But after he tapped in a par putt for a closing 65 at 13th Beach on Sunday to win the Vic Open, the biggest triumph of his career and his third tour win, Coletta’s journey is becoming more evident.

With double points for the Vic Open, Melburnian Coletta leapt to second on the Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia Order of Merit behind Min Woo Lee.

When he tees it up in the Webex Players Series Sydney at Castle Hill from this Thursday, he will know that when you factor in that PGA TOUR member Lee is on the road and unlikely to play another event on the domestic tour – and that only players who compete in a minimum four events are eligible for Order of Merit status – he’s notionally on top.

With just four tournaments remaining – Sydney, Webex Hunter Valley, the New Zealand Open (with stacked points as well) and The National Tournament Presented by BMW – Coletta is in position to lock in a top-three position which will hand him a DP World Tour card for 2024-25.

If he can finish first, he gets his first-ever major championship start at the Open Championship this July at Royal Troon.

Which is one of the reasons why he is grinding at Castle Hill this week. There’s so much for him to play for.

“Four events left,” he said. “I want to play really well in New Zealand. This helps with the Order Of Merit stuff. But I’m not resting. I want to nestle down and play well in one of those big ones. I want to show myself that I can play well in one of those big ones.”

Coletta is just 27.

His career has not been a straight line. As an amateur at the Victorian Institute of Sport, he won the 2016 Queensland Open against the professionals, was runner-up in the NSW Open the same year and tied-sixth in the Australian PGA Championship.
They were results that had good judges predicting greatness for him.
But until he beat Lincoln Tighe in a playoff at the Webex Players Series Hunter Valley in February last year, he had not won an event playing for money.

He’d spent time on the Korn Ferry Tour in the United States, coming close to qualifying for the PGA TOUR in 2020 but just missing out.

Then came the pandemic, and the travel restrictions.

“I feel like I’m a different person, for sure,” he said.

“I’m 27 now, I was only 23 at the time (when he played so well on the KFT). Definitely some sort of maturing goes on and Covid exacerbates that as well. I was stuck over there, I couldn’t get back, it was just a brutal time.

“I’ve been focusing on my golf full stop, and I’ve been playing really well, something like this (Vic Open) solidifies it for myself.”

PHOTO: Brett Coletta on his way to victory at 13th Beach. Image: Rob Prezioso

ORDER OF MERIT TOP 10
Rank Name Points Played
1 Min Woo Lee 1044 2*
2 Brett Coletta 544.85 11
3 Kazuma Kobori 536.93 8
4 David Micheluzzi 359.40 5
5 Ben Eccles 353.30 13
6 Adam Scott 326.67 2*
7 Jak Carter 321.59 13
8 Marc Leishman 314.93 2*
9 Lachlan Barker 303.74 13
10 Kerry Mountcastle 290.86 14