Former Australian Amateur Champion McKinney wins first Australasian Tour event


Connor McKinney – image PGA of Australia

Sottish born West Australian, Conner McKinney, might have stumbled over the closing stages of the Webex Player Series Perth event at Royal Fremantle today but such was the lead that he had built up in the early stages of his final round that he was still able to run out the winner by four shots over his fellow West Australian Curtis Luck, and West Australian lady professionals Abbie Teasdale and Kirsten Rudgeley.

McKinney headed into the final round with a two-shot lead over England’s Andrew Johnston, but within four holes, that lead had extended to six over Johnston and Teasdale.

By the turn, McKinney had moved seven ahead and although Luck emerged from the ruck with a final round of 67 and McKinney dropped three shots in his final five holes, the damage had already been done for his rivals, and the 23-year-old, currently ranked outside the top 1000 in the world cruised to a four-shot victory.

For McKinney, a former Australian Amateur Champion who only recently gained his DP World Tour card via the final stage of qualifying in Spain, the victory was his first on the PGA Tour of Australasia and just his second win as a professional following his win on the Scottish-based Tartan Pro Tour in 2025.

Luck is a significantly better golfer than his results in the professional ranks would suggest, the former US Amateur and Asia Pacic Champion has been plagued by mysterious injury issues in recent times, but a runner-up finish at the Australian Open in 2024, a victory on the Korn Ferry Tour and finishes like this highlight just how good he can be when right.

Teasdale and Rudgeley earn A$15,000 each as a result of their share of the runner-up finish with Luck who earned the same amount in the mixed gender event. Luck will move inside the top 20 on the PGA Tour of Australasia Order of Merit despite his limited schedule.

The round of the day came from Sydney’s Kevin Yuan, who improved from 38th to finish in a share of 9th with a round of 63.

Results 

 

 

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Four Australians remain alive in pursuit of LIV Golf status


Travis Smyth – one of four Australians advancing to the final 36 holes – image PGA of Australia

Australians Travis Smyth, Chris Wood, Cory Crawford, and Matt Jones remain alive in their quest for a place in the Liv Golf League in 2026 following the completion of the opening 36 holes of qualifying in Lecanto, Florida.

All four are now included amongst 22 players in the shootout over 36 holes for one of three spots available in Liv Golf this season, with ten places also available for the International Series of events, which form part of the Asian Tour.

Scores from the opening two rounds will be reset, so the competition over the final two rounds will begin anew.

Asian Tour regular, Travis Smyth, did best when he finished 5th, current NSW Open champion, Chris Wood, was 14th, while Matt Jones and Cory Crawford just made it on the number to advance.

Jones was out in 31 in today’s second round, but a homeward nine of 38 so nearly cost him the chance to return to LIV Golf, where he has played for the past three years.

PNG Open winner, Crawford, also just made it in on the number, recovering from a slow start to keep the door open.

Scores

 

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Webex Player Series Perth reaches halfway stage

Connor McKinney – the recent recruit to the DP World Tour has made a good start to 2026

Scottish-born West Australian Connor McKinney takes a one-shot lead into tomorrow’s third round of the Webex Players Series Perth, adding a second round of 68 to his opening 63 at the Royal Fremantle Golf Club to be one ahead of West Australian Abbie Teesdale in the combined gender event.

One shot further back is England’s Andrew (Beefy) Johnston, a former winner on the DP World Tour, while at 1 under and three from the lead is yet another West Australian, Brady Watt.

McKinney, a former Australian Amateur Champion who six weeks ago earned his DP World Tour card for 2026, has only one win to his name as a professional, that win coming on the feeder Tartan Tour in his country of birth in Scotland last year, but did finish runner-up at the Vic Open last year and this start offers the chance for an Australian breakthrough over the weekend.

Teasdale who turned professional 12 months ago after a stellar amateur career, missed the cut in this event last year in her first event as a professional, but twelve months on, she is beginning to settle into the dynamics of professional golf.

The cut fell at 1 under par with 54 golfers to play the final 36 holes.

Leaderboard

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Australasians battling for LIV Golf League places


Matt Jones – former Liv golfer trying to earn his way back 

16 Australasian golfers are in the midst of a battle for the right to play LIV Golf in 2026, with qualifying currently underway in Lecanto in Florida for three places in the lucrative league, beginning this season on February 4th in Riyadh.

The event is played over 72 holes, although 18 of the field of 78 are exempt into round two, where they will meet the leading 20 players and ties from round one.

The leading twenty and ties from that group will then advance to the third round, where scores are reset for a 36-hole competition for three places in Liv Golf this season.

Further places are available in the International Series via this process.

Australasians entered in the field for the opening round are Cory Crawford, Mathias Sanchez, Nick Voke, Josh Geary, Harrison Crowe, Cameron John, Travis Smyth, Denzel Ieremia, Will Florimo, Jack Buchanan, Jason Scrivener and Brett Drewitt.

They will be joined by Wade Ormsby, Chris Wood, Ben Campbell and Matt Jones into round two.

Leaderboard

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Webex Players Series Perth gets 2026 season underway


Can Austin Bautista add to his recent WAPGA success – image PGA of Australia 

The PGA Tour of Australasia gets the 2026 professional golfing year underway this week in Perth when the second half of the 2025/2026 PGA Tour of Australasia schedule begins with the $250,000 Webex Players Series Perth hosted by Minjee and Min Woo Lee, being played at the Royal Fremantle Golf Club south of the West Australian capital.

The event begins a series of 11 events between now and the end of March, the largest of those in terms of prizemoney and significance being the New Zealand Open played in late February.

This week’s event in Perth includes one of the weaker fields of the events on the schedule in the remainder of the season, the cost of getting to the event for many a concern for many at this level.

It does however offer the chance for those involved to improve or consolidate their position on the all-important Order of Merit and to get their games in shape for the upcoming events including the New Zealand Open and the newly introduced ISPS Handa Japan Australia Championship in Auckland in early March.

Most of the remaining events carry prizemoney of $A250,000, although the New Zealand Open has a purse of NZ$2 million and the Auckland event provides a nice late season boost with prizemoney of $A1.2 million.

Despite the tyranny of distance involved in getting to the west early in January, the event has assembled a balance of both members of the PGA Tour of Australasia and the Women’s PGA of Australia, a field of 144 facing the starter tomorrow, 33 of them from the WPGA .

Current New Zealand Open Champion Ryan Peake and defending champion Jordan Doull along with yet another West Australian Curtis Luck will command much of the local attention, although recent West Australian PGA Championship winner, Austin Bautista, is currently the leading player from the world ranking in the field.

Bautista won two events in South Africa last year and currently lies in 11th place on the Sunshine Tour’s Order of Merit, so it might be that he can carry that form over to this event.

The leading-ranked player from this season’s Australasian Tour Order of Merit is Jay McKenzie, who began the season well with top tens in four events in the first half of the season.

Tee Times 

 

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Fluctuating fortunes for Australasian golfers in 2025


Ryan Fox’s win in Canada sees him as Australasia’s leading world-ranked male golfer at year’s end – image Getty / PGA Tour

As the golfing season draws to a close, it is always of interest to see the progress, or in some cases, lack of, that various Australasian golfers have made in their standing in the game.

While the world ranking is not the same measure it was before the introduction of the LIV Golf League, it does provide some sort of yardstick for those not involved in the Saudi-backed tour.

New Zealand’s Ryan Fox ends the year as leading-ranked Australasian male golfer, improving from 84th twelve months ago to 38th, thanks in most part to his two wins on the PGA Tour, his first in the Myrtle Beach Classic, moving him from 119th to 71st, and his second and more significant win at the Canadian Open catapulting him from then 75th to 32nd.

While there were no top ten finishes in his 14 starts since his win in Canada, Fox will finish the year in 38th place and while not at the heights of the 24th place he held after his outstanding European Tour season in 2022, his overall standing in the game has however, been improved as a result of being well and truly established in the US.

Min Woo Lee improved six places to 43rd, his breakthrough PGA Tour victory in Houston moving him from 55th to an all time high of 22nd  and although he eased out in the latter half of the year to 46th, a couple of good finishes in France and England and at events at home will see him finish the year as the leading world ranked Australian male golfer.

Jason Day only played 17 world ranking events in 2025, slipping from 38th to 54th. Day missed only three cuts in those seventeen starts, but there were only four top tens with a best of 3rd at the American Express event in January.

Adam Scott suffered a big reversal in ranking from 18th 12 months ago to 62nd at year’s end. Scott missed only three cuts in his 24 starts, but with a best of only 12th in his 18 PGA Tour starts, it was a consistent but hardly spectacular campaign in 2025.

Scott played well in his two world ranking event starts back home (The Australian PGA and Open) and, of course, won the non ranking Cathedral event in Victoria to finish off the year, and at the age of 45, remains competitive in nearly everything he tees it up in. It is, however, the worst end-of-year ranking for Scott since his first year as a professional.

Only four Australasians made the top 100 in the Official World Ranking, Elvis Smylie the next best, improving from 203rd in December 2024 to 129th. Smylie’s rookie season on the DP World Tour gives every indication that he will continue to improve his standing every year, and it may be that 129th will be one of the worst season-ending rankings he has in the years ahead.

Other movements of note by Australasians were the improvement from 363rd to 186th by DP World Tour New Zealand rookie, Kazuma Kobori whose 3rd place finish at the BMW International and a runner-up finish at the British Masters were the highlights, and the slump in rankings by Cam Davis who began the year in 48th place and sees out 2025 in 136th position.

After an impressive 5th place at Pebble Beach, Davis, a former World Amateur, Australian Amateur and Australian Open winner and two-time winner on the PGA Tour, missed his next five cuts and struggled for much of the remainder of the year.

New Zealand’s Daniel Hillier (141st) and Australian Karl Villips (145th) also improved their standing significantly during 2025.

Amongst the women, Australia’s Minjee Lee made some great progress after beginning the season in 17th place in the Rolex World Rankings for Women. Lee finished the year in 3rd place behind Jeeno Thitikul and Nelly Korda, courtesy of a win and three runner-up finishes in LPGA Tour events, including her third major title at the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship.

New Zealand’s Lydia Ko might not have had her best season, but she finishes the year in 6th place in the ranking, thanks in some measure to her victory at the HSBC World Championship event in Singapore early in the season.

Perth’s Hannah Green slipped from 6th to 16th while NSW’s Grace Kim’s win at the Evian Championship moved her from 96th to 25th before ending the season in 26th place.

Minjee Lee with her KPMG PGA Championship trophy – image PGA of America

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Three Australians earn Asian Tour playing rights

 

Will Florimo – led the Australians in Thailand – file image PGA of Australia

Three Australians have gained the right to play the Asian Tour in 2026 following the completion of Tour School Qualifying in Thailand today.

Queensland’s Will Forimo in 5th place, his fellow Queenslander, Brett Rankin, in 10th place and NSW’s  Harrison Crowe in a share of 15th have all earned the right to play the increasingly lucrative Asian Tour by finishing inside the top 35 after 90 holes of qualifying at the Lake View Resort Golf Club in Hua Hin.

26-year-old Florimo, who is currently in 4th place on the PGA Tour of Australasian Tour’s Order of Merit, will play in Asia for the first time in 2026, but his recent form on the PGA Tour of Australasia, which includes two runner-up and one 3rd place finish, has him playing some of the best of his career.

39-year-old Rankin has been a prolific player in pro-am events throughout Australia, but his only win came six years ago at the NT PGA Championship, so this security of tenure in Asia allows him to build on his consistent performances at the pro-am level.

24-year-old Crowe was an outstanding amateur but is finding the transition to professional golf a demanding one despite a win in the National Tournament earlier this year.

A winner of the Asian Pacific Amateur Championship and a member of the Australian Eisenhower Team during his amateur days, Crowe now gets the opportunity to establish himself in the professional ranks with an Asian Tour card, and his undoubted talent should see him build a substantial career at this level.

West Australian Brady Watt, a semifinalist in the US Amateur Championship and runner-up at the 2012 WA Open, just missed out on gaining his card by one shot.

Leaderboard

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Leishman’s maiden Australasian Tour victory brings 2025 to a close


Marc Leishman – image PGA of Australia

Marc Leishman’s narrow but impressive victory in yesterday’s Vic PGA Championship at Moonah Links on the Mornington Peninsula brings to a close the first half of the 2025/2026 PGA Tour of Australasia season.

Leishman’s final hole birdie on the windswept layout saw him overcome the long-time leader Josh Younger to win by one with a four-way tie between Connor McDade, Jimmy Zheng, Adam Bland, and Andrew Campbell one shot back in third place, a final round of 76 symbolic of one of the toughest days for scoring seen on the PGA Tour of Australasia in some time.

Only two players in the field of 53 broke par on the final day as the Peter Thompson-designed layout took its toll in the near, gale-force winds.

Leishman, who was clearly the most credentialed player and the highest world-ranked player in the field, began the final round one ahead of Younger, whose only victory to date at this level or beyond was when winning the 2019 NSW Open.

Younger began the day with a birdie to move level, and when Leishman bogeyed his 2nd and 3rd holes, Younger had opened up a two-shot lead, which he retained to the turn.

Younger was still two ahead playing the 13th, but a series of bogeys and less mistakes by Leishman saw the pair level playing the par 5 last.

It would be Leishman, a six-time winner on the PGA Tour and runner-up in the 2015 Open Championship, but now ensconced on the LIV Tour, who edged ahead with a birdie to claim his first PGA Tour of Australasia title.

Leishman moves to second place on the PGA Tour of Australasia Tour Order of Merit. By finishing 3rd in the WA Open, 3rd in the Australian PGA Championship, 18th at the Australian Open, and now this win, he trails only NSW Open winner, Christopher Wood.

Whether that standing and the encouraging experience of a first Australasian Tour win convince Leishman to play more events on the Australasian Tour leading into the New Year remains to be seen, but the tournament certainly benefited from the presence of one of Australia’s finest performers over the last 15 or so years.

Results

Order Of Merit 

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South Australia’s Jack Thompson finishes runner-up in Saudi Open


Jack Thompson – file image courtesy of Photosport NZ/NZ Open 

The 2026 Asian Tour has drawn to a close following the completion of this week’s Saudi Open and, with it, the finalisation of the Order of Merit.

Australia’s Jack Thompson finished runner-up to Sweden’s Bjorn Hellgren in the US$1 million event, catapulting him from 62nd on the Order of Merit to finish 21st, giving him surety of tenure on the Asian Tour next season after beginning the week with his future under question.

Thompson, who finished runner-up to Ryan Peake at this year’s New Zealand Open, began the final round tied with Hellgren and actually took a two-shot lead early in the front nine but fell two behind late in the round before two late birdies saw him finish one behind.

Thompson’s 30-foot eagle putt at the last narrowly missed, allowing Hellgren to hole from a much shorter distance to claim his first Asian Tour title.

“Yeah, it’s a tough one,” said Thompson, who birdied three in a row from the third to have the lead early on.

“Obviously, I started off pretty well. I didn’t hit the ball anywhere near good enough today, but just scrambled so well, made some good birdies, holed some good putts. Also missed a couple of putts.

“So yeah, I mean, at the end of that, I can’t really complain. I think if you told me I’d finished second at the start of the week before, when I needed to keep my card, I would have been pretty happy. But we obviously want more. Always want more.”

Thompson earned US$110,000 for his great week.

Victory for Hellgren atones for what has been a testing few seasons playing on the Asian Tour.

He arrived in Asia in 2020 with an impressive resume that included multiple wins in Scandinavia as an amateur and professional. He’d also roomed with American Brooks Koepka when playing college golf at Florida State University.

He finished tied ninth at Qualifying School in 2020 but only competed in one event before play was halted due to the COVID-19 pandemic. When play resumed on Tour he did not quite make the impression that was expected of him, with his best result tying for third in the 2022 Yeangder TPC.

Even before this week, he admitted to being exhausted after a long stretch on tour and behaving badly on and off the course. He said a holiday with his family in Spain over the past few weeks helped him get back on track, and that was most definitely the case this week.

The leading Australian at the completion of this season’s Order of Merit is Thompson’s fellow South Australian Wade Ormsby who finished the year in 12th place, highlighted by his win in the International Series event in Jakarta.

Leaderboard 

Final Asian Tour Order of Merit 

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South Australian Jack Thompson leads Saudi Open

South
Jack Thompson – file image Asian Tour

South Australian Jack Thompson arrived in Saudi Arabia this week needing a good week if he was to avoid losing his Asian Tour card for 2026, and the manner in which he has negotiated his opening 36 holes suggests that he has completed the task.

Thompson has begun the US$1 million Saudi Open at the Dirab Golf and Country Club with consecutive rounds of 65 to lead the final event of the 2025 Asian Tour season into the final 36 holes.

27-year-old Thompson leads by one over Sweden’s Bjorn Hellgren, Victorian Todd Sinnott the next best of the Australians in 24th place. Sinnott entered the week in 106th place on the Order of Merit so needs a very special final 36 holes if he is to retain his playing rights for next season.

Despite going so close to winning the New Zealand Open (an Asian Tour event) in March, Thompson has battled for much of the season on the Asian Tour and is currently in 62nd position on the Order of Merit, needing to be inside the top 65 in order to retain his playing privileges.

Making the cut this week would have been sufficient, but to lead by one heading into today’s third round, no doubt will provide the freedom for Thompson to enjoy his final two rounds of the year and look forward to a return to the Asian Tour.

Leaderboard

Order of Merit 

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