Stephen Allan – in action in today’s final round – image PGA of America

Stephen Allan and Scott Hend have finished in a share of 3^rd place at the Senior PGA Championship in Florida, the pair securing a cheque for US$174,000 each after finishing eight shots from the winner, Stewart Cink, and two shots behind the second-placed Ben Crane.

Beginning the day one shot behind the 54-hole leader, Keith Horne, Hend began the day brilliantly with birdies at the opening two holes to take the lead, and made the turn in 3 under 33, but behind on the golf course, the 2009 Open Championship winner, Cink, was on fire.

Cink birdied the 4^th, eagled the 6^th, then birdied the 8^th and 9^th to make the turn at 15 under, and when he did, he was two ahead of Hend and four ahead of Allan and Crane.

Cink, however, already a two-time winner on the PGA Tour Champions in 2026, applied even more pressure over the closing nine to eventually run out the winner by six shots.

Hend birdied the 12^th to stay in touch, but a bogey at the 14^th and a double at the 16^th when he found the water from the tee would prove costly in an attempt to secure second place.

Still, for Hend, his finish is the best on the PGA Tour Champions in the few starts he has had there as he plays without status, but he needed a victory if he was to secure the all-important playing rights for the PGA Tour Champions, especially given there is now no qualifying school from which to gain access.

Allan, however, does have status on the PGA Tour Champions and this win will take him close to the top 5 on the Charl Schwab table for the season after winning twice in 2025. His missed putt for par at the last proved costly, but it was another good week for the 52-year-old Victorian.

Perhaps one of the performances of the week, aside from the winner, was that of New Zealand’s Steve Alker, who began the week with an opening round of 76, and making the cut was his biggest task on day two. He did so with a round of 68 and then added to more 68’s to storm through the field to finish in a share of 5^th place.

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After five years as host, Royal Queensland looks ahead to the 2032 Olympics – The Party hole – image Bruce Young

After 25 consecutive stagings of the Australian PGA Championship in Queensland, the event returns to Sydney for the first time since 1998, when one of Australia’s flagship golf events is played at the Lakes Golf Club in Sydney from November 26^th to 29^th.

Moving to Queensland from the Victoria Golf Club in 2000, the event was played for two years at Royal Queensland before heading to the Hyatt Regency Coolum in 2002, where it remained until a dispute with the new owner meant a move to Royal Pines in 2013.

Covid forced the cancellation of the event in 2020 and 2021, but in 2022, Royal Queensland would begin a five-year run as the host of the event. But with course upgrading now being undertaken for its role as the host venue for the 2032 Olympics a new venue was sought and the Lakes was chosen.

The growth of the event in recent years ensured the venue would need to be one capable of staging significant corporate involvement, and The Lakes, which has been used in the past for Australian Opens, Australian PGA Championships and the Greg Norman Holden Classic, has proven facilities and room for such an event.

It will, however, mean a loss of one of Australia’s flagship golf events to Queensland after a run which has seen some of Australia’s finest golfing sons take the title while in the Sunshine State, including Cameron Smith and Peter Lonard (three times) Adam Scott (twice), Peter Senior (twice) and Geoff Ogilvy.

It remains to be seen whether another significant PGA Tour of Australasia professional event in Queensland can be introduced to the schedule although with Sanctuary Cove now the home of the Women’s PGA Championship, Palmer Coolum unlikely to be involved, Royal Queensland out of commission while upgrading is undertaken and RACV Royal Pines seemingly not interested, the choices are limited for an event of such substance to be held in the state.

This year’s event will be played the week before the Australian Open at Kingston Heath, where Rory McIlroy will complete his commitment to two consecutive Australian Opens.

The 18th at RACV Royal Pines – host of the event for seven years – image Bruce Young

McIlory celebrates his 2nd Masters and 6th major victory – image Masters Tournament 

It is perhaps fitting that the world number one, two and three occupied the leading three or a share of the leading three positions after yet another dramatic Masters Tournament.

World number two Rory McIlroy ran out the winner by one shot over a fast finishing world number one, Scottie Scheffler, with world number three Cam Young sharing 3^rd place with three others.

McIlroy successfully defended the title he won 12 months ago, but it was not without yet another gripping Masters Sunday, where McIlroy, Young and Justin Rose all had their time in the lead at various stages, and several other players came within just a shot or two.

But it would be McIlroy who found a way to hold them all off despite keeping the golfing world in suspense until the very last shot, his tee shot at the 72^nd hole while holding a two-shot lead over Scheffler, who had finished 30 minutes earlier, ensuring it was not over till it was over.

McIlroy’s great par saves at the 16^th and 17^th followed birdies at the 12^th and 13^th his well-thought-out bogey at the last kept his nose ahead of Scheffler who threatened to make it three Masters titles in his last five attempts with a now almost expected late charge.

McIlroy shared the lead into the final round, but a slow start by him and consecutive bogeys at the first and second had Young in front.

Then came what would be a crucial moment for the Northern Irishman. His tee shot at the reachable 3^rd found the greenside bunker, but he got up and down for birdie, to seemingly settle the nerves, although, surprisingly, he immediately double bogeyed the 4^th and dropped two behind Young.

By the turn, McIlroy was one behind Rose, who birdied the 7^th, 8^th and 9^th to move one ahead of McIlroy and Young, who faltered after a fast start, now two from the lead.

McIlroy took the outright lead when Rose bogeyed the 11^th and 12^th and moved two ahead when he birdied the 12^th.

McIlroy was never headed from that point but needed all of his great short game skills over the closing few holes to hold on for a memorable victory.

Having started the weekend with a six-shot lead, McIlroy played the final 36 holes in even par, but despite being placed under the most severe pressure, he was able to hold on to win his 6^th major title, proving that winning is never easy despite a substantial lead.

“I thought it was so difficult to win last year because of trying to win the Masters and the grand slam, and then this year I realized it’s just really difficult to win the Masters, said McIlory. “I tried to convince myself it was both.

“Yeah, just incredible. I obviously did the bulk of my work on Thursday and Friday. I don’t think I would have believed anyone if they said to me all you have to do is shoot even-par for the weekend and you’ll win. I definitely thought I was going to need to go out there and at least shoot a couple of under-par scores.

“Yesterday the course was gettable pretty much all day, but today the wind was up a little bit. It was gusty. It made things definitely a little more tricky, especially on the back nine.

“Yeah, I just had to hang in there. I did a decent green session last night and tried to figure a couple of things out, and I definitely hit my irons better today. I think I struck the ball better today overall, which was good to see, but I still needed to rely on my short game those last few holes.

“The up-and-down on 16 and the up-and-down on 17 were huge.

“Yeah, just absolutely delighted to be able to get it done. Having a six-shot lead going into the weekend, it would have been a bitter pill to swallow if I wasn’t able to get myself over the finish line.”

When asked what makes this game such a roller coaster from day to day, given he was 12 under for the opening 36 holes and even par for the remainder, McIlroy responded, “I think of all the big sports, I do think it is the most mental. It’s the most challenging mentally.

“I think it’s hard to stay in the same mental space for four days in a row because even — I was in a great mental space, like say on the 13th tee shot, for example. All of my practice rounds up here, the weeks leading into it, Monday, Tuesday, great. I hit two left on Wednesday off the tee. Then Thursday, Friday, Saturday, I didn’t sniff hitting the fairway.

“So it’s just that there are little things that happen that just start to make you second-guess things. It’s just very hard to stay on the right — not in the right spot mentally, but the same spot mentally for a long period of time.”

Although he looked calm for much of the day, McIlroy did have his moments of stress on the course today. “I’d say walking off the 18th tee not knowing where my ball was. I think that was the moment of greatest stress. It could go anywhere. It could be anywhere.

“I think we (his caddie Harry Diamond, and he) were both just hoping that my ball wasn’t in a really bad spot or behind a tree. I was just hoping that I had a swing.

“No, it was pretty quiet out there. It was pretty tense. We were just — I was sort of talking about, okay, after the 6th hole, let’s try to get back to even-par for the day after nine. He was trying to encourage me, telling me there’s plenty of time left, just try to keep hitting fairways and greens.

“There wasn’t a ton of talk out there. I think we both knew what we needed to do. I just needed to step up and execute.”

Just on his caddie, it is so great to see McIlroy enjoying so much success with Diamond on the bag. A near lifetime friend, Diamond has copped criticism at times, from those who think they know these things, about his effectiveness on the bag of McIlroy, but clearly the relationship works a treat, and he is exactly what McIlroy wants in a caddie. No more needs to be said.

McIlroy and caddie Harry Diamond – great team – image Masters Tournament

Scheffler was brilliant as he tried to chase the eventual winner down, but his brave final day round of 68 fell just one short.

“I’d say Friday probably hurt the most in terms of my chances of winning,” said Scheffler when assessing the week. “We went out on Thursday, Thursday afternoon, which were some of the most challenging conditions we had all week. I didn’t see many birdies out there Thursday afternoon, so going out on Friday, whatever they did to the greens to soften them up, they did some stuff, and I just wasn’t able to take advantage of that going on early on Friday.

“And then you saw the barrage of birdies that Rory made and Cam Young and a bunch of guys made on Friday late in the day, and I think I finished maybe 2-over par on Friday. So that day probably hurt the most in terms of my chances to win.

“Overall, over the course of the weekend, I did some pretty nice stuff to give myself a chance.”

Jason Day worked himself into genuine contention heading into the final day but he was on the back foot early and when he took double bogey at the 7^th after a bogey at the 5^th, any chance he had was gone.

Day would eventually finish in a share of 12^th but was philosophical about the day.

“Actually played okay. Just didn’t take advantage of two, three,” said Day. “You get birdies there, that obviously changes the storyline a little bit going — then obviously had a mistake on seven.

“Actually hit 13 greens and played pretty good. Just didn’t capitalise on any opportunities. Putted actually quite poorly today. So a little unfortunate, but just how it goes. I mean, pretty positive about my game. Other than just the lack of putting today. But other than that, it was, yeah, okay.

“I know I can play well around here. It’s just obviously when you get the opportunities, just take them. You know, sometimes you have to take them. Sometimes you have to take some unnecessary risk, and sometimes you have to take a step back and play the way you need to play.”

Adam Scott was the only other of the five Australasians to make the weekend and finished in a share of 24^th.

“Yeah, I just never really got it going,” said the 45-year-old Queenslander. “I don’t know, overall I guess I blame the putter. (Smiling.)

“But, yeah, I just didn’t get it rolling on the greens and take advantage of some of the good golf and get any real momentum going. The last three holes on Friday kind of really shut me out of a chance yesterday to kind of get back in it, as everyone else got back in it yesterday.”

Rory McIlroy now moves into 12^th place on the list of all-time major winners. He sits just one behind Harry Vardon, Bobby Jones, Arnold Palmer, Gene Sarazen and Sam Snead with seven, but it is fair to assume that there are still several more to come for the 36-year-old.

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Rory McIlroy recording his 9th birdie of the day at the last – image Masters Tournament

Rory McIlroy might have established a likely winning break on the field after today’s second round of the 2026 Masters, but there remains a lot of interest in who might at least throw some sort of challenge to him over the final 36 holes and bid for a place amongst the leading placegetters.

McIlroy’s powerful finish on day two, which saw six birdies in his last seven holes, leaves him a massive six shots clear of the joint second-placed golfers, Brad Burns and Patrick Reed, and seven ahead of the 4^th placed Justin Rose, Shane Lowry and Tommy Fleetwood.

Just when it appeared that McIlroy might give the rest of the field some chance by driving it into the trees at the 17^th, he hit a low running second right of the green and holed it from 40 metres for birdie and, for good measure, hit his approach to seven feet at the last to record his 9^th birdie of the day and a round of 65.

“Look, I’ve always felt like this golf course can let you get on runs if you allow it,” said McIlroy. “I talked last year about how I really won the tournament in a 14-hole stretch, the second nine on Friday and the first five holes on Saturday.

“I knew I had some chances coming in when I was standing on the 12th tee, but I didn’t think I’d birdie 6 of the last 7. It just shows what you can do around here. Even if you might hit it in the trees on 13, on 15, and on 17 — 17 was obviously a bonus with the chip-in. But my wedge play today was really good. My short game the first two days has been amazing.

“I’ve spent a lot of time up here over the past three weeks. Even though I haven’t played tournament golf, I feel like being up here a lot and playing, I’ve prepared as well for this Masters as any other that I’ve played.

“I think all that work around the greens over the last three weeks has certainly paid off over the last two days.”

When asked what the Rory McIlroy who won the 2011 US Open by eight shots would tell this one, he responded, “Don’t protect it. Go out and play freely, keep swinging. That was a big part of the lesson from the 2011 Masters (where he lost a big lead) to the 2011 U.S. Open was don’t get protective. Go out there and keep playing, keep trying to make birdies, stay as trusting and as committed as possible.”

Outside of those inside the top six players, there is another shot back to a further six golfers, eight shots from McIlroy, so there is plenty of interest to see just how the many chasers might progress or otherwise as the tournament heads into the pointy end.

Jason Day – saves par from the bunker at the 16th today – image Masters Tournament 

Amongst those at 4 under and eight from the lead is Australasia’s best this week, Jason Day, who, after getting within two of the lead through nine holes, bogeyed the 11^th after indecision with a shot from just off the green and then was unable to capitalise on the two par fives on the way home.

He found the trees at the last and missed a six-footer down the hill for par despite hitting what appeared to be the perfect putt, but he has a chance with a good round on Saturday to put himself in a position to challenge on Sunday for a ‘podium’ finish.

“Yeah, I think if I can just keep myself within arm’s length of the lead, just never know what happens out here at Augusta, especially on the weekend,” said Day. “But more so on Sunday. Things can happen and turn pretty quick on a dime, just with how scorable some of the holes can be, and, obviously, with the dramatic finish we have here typically.

“I’m close to the lead, but not many people are obviously talking about me, which is good. I’m just going to go under the radar and do my thing. I felt like it’s been a pretty good formula so far over the last few days, what I’ve done.

“I feel confident in my ability to be able to shoot a good score. I’ve been driving it nice. Been putting myself in the correct positions when I do miss it. So, like the experience of being here for the last 15 years is definitely helpful.

“The weekend at Augusta is a different beast, obviously. Getting through the cut line and playing good is one thing. Then, once you get to the weekend, things open up and scoring gets really tight. Unless someone runs away with it, typically, scoring gets tight.

Adam Scott is the next best of the Australasians after a round of 74 left him at 2 over par and tied for 39^th.

Ryan Fox staged a strong comeback to miss the cut by one, Cam Smith by three and Min Woo Lee by seven.

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