Geary takes halfway lead at Vic Open - PGA of Australia

Geary takes halfway lead at Vic Open


Kiwi Josh Geary’s preparation for another New Zealand Open tilt later this month may just include victory at the 2025 Vic Open.

Rounds of 64-65 on the first two days at 13th Beach Golf Links have handed Geary a two-stroke lead over NSW amateur Declan O’Donovan (65-66) as he tries to secure his first Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia title since the 2013 WA Open.

Not that there hasn’t been success in recent years. The 40-year-old has won the Order of Merit on the Charles Tour in his homeland the past two seasons, including claiming four event titles.

“My plan was to come over here and get ready for the New Zealand Open in a few weeks and the New Zealand PGA,” Geary said.

“I wasn’t feeling great about the way things felt coming into this week and, to be honest, some of the long stuff’s still pretty rough. But I managed to get it around and the scoring clubs are really sharp.”

Geary played 35 holes without a bogey across the Beach and Creek courses the past two days.

He was leading by five shots when he made double-bogey on his final hole, the par-4 18th on the Creek, when he missed the green to the right.

Two chips later, he was facing a bogey putt that lipped out.

“It all kind of turned to custard on one hole. To be honest, it was kind of coming,” said Geary.

“I had a few loose ones out there so it wasn’t that surprising.

“It just would’ve been nice to have it earlier on and finish on a better note. It always makes lunch taste a bit off.

“I’ve got a pretty poor history over on the Creek course. It was nice to get a good score there today, regardless of the last hole.”

Playing in his eighth Tour event as an amateur, O’Donovan has continued the form that took him into the last group of the final day of the Australian Amateur Championship at Commonwealth Golf Club followed by successfully defending his NSW Amateur title and then claiming the Avondale Amateur.

He played in the final group in Round 3 of the Queensland PGA Championship last November and has made just one bogey through 36 holes at 13th Beach.

“I’m not going to change anything,” the 21-year-old said of his plans for the weekend.

“My mate (Sean Ryan) and I have been doing a really good job. We’re just focusing on my processes and trying to stay away from the result as much as possible and I think I’ll just try to have as much fun as I can.”

Sharing third place at 12-under-par are two former Tour winners, South Australian Lachlan Barker (66-67) and NSW’s Austin Bautista (65-67).

With just one bogey across the two days, Bautista is delighted to be back in the mix at the weekend. The Sydney professional has endured a difficult run, with just one top 10 on Tour since his victory at the 2023 Webex Players Series South Australia.

“This is where I want to be. I mean, this is why I play golf,” Bautista said of his lofty position on the leaderboard.

“You want to be in the mix and be in contention. So yeah, definitely very excited about it.

“I’ve been working really hard. It’s definitely not just one thing with golf. I find that it’s not by chance you have good golf that comes out of nowhere.”

Overnight leader Kade McBride (Queensland) followed up his opening 62 with a second round of 1-over 73 in the afternoon wind on the Beach course to sit at -9-under overall.

Defending champion Brett Coletta (Vic) safely made the weekend play with rounds of 69-71, but is 11 shots from the lead. Order of Merit No.4 Jack Buchanan (72-69) is 12 behind.

Among those to miss the halfway cut at -3 were Order of Merit No.8 Corey Lamb (71-75) and two-time Vic Open champion Dimi Papadatos (73-75).

The final two rounds will be played on the Beach Course.

The leading group will tee off at 2pm on Saturday.

LIVE SCORES: www.golf.org.auwww.pga.org.auwww.wpga.org.au

TV COVERAGE: The Vic Open is live on Fox Sports, available on Foxtel and Kayo.


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