
An eagle on his final hole has pushed Brady Watt three strokes clear heading into the final round of the Mitchell and Brown Spalding Park Open in Geraldton.
A day after holing a gap wedge for albatross on the same hole, Watt had to be content with eagle at the par-5 ninth on Saturday to close out his round of 4-under 68 at Spalding Park Golf Club.
At 10-under par through two rounds Watt has a three-stroke lead from Ryan Peake (70), Scott Strange (69) and two-time Spalding Park Open champion Daniel Fox (69).
Kathryn Norris followed up her course record of 5-under 67 with a round of 1-under 71 to sit in outright fifth at 6-under, one clear of Cottesloe Open winner Nathan Barbieri (70) and Victorian Andrew Kelly (70).
Seeking his first adidas PGA Pro-Am Series win in close to a year, Watt began his second round with seven straight pars before trading a bogey with a birdie at 17 and 18 to complete his front nine.
Birdies at one and three continued that momentum into his back nine, momentum that he fully capitalised with his closing eagle on nine.
Three bogeys on his outward nine appeared to end Fox’s hopes of a third Spalding Park Open crown but after a birdie on nine lit up the back nine, keeping Watt within reach with four birdies in his final five holes as he played his final 10 holes in 6-under par.
To mark the 50th anniversary of the Spalding Park Open the inaugural Mitchell & Brown Spalding Park Legends Open is being played in conjunction.
PGA Legends Tour and adidas PGA Pro-Am Series players were paired together on Saturday and it was Order of Merit leader Chris Taylor who sits on top through two rounds.
One back of Terry Pilkadaris after Round 1, Taylor went bogey free in his second straight round of 3-under 69.
At 6-under par he is four strokes clear of Brendan Chant (69) with Jason Norris (74) and Pilkadaris (75) five shots off the lead in a tie for third.
The West Australian swing of the adidas PGA Pro-Am Series continues over the weekend at the Mitchell & Brown Spalding Park Open, where Brady Watt leads after opening with a 6-under 66 that included an albatross on Friday.
Played over three rounds, Watt was out in the early groups and made immediate headway with a birdie at the par-5 first hole and truly came to life with the two at the par-5 ninth.
“Driver, gap wedge from 131, one bounce and rolled in I think, pretty simple,” Watt said describing the albatross.
Asked after his round about the level of excitement from his playing partners, Watt described the atmosphere with a laugh having not seen the ball go in from the fairway.
“Nah, we were talking about the footy, the whole way,” he joked. “It was actually pretty uneventful; we weren’t actually sure if it went in or not because of the shade.”
Watt continued to push on the back nine, where he mixed four birdies, including three straight from the 15th, against one bogey at Spalding Park Golf Club, a course the West Australian is extremely familiar with.
“I’ve been coming here since I was 15, back when Sean McKay was winning. Been here a bunch.”
Watt’s fellow West Aussies, Ryan Peake, Kathryn Norris and Josh Greer share second place, one shot back on 5-under, with four players another shot back, including Daniel Fox who initially was sharing the lead with Watt before a rules clarification post round.
On the fast rolling Spalding Park greens, and in high wins, an ant moved Fox’s ball that he then replaced, rather than playing from where the ball came to rest.
Played concurrently, the PGA Legends Tour at Spalding Park sees Terry Pilkadaris in front on 4-under, with Chris Taylor and Jason Norris in joint second on 3-under, while Murray Lott and Stephen Herbert are tied for fourth at 1-under.
“I’ve played Legends Pro-Am in Mount Gambia the end of last month or start of May. But I haven’t picked up the clubs since, so we just get up and go again. But no, good start,” Pilkadaris, who had his own hole-out moment of excitement, said.
“Birdied 10, 11 and then I holed my wedge for eagle on 13 and then nearly holed another shot on 15. I was 5-under through six. It was a good start. And then the putter went cold.”
That cold putter played its part with three bogeys in five holes on the front nine, Pilkadaris’ back nine, before he finished strongly with birdies at the seventh and ninth for 68.
Now coaching and running golf tours, Pilkadaris echoed the thoughts of both fields on the quality of Spalding Park.
“Best greens we put on anywhere in Australia. Unbelievable. They’re the best,” he said.
“They pretty fast. They’re quick and they’re roll true and they’re perfect.”
Victorian Cameron John has topped one of the strongest fields ever assembled for a one-day event on the adidas PGA Pro-Am Series to claim the Toro Australia – TQUIP Pro-Am at The Western Australian Golf Club.
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 eagles in a new course record of 8-under 64 propelled New South Welshman Nathan Barbieri to a one-stroke win at the 2024 Sanwell Cottesloe Open at Cottesloe Golf Club.
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.
A free drop from a stubborn snake helped Curtis Luck set a new course record and earn a share of the lead on day one of the Sanwell Cottesloe Open at Cottesloe Golf Club in Perth.
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.
Victorian Cameron John is starting to make winning a habit, taking out the DJ Di Stasio Transport Kwinana Pro-Am at Kwinana Golf Club on Friday.
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.
Matching socks saluting Collingwood star Nick Daicos proved to be a lucky charm as Josh Greer and Nathan Barbieri claimed the WA PGA Foursomes Championship at Nedlands 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.
An eagle and three birdies in his final four holes elevated West Australian legend Brett Rumford to a five-way tie at the GMW & Radlink Wembley Pro-Am.
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.
