The 2019 TSA Sanwell Cottesloe Open got away in near on freezing conditions for early players to battle at the picturesque Cottesloe Golf Club.

A stellar field has assembled for the Ladbrokes Pro-Am Series event where WA’s Brody Martin and Queensland Ladbrokes Legends Tour player Darren Rix lead the field following the opening day of play.

Sitting atop the leaderboard with rounds of 4-under 68, 27 players within four shots of Martin and Rix as competition heats up ahead of day two.

“What a great golf course, I thoroughly enjoyed it,” said Rix, whose first time to Cottesloe Golf Club has been a memorable one after managing just 21 putts in the round including seven birdies.

Seven players sit one shot further back after firing rounds of 3-under 69 including the inform Michael Long, defending champion Michael Choi, the ever consistent Matt Millar, rookie Professional Robbie Morison as well as Victorian Josh Younger and WA’s David Andrews.

West Coast Wine Cellars Hartfield Pro-Am winner Peter Wilson and seven others sit two shots off the lead at 2-under the card and with a further seven players three back, this is anyone’s to win.

Darren Rix also leads the $18,000 Senior Invitational with his round of 4-under 68. Michael Long holds second place with Michael Harwood and Wayne Smith both within four shots.

With a stellar field assembling for round two at the picturesque Cottesloe GC make sure you get down to watch or keep up to date with live scoring via www.pga.org.au , this is going to the wire.

Round two begins at 7am AWST with the afternoon field commencing at 11.20am. Leaders will tee off at 12.40pm.

West Australian Brody Martin’s young career in on the line and he is rising to the challenge.

Making the 600km drive from Perth to Kalgoorlie Brody Martin had one thing on his mind, winning.

After deciding to skip qualifying school, Martin has relied on pre-qualifying to get into ISPS HANDA PGA Tour of Australasia tournaments this year but if he hopes to play the large end of season events he has just one option; win the TX Civil & Logistics WA PGA Championship.

“I missed the cut at the Aussie Open last year which was a really big thing for me and my career. I sat down after that and decided not to go to Tour School and instead try to pre-qualify and get the re-rank,” said Martin.

“But I found out two weeks ago in Papua New Guinea that I am not actually eligible for it due to not having any status.

“Talking to my caddy Shannon on the six hour drive here, he was really pumped up about Fiji and he thought my golf is good enough to play over there but obviously it goes on your status.

“I said ‘mate the only way I am going to be playing is if I win this week,’ so this is a massive week for us.”

It’s a fact that has motivated Martin as he fired rounds of 68, 68, 69 to be 11-under the card and hold a two shot lead heading into the final round.

But if Martin is to keep his dream alive he will have to hold off a chasing pack which includes two time ISPS HANDA PGA Tour of Australasia winner Jarryd Felton and Oates Vic Open champion Simon Hawkes.

“We had a goal to shoot 4-under every round, I thought 16-under would be good enough to win,” added Martin.

“It was good to play today with Jarryd (Felton), with the record he has here the past four years, I thought if I keep up with him most of the day I am going to be in with a chance, for the last round.

“We both played great golf.”

Equally motivated to win as Martin, but for different reasons, is Felton who would love nothing more than to be the TX Civil & Logistics WA PGA Champion.

A tournament where he has finished inside the top-10 for the last four years and the one run by his friend and mentor Kim Felton, a three time champion of the tournament himself.

“I felt very confident heading to the back-9 today but I hit it a bit left on 10, got a firm bounce and it ran into the bushes. I had to take an unplayable and made six,” said Felton who had an even par third round to trail Martin by two shots.

“It was a shock to the system and my head was a little scrambled but I dug deep to make a few birdies on the last holes which I am really proud of.”

Just like 2017 WA PGA and Vic Open champion Dimitrios Papadatatos did last year, current Oates Vic Open champion Simon Hawkes is chasing his second victory of the year in Kalgoorlie.

But to achieve the feat he will need to spend less time in the red dirt in the final round.

“I felt like Simon of the Sahara today, I was in the desert a lot. But I was able to post 70 which I was really proud of because I was pretty tested out there today with my patience,” said Hawkes, who is tied alongside Felton on the leaderboard.

“I have had two days where I have felt flat but then the one day where everything clicked, so I am hoping tomorrow is going to be one of those days.

“Honestly with the way I am playing at the moment I feel like I could run away with it by about five or six the way things are going. But I am not going to think about that.”

Two shots behind Hawkes and Felton are Neven Basic, Peter Wilson and Theo Coroneo who are tied fourth on 7-under the card.

Rounding out the top-10 on 6-under the card are Callan O’Reilly, Braden Becker, Jake Higginbottom, Michael Long, Daniel McGraw and Chris Wood who fired the best round of the day; 7-under 65.

The final round of the TX Civil & Logitcis WA PGA Championship tees off tomorrow at 7.44am with the final group of Brody Martin and Simon Hawkes on course at 9.45am.