Fascinating shootout awaits at Royal Queensland
Anthony Quayle hits his tee shot at the par 5 9th – image PGA of Australia
A Spaniard, a Portuguese and a Queenslander will take a one-shot lead into the final round of the BMW PGA Championship at the Royal Queensland Golf Club in Queensland, the trio one ahead of New Zealand’s Kazuma Kobori and Australian Min Woo Lee.
Anthony Quayle, Ricardo Gouveia and David Puig finished their 54 holes at 13 under, but with 25 players within five shots of the lead, then tomorrow’s final round promises to be one of the great shootouts in major championship golf in this country.
All three leaders have yet to win on the DP World Tour; Quayle, in fact, is playing in just his first event as a cardholder after securing playing rights for this coming season through his efforts on the PGA Tour of Australasia last season.
The trio have, however, won tournaments on other tours previously, but this is a different level, and the opportunity to get their 2025/2026 DP World Tour seasons off to the best possible start is one that provides both opportunity and pressure.
Lee and several of those just off the pace, including the likes of Adam Scott, Marc Leishman and to a lesser extent Daniel Hillier are winners on either the DP World Tour or above and with other highly experienced players such as Geoff Ogilvy and Cameron Davis not far behind, tomorrow promises something quite special.
Quayle was treading water through the middle of his round after a strong start today but managed to birdie the 15th and 17th to rejoin the lead and set up perhaps the most important day of his career tomorrow.
When asked as to how he felt compared to his thoughts heading into last year’s final round, Quayle responded ;
“It’s funny, actually, going into the last round last year, I was driving here with my girlfriend, and I was in the car and I sort of just felt for the first time… I had some poor form leading up to it, and for the first time, I remember just saying to her, ‘I could go out and shoot 62 today and contend, and it could change everything.’
“I didn’t shoot 62, I shot 63, and I did contend, and it did start to change things for me. So yeah, I mean that last round was just such a massive momentum shift with my career in recent times, and I think tomorrow could be another chance to take it another step further.”
It has been well documented that Quayle has had the services of one of the game’s great caddies on the bag this week, Steve Williams, and he referred to his influence.
“I think I’ve already learned so much working with Steve. I’ve learned so much just about what I’m probably looking for in a caddie. And I think probably also learning a bit about my own game as well, and how that stacks up against some pretty good players. So look, I think you could probably call it a win irrespective. I think either way, I’ve had a fun week, and I think it’s something I’ll remember for a pretty long time.”
Gouveia suggested what a breakthrough DP World Tour win would mean if he were able to get the job done tomorrow
“It would mean the world. It was one of my goals for the season. So if I can do it on the first event of the year, that would be pretty special. But there’s a lot of golf to go, A lot can happen, and I’m just going to focus, obviously shot by shot, hole by hole, the normal cliche.
“I think everyone is going to try and come out hot tomorrow. The front nine is a bit more gettable than the back nine. So you’ve got so many good players. It doesn’t mean the good players are all going to come out hot. Everyone plays really well out here. So yeah, it’s just got to stick to my game plan and focus on what I can control, which is myself.”
Puig plays the LIV Tour in the main but is loving the opportunity to play these events.
“I mean, I never played in Australia besides the LIV event in Adelaide. And I was really looking forward to playing in different cities, and especially big cities like this week and next week. So it was in my schedule at the beginning of the year, coming here, and hopefully playing well.
“You guys have amazing golf courses here, and I was lucky enough to play some of them and finding that time to be here and playing this course, it meant a lot, and I’m glad that I’m actually doing pretty good.”
Not that the chances stop there. As round three has already shown with 12 rounds of 66 or better and an improved forecast tomorrow, anything is possible.
It is shaping as a fascinating final day with as many as twenty players going to bed tonight feeling they might have a chance to win one of Australian golf’s finest titles.
