New Zealander Michael Long has recorded a dream victory at the TX Civil & Logistics WA PGA Championship after equalling the course record at Kalgoorlie Golf Course.

Starting the final day five shots behind round three leader Brody Martin, Long dreamed of going low to snatch the win.

“I woke up this morning thinking that if I got it to 15-under, I was just dreaming, but that would probably be enough. It would mean that Brody would have to shot 68 to tie me,” said Long.

“But I really didn’t go out there with the intention of shooting a 64 let alone a 63. I just wanted to have a nice round.”

Opening with three birdies, Long experienced a special day on the golf course where everything went his way, his irons were dialled in and his putter hot.

“It was just going straight at the pin, I would aim five feet left or right of the pin and it would go there or I would just pull it onto the pin. It just seemed to have perfect distance control,” added Long.

“The putting was good, it just seemed that whenever I had a 10 footer I holed it, I was just putting a really good stroke on it. I didn’t miss too many out there, you can’t when you have 10 birdies.

“I had Matt Millar and Neven Basic stay with me last week and I must have been acting like a real child because they came out on the putting green and had a look at my putting.

“So I have to thank Matt and Neven for straightening me out probably mentally more than anything else on the putting green.”

Firing 8-under 64 in the final round, Long equalled the course record first set by amateur Min Woo Lee in 2015 and equalled by a further three players in between.

“It is one of those things that you dream of, shooting a course record in the final round to do something like that so it’s pretty cool,” added Long, who had rounds of 70, 69, 71 and 64.

In the clubhouse at 14-under 274, the Kiwi, who calls Perth home, had a nervous wait to see if 23-year-old Brody Martin could birdie his final hole to force a playoff.

“I have never had to do that before, I have always been in the second last group, never been five groups finished and waiting for a result,” added Long, who joined the PGA TV commentary team and even had time to give some golf tips while he waited.

“I hated that wait, I really did, I didn’t know what to do with myself. I was just making idle chit chat and then when someone said that Brody had birdied 16, I thought it was time to go to the range and do a few things.”

When Martin was unable to make his much needed birdie, Long officially claimed his second TX Civil & Logistics WA PGA Championship title and fifth on the ISPS HANDA PGA Tour of Australasia.

“To win this title twice is pretty special, it’s the first time I have ever won a tournament twice so it is pretty neat,” added Long, who won the title in 2008 when it was played at The Cut.

“The older you get these opportunities don’t come along that much, even though I still like to think that I am young at heart.”

It’s an important win for Long with the winner’s exemption he earned thanks to his 2016 Oates Vic Open victory expiring at the end of this season.

“It just seems so long ago (the Oates Vic Open win) and I was getting antsy and mad at myself,” added Long, who is now fully exempt until the end of the 2019 season.

“Not only is there pride from the win, but I didn’t have a very good start to the season, I missed the cut at the Oates Vic Open the tournament  that I really like playing and then Perth and all of a sudden I was behind the eight ball.

“So that was occupying my mind more than anything else coming down the stretch, I needed this so I just made sure it happened,”

While Brody Martin finished runner-up on 13-under the card, his final round playing partner and reigning Oates Vic Open Champion Simon Hawkes finished third on 12-under the card.

Two shots further back was Jake Higginbottom while Cameron John and Jarryd Felton rounded out the top-5 on 9-under the card.

For all results from the TX Civil & Logistics WA PGA Championship please visit pga.org.au.

With the winner’s cheque in-hand Long moves to 33^rd on the ISPS HANDA PGA Tour of Australasia Order of Merit.

For the full order of merit please visit pga.org.au.

The ISPS HANDA PGA Tour of Australasia now takes a break until the Fiji International presented by Fiji Airways is played from 2-5 August at Natadola Bay Championship Golf Course.

For the full schedule please visit pga.org.au.

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.

Braving the cold, Daniel McGraw has fired himself into the lead early in round two at the TX Civil & Logistics WA PGA Championship.

It was a mixed round for the Queenslander who fired 4-under 68 featuring an eagle, five birdies and three bogeys.

“I had three layers and a beanie on this morning, I was a bit stiff early in the round but conditions became pretty perfect late in the round,” said McGraw.

“I got off to a good start and was a couple under through nine holes. Then made the turn and had an eagle on 11.

“I hit driver, 3 wood to probably 12 feet and it was a pretty easy, straight uphill putt so it kept the round going nicely.”

His second round has put him in a nice position heading into the weekend; he currently sits on top of the leaderboard with the afternoon field on course.

With a solid game plan McGraw heads into the weekend chasing his first title on the ISPS HANDA PGA Tour of Australasia.

“I am not going to change anything. I will just stay aggressive, that is my plan out there,” added McGraw.

“Previously I have probably tried to hang on a little bit too much, so I will stay aggressive.”

Victorian Andrew Martin also fired 4-under 68 to be 5-under the card after two rounds and one shot back of McGraw.

The afternoon field is now on course.

West Australian Jarryd Felton has continued his love affair with the Kalgoorlie Golf Course in the second round of the TX Civil and Logistics WA PGA Championship.

Starting the day one shot off the lead, Felton teed up in the afternoon and made the most of the good conditions.

He fired 4-under 68 to be 9-under the card after two rounds and leading into the weekend by a shot.

“I have a great feeling about this place and it just suits my eye a lot. I just love playing here,” said Felton who has made just two bogeys in 36 holes.

“I got off to a slow start, I struggled with the pace of the greens but I got the hang of it on the front-9 and made a lot of birdies.”

A two time winner on the ISPS HANDA PGA Tour of Australasia, Felton has an impressive record at the TX Civil & Logistics WA PGA Championship finishing in the top-10 each of the four times he has played.

“I want to win here really badly but I can’t think about that yet,” added Felton.

“I just have to keep doing what I am doing; just play to the middle of the greens, take my putts when I can and birdie the holes that I make good shots on.

“I have been in this position before; hopefully I can continue on tomorrow and shoot a nice round to kick on for Sunday.”

Sitting a shot behind Felton is fellow West Australian Brody Martin who also fired 4-under 68 today.

Oates Vic Open champion Simon Hawkes lurks a shot further back on 7-under the card after he recorded the round of the day; 6-under 66.

Playing in the morning field Queenslander Daniel McGraw shot 4-under 68 to be 6-under the card and fourth after two rounds.

Matching Hawkes’ score in the second round, Victorian Josh Younger rounds out the top-5 on 5-under the card and is joined on the leaderboard by Andrew Martin (VIC), Michael Long (NZ) and Jake Higginbottom (NSW).

The second round cut at the TX Civil & Logistics WA PGA Championship was made at 3-over the card with 50 professionals and one amateur making the weekend rounds.

The third round of the TX Civil & Logistics WA PGA Championship tees off at 7.44am with the final group of Jarryd Felton and Brody Martin on course at 9.45am.

Jarryd Felton has an enviable record at Kalgoorlie Golf Course and following the first round of the 2018 TX Civil & Logistics WA PGA Championship he is well placed to add to it.

This is the fifth time Felton has played the layout since making his debut in the TX Civil & Logistics WA PGA Championship as an amateur in 2014.

All four times he has teed it up, Felton has finished inside the top-10 of his state PGA title.

With arguably the best track record at Kalgoorlie Golf Course of anyone in the field this week, Felton showed his prowess again this morning.

He fired 5-under 67 to be leading after the morning field of the first round.

“This is my fifth year; I first played as an amateur and played really well. I love the place, I love the course, it suits my eye really well so I’m really trying to keep my record of top-10s going,” said Felton.

“I am very happy with that round, in the windy conditions. It took a while to warm up; it was cold this morning, so I was just pacing myself on the front-9 to get a feel for it.

“Then you just have to hold on, there are some tough holes on the back-9. I played well there and made a few birdies which was great.”

Felton reeled off five birdies in his round, the pick of the bunch coming at the par-3 8^th, where on Sunday a gold nugget is on offer for an ace.

“My birdie on the 8^th was pretty good, it’s a par-3 and I lipped out. I nearly had a hole-in-one,” added Felton.

“I was thinking when I lipped out that I have another chance on Sunday.”

Sitting a shot further back of Felton are Jake McLeod (QLD), Michael Wright (QLD), and Brody Martin (WA).

Meanwhile in his debut at the TX Civil & Logistics WA PGA Championship, Jake Higginbottom fired 3-under 69 to be inside the top-10.

The afternoon field is now out on course.

Brad Moules has played a perfect round of golf at Kalgoorlie Golf Course and will hold the overnight lead at the TX Civil & Logistics WA PGA Championship.

Playing in the afternoon field, Moules executed his game plan to perfection to fire a bogey free 6-under 66 to be the first round leader.

“I woke up this morning looking to get started the right way, get the ball in play and let it fall in the hole. I had six birdies and no bogeys which is what you want to do first up,” said Moules.

“You need to keep your head out there, it’s windy and the greens are quick. This is the sort of course where you can get very penalised if you’re in the dirt, it can really chew your ball up.

“I think I plotted my way around the course to plan and it worked so it was hard to pick standout shots because everything sorted of just went in.”

It’s a welcome round of golf for the South Australian who has struggled with swing changes since winning his first ISPS HANDA PGA Tour of Australasia title, the SP PNG Open, in 2016.

“It’s been a tough 12 months. I had the win two years ago and I was hoping to push on from that but a few swing changes have taken longer to come together,” added Moules.

“But today shows there is good coming so it is going to make dinner taste pretty nice and I can sleep on it tonight pretty happy.”

Sitting one shot behind Moules is West Australian Jarryd Felton who has an enviable record at Kalgoorlie Golf Course.

This is the fifth time Felton has played the layout since making his debut in the TX Civil & Logistics WA PGA Championship as an amateur in 2014.

All four times he has teed it up, Felton has finished inside the top-10 of his state PGA title.

With arguably the best track record at Kalgoorlie Golf Course of anyone in the field this week, Felton showed his prowess in the morning field firing 5-under 67.

“This is my fifth year; I first played as an amateur and played really well. I love the place, I love the course, it suits my eye really well so I’m really trying to keep my record of top-10s going,” said Felton.

“I am very happy with that round, in the windy conditions. It took a while to warm up; it was cold this morning, so I was just pacing myself on the front-9 to get a feel for it.

“Then you just have to hold on, there are some tough holes on the back-9. I played well there and made a few birdies which was great.”

Sitting a shot further on 4-under the card are Jake McLeod (QLD), Michael Wright (QLD), Troy Moses (NSW) and Brody Martin (WA).

Meanwhile in his debut at the TX Civil & Logistics WA PGA Championship, Jake Higginbottom fired 3-under 69 to be tied 7^th alongside Fijian Sam Lee and New South Welshman Darren Beck.

Rounding the top-10 on 2-under 70 is a group of nine players.

The second round of the TX Civil & Logistics WA PGA Championship tees off at 6.50am with Brad Moules on course at 7.30am.

The crystal blue waters of the Coral Coast which parallel the fairways of Natadola Bay Championship Golf Course feel like a world away for Fijian Golf Professional Sam Lee who tees it up in the Aussie Outback this week.

Lee has travelled to Kalgoorlie, Western Australia, a town famous for gold mining in hopes of striking golfing gold.

He is teeing it up in the TX Civil & Logistics WA PGA Championship, a tournament on the ISPS HANDA PGA Tour of Australasia worth AU$125,000.

Unlike the views of the ocean that Lee is used to at his home course of Natadola Bay Championship Golf Course, host of the Fiji International presented by Fiji Airways, the Kalgoorlie Golf Course offers views of the red dirt and kangaroos.

It is a unique golf course with the lush green fairways popping up like a mirage from the red dirt surrounds.

“In Fiji I only have access to play Denarau and Natadola so it’s great to play different courses,” said Lee.

“Coming to Kalgoorlie the track is mint. You don’t get to see a desert course like this in Fiji.

“It is also pretty fun being in Australia and seeing kangaroos on the golf course.”

Coming into the TX Civil and Logistics WA PGA Championship, Lee is rounding into form nicely after a few months practicing at home.

He recently teed it up in Papua New Guinea at the Morobe Open on the Ladbrokes Pro-Am Series where he finished tied 33^rd before teeing it up in Port Moresby for the SP Papua New Guinea Open where he finished tied 15^th in the ISPS HANDA PGA Tour of Australasia event.

Looking to adjust to the Australian golf courses, Lee headed straight to Perth to play in more Ladbrokes Pro-Am Series events, highlighted by a tied 17^th finish at the ADH Club Car Pro-Am.

“I hadn’t played any tournament golf since the ISPS HANDA New Zealand Open so I was a bit rusty. I had practiced a lot but playing a four round tournament is different,” added Lee.

“The first week in Lae wasn’t very good but I hung on and tried to figure out what was wrong with my game. I played better in Port Moresby.

“Then I came straight to Perth from Papua New Guinea and played in some pro-ams. The greens are really quick over here so I needed to adjust.”

Completing his preparations today in the official tournament pro-am, Lee is now feeling confident ahead of the first round of the TX Civil and Logistics WA PGA Championship.

He tees off on Thursday morning at 11.05am playing in a marquee group alongside 2017 Victorian PGA champion Damien Jordan and PGA TOUR-China player Deyen Lawson.

“I am really looking forward to the first round. I feel like my game is in good shape and that I have prepared well,” added Lee.

“Damien (Jordan) and Deyen (Lawson) are both very good players and nice guys so I am looking forward to playing with them.”

The TX Civil & Logistics WA PGA Championship tees off on Thursday 10 May with the winner decided on Sunday 13 May.

Being played for $125,000 and Official World Golf Ranking points the winner will also be fully exempt onto the ISPS HANDA PGA Tour of Australasia until the end of the 2019 season.

The final two rounds of the TX Civil & Logistics WA PGA Championship will be live streamed on PGA TV from 12pm AWST on Saturday 12 May and 10am AWST on Sunday 13 May.

Young tour professionals from all over Australia and New Zealand have arrived in Kalgoorlie for one of the most important weeks of the year.

The TX Civil & Logistics WA PGA Championship is the last tournament on the ISPS HANDA PGA Tour of Australasia schedule before the mid-season elevation category is implemented.

Essentially, this category provides an opportunity for players to increase their playing opportunities by being re-ranked according to their performance in the first half of the season.

Reaping the benefits of this elevation will be 15 players who will, after this week, be likely of getting starts in some of the ISPS HANDA PGA Tour of Australasia’s biggest tournaments including the Emirates Australian Open and European Tour and Asian Tour tri-sanctioned Fiji International presented by Fiji Airways.

Thanks to a runner-up finish at the Oates Vic Open, Harrison Endycott sits comfortably on top of the elevation category listing and is using this security on his home Tour to pursue success internationally on the PGA TOUR- Latinoamerica where he is currently ranked 28^th on the money list.

However, plenty of players have travelled to Kalgoorlie Golf Course looking to cement their position in the elevation category including South Australian Antonio Murdaca.

Currently ranked 16^th, just one spot outside the qualifying number, Murdaca needs a top-10 finish this week to safely move inside the top-15.

Experienced on the Kalgoorlie layout, Murdaca recorded a top-10 result in the 2015 TX Civil & Logistics WA PGA Championship.

“It’s a pretty important week and a great golf course as well. I enjoy coming back to Kalgoorlie to play; the course suits me so I will see what I can do this week,” said Murdaca.

“A top-10 finish is probably a must this week. I am going to go out there and take it one shot at a time, hopefully, hit some good ones, hole some putts, not get ahead of myself at all and see what comes at the end of the week.”

While the elevation category is important the biggest opportunity this week comes from winning the $125,000 tournament.

In addition to the winner’s share of the prize purse, the winner also receives Official World Golf Ranking points and most importantly is fully exempt on the ISPS HANDA PGA Tour of Australasia until the end of the 2019 season.

“A win is definitely up there in lights for me. Hopefully, I can sneak a win but if it’s not this week then later in the year. So hopefully I play some good golf this week and see what comes of it.”

The TX Civil & Logistics WA PGA Championship tees off on Thursday 10 May with the winner decided on Sunday 13 May.

Entry to Kalgoorlie Golf Course is free for spectators.

The final two rounds of the TX Civil & Logistics WA PGA Championship will be live streamed on PGA TV from 12pm AWST on Saturday 12 May and 10am AWST on Sunday 13 May.

How the current elevation category rankings stand…