Bekker and Sinnott lead WA Open
Victorian Todd Sinnott leads with Oliver Bekker – image PGA of Australia
South African but now West Australian resident Oliver Bekker, and Victorian Todd Sinnott share the halfway lead at the West Australian Open at the Graham Marsh-designed Secret Harbour Golf Links south of Perth, the pair tied at 10 under par and one ahead of NSW’s golfer Lachlan Chamberlain.
41-year-old Bekker, a former DP World Tour and LIV Golf golfer, is the defending champion, having won at the Mt Lawley Golf Club last year, but he has struggled much of 2026 and has missed the cut in his last six world ranking events.
“I’m very happy,” said Bekker. “Like I said yesterday, my golf’s not really been trending in this direction, so anything under par every day, I’ll be pretty stoked.”
“I mean, last year I came in with no expectations. I wasn’t playing great. To be fair, this year is kind of similar vibe. So I don’t really take being a defending champion too seriously. Every event, you got to go out there and play your best and see what happens. Different venue, everything’s different about this week anyway. So I came down a couple of times during the winter break and played at Secrets.”
Sinnott, too, has had his battles for 2026, playing much of his events on the Asian Development Tour, but he is a previous winner on the PGA Tour of Australasia and Asian Tours and before turning professional was one of Australia’s leading amateurs. He followed up his opening round of 66 with a second round of 68 to share the lead late in the day after playing in the afternoon field on day two.
Sinnott was hoping to get into the field for the Macau Open on the Asian Tour this week, but his limited status on that tour counted against him. It might yet be a blessing in disguise.
“I thought I would get in Macau this week, but I didn’t,” said the 34-year-old. “I lost my full playing rights last year, so I’ve got category 70 to 110 or something, which historically gets a fair few events. But this year, just with the limited schedule, everyone’s playing everything. So yeah, last year my category would’ve got in by 25 spots, and this year it missed by 20.
“So I had planned on going to Macau. I thought I was going to Macau, but yeah, I didn’t get in. And that’s pretty much, there’s one more event in Manila, which I won’t get into. So yeah, no, I’m just concentrating on here and trying to play as good as I can.”
The cut fell at even par with 58 golfers making it to the weekend.
