Jason Day – a final round of 64 moved him to a share of second place – file image PGA of Australia
Jason Day has begun his 2026 PGA Tour campaign with an impressive share of the runner-up position at the American Express Championship in La Quinta, California.
Day’s bogey-free final round of 64 improved him 18 places from his 54-hole standing, and his finish betters his 3rd place finish twelve months ago.
Day shared second place with Ryan Gerrad, Matt McCarty, and Andrew Putnam and snares the 38-year-old a season-opening US$489,000.
“It’s a good start,” said Day. “My 100th top 10 of my career. So that was a milestone that I was very interested in, like very excited to get to. Yeah, very pleased that I got off to a good start this week. It’s always nice to come to the desert and get things rolling in the right direction.
“So I’m playing Torrey next week, probably just drive over tomorrow and then get some good prep Tuesday, Wednesday, and get into the tournament again. But I’m very pleased with how the game is looking. I have to have a few tweaks with my game. I think I’m just not quite happy. At the top end, like driver and 3-wood are okay. I kind of got to work on the 5 through, probably, 6-, 5-, 4-iron. But everything else feels really nice. So just trying to work that out and then get into next week.
“I feel good about the finish, but I’m already kind of, I’m processing right now, but I’m already thinking about what clubs I need next week at Torrey Pines. And they’re the important ones, the 6, 5, 4, because we’re going to be hitting a lot of ’em. So I got to kind of work that out. Yeah, like I said, I mean, I played great.”
Day finished behind world number one Scottie Scheffler, who claimed his 10th PGA Tour title, and Day, a former number one himself, offered his thoughts on the amazing run Scheffler is having.
“I mean, it’s just the patience and not only the belief that he has in his game, but the ability to be able to shake off all the distractions around him. To be able to get on to the golf course and play the way he does.
“Very unorthodox in the way that he swings the club, and it’s not like we’re looking at Tiger, but he’s putting up Tiger-ish numbers, even though Tiger was, you know, obviously the GOAT. But, yeah, I mean, every time he tees it up, he is right around the lead. And that is one of the most difficult things to do, to always stay hungry to the point of not being satisfied.
“Because it’s very easy to get satisfied out here. You win a couple of times, you’re like, Well, I’m kind of relaxed and I can coast for a little bit. And it seems like he never wants to relax. He always does his work, needs to do whatever he needs to do to be able to prepare, and he’s always around the lead. And that’s a very, very difficult thing to do with how many distractions there can be, especially at No. 1.”
Scheffler was brilliant as he overcame his one-shot deficit through 64 holes to grab the lead in a final round tussle with any one of ten potential winners to eventually win by four.
When asked about the comparisons being made to Tiger Woods and Jack Nicklaus, given the speed at which he has reached the 20-victory milestone, Scheffler would say, “I mean, any time you can get mentioned with those guys, it means you’re doing some stuff right. At the end of the day it’s not something that will occupy many of my thoughts day-to-day.
“When I was thinking about getting ready for this week, I was just trying to prepare and do the best that I could. Hopefully, we’ll get out of here tonight and get ready to gear up again, get some rest, and then get ready to kind of do it all over again in a couple weeks. I don’t spend too much time thinking about the milestones or anything like that.”
Second-season PGA Tour golfer, Karl Vilips finished as the next best of the Australians when he tied for 18th.
Leaderboard
Jason Day makes great start to PGA Tour season
Jason Day – a final round of 64 moved him to a share of second place – file image PGA of Australia
Jason Day has begun his 2026 PGA Tour campaign with an impressive share of the runner-up position at the American Express Championship in La Quinta, California.
Day’s bogey-free final round of 64 improved him 18 places from his 54-hole standing, and his finish betters his 3rd place finish twelve months ago.
Day shared second place with Ryan Gerrad, Matt McCarty, and Andrew Putnam and snares the 38-year-old a season-opening US$489,000.
“It’s a good start,” said Day. “My 100th top 10 of my career. So that was a milestone that I was very interested in, like very excited to get to. Yeah, very pleased that I got off to a good start this week. It’s always nice to come to the desert and get things rolling in the right direction.
“So I’m playing Torrey next week, probably just drive over tomorrow and then get some good prep Tuesday, Wednesday, and get into the tournament again. But I’m very pleased with how the game is looking. I have to have a few tweaks with my game. I think I’m just not quite happy. At the top end, like driver and 3-wood are okay. I kind of got to work on the 5 through, probably, 6-, 5-, 4-iron. But everything else feels really nice. So just trying to work that out and then get into next week.
“I feel good about the finish, but I’m already kind of, I’m processing right now, but I’m already thinking about what clubs I need next week at Torrey Pines. And they’re the important ones, the 6, 5, 4, because we’re going to be hitting a lot of ’em. So I got to kind of work that out. Yeah, like I said, I mean, I played great.”
Day finished behind world number one Scottie Scheffler, who claimed his 10th PGA Tour title, and Day, a former number one himself, offered his thoughts on the amazing run Scheffler is having.
“I mean, it’s just the patience and not only the belief that he has in his game, but the ability to be able to shake off all the distractions around him. To be able to get on to the golf course and play the way he does.
“Very unorthodox in the way that he swings the club, and it’s not like we’re looking at Tiger, but he’s putting up Tiger-ish numbers, even though Tiger was, you know, obviously the GOAT. But, yeah, I mean, every time he tees it up, he is right around the lead. And that is one of the most difficult things to do, to always stay hungry to the point of not being satisfied.
“Because it’s very easy to get satisfied out here. You win a couple of times, you’re like, Well, I’m kind of relaxed and I can coast for a little bit. And it seems like he never wants to relax. He always does his work, needs to do whatever he needs to do to be able to prepare, and he’s always around the lead. And that’s a very, very difficult thing to do with how many distractions there can be, especially at No. 1.”
Scheffler was brilliant as he overcame his one-shot deficit through 64 holes to grab the lead in a final round tussle with any one of ten potential winners to eventually win by four.
When asked about the comparisons being made to Tiger Woods and Jack Nicklaus, given the speed at which he has reached the 20-victory milestone, Scheffler would say, “I mean, any time you can get mentioned with those guys, it means you’re doing some stuff right. At the end of the day it’s not something that will occupy many of my thoughts day-to-day.
“When I was thinking about getting ready for this week, I was just trying to prepare and do the best that I could. Hopefully, we’ll get out of here tonight and get ready to gear up again, get some rest, and then get ready to kind of do it all over again in a couple weeks. I don’t spend too much time thinking about the milestones or anything like that.”
Second-season PGA Tour golfer, Karl Vilips finished as the next best of the Australians when he tied for 18th.
Leaderboard
Jordan Doull survives two double bogeys to win the Webex Player Series Victoria.
Jordan Doull wins second PGA Tour of Australasia title – image PGA of Australia
26-year-old West Australian Jordan Doull twice recovered from double bogeys during today’s final round of the Webex Players Series Victoria, and would eventually win his second PGA Tour title, surviving a four-hole playoff to defeat last week’s Vic Open Champion Cameron John.
The pair were locked in a battle throughout the final round at the Rosebud Country Club after Doull had begun the day two ahead of John.
Doull, who twelve months ago won another playoff when successful against Jack Buchanan at the Webex Series event in Perth, shared the lead at 13 under with John after making the turn after an outward nine of 36.
Doull moved ahead through 13 holes, but his chances took a blow when he double bogeyed the 17th after taking a two-shot lead through 16.
Both players were tied playing the 72nd hole, but when Doull holed a 10-footer to keep the title alive, they headed to the first extra hole, which they would play over four times before John missed a 3-footer, giving Doull the title.
Surprisingly, as has become a recent trend, the hole was not recut, and, instead, exactly the same hole location was used in five times playing the hole on day four. It seems a no-brainer for the modern and more recent trend of cutting a new hole after a couple of times playing the playoff hole but not used on this occasion.
It keeps the crowd around the same location but offers the opportunity for a new look to a hole in which a level of sameness has developed.
Either way, Doull, who spent five years at a university in the USA, has rebounded after missing five of his previous seven cuts on the PGA Tour of Australasia.
Cameron John now has the lead on the PGA Tour of Australasia’s Order of Merit, his runner-up finish moving him past long-time leader Christopher Wood, who could only finish 35th this week.
Doull’s win moves him to 14th place on the Order of Merit.
Brilliant British-born but now Gold Coast citizen, Billy Dowling, still an amateur, finished tied for 3rd one shot from the playoff, sharing that position with Sydney’s Austin Bautista, who won earlier in the season in Kalgoorlie.
The leading women were Victorian Jazy Roberts and Coffs Harbour’s Amelia Mehmet Grohn, who finished in a share of 26th, playing from forward tees but for the same prizemoney.
Final Result
Cameron John’s run continues at Rosebud Country Club
Cameron John in action on Friday – image PGA of Australia
Victorian Cameron John has continued on from his impressive victory at last week’s Vic Open at 13th Beach by taking a two-shot lead into the weekend at the Webex Player Series Victoria event at the Rosebud Country Club on the opposite side of Port Phillip Bay.
26 year old, John, added a second consecutive round of 65 to lead over fellow Victorians Todd Sinnott and Ben Eccles and New South Welshman Daniel Gale.
If John was able to go on and win this week, he would move to the number one spot on the 2025/2026 PGA Tour of Australasia Order of Merit, currently held by Christopher Wood and open the door for the right to play the DP World Tour next season.
John was bogey-free on day two, adding another five birdies to the seven he recorded on day one, and instead of trailing by five as he did last weekend, he has the lead as he faces yet another weekend in the heat of the battle.
Korean Jenny Shin is the leading female in the mixed gender event, the former US Junior Girls Champion and winner on the LPGA Tour, tied for 6th at 6 under and four from the lead.
The cut fell at even par, with 55 golfers making it to the weekend.
Leaderboard
Min Woo Lee and Jason Day make fast starts at American Express
Min Woo Lee – file photo courtesy of Golf Australia
Min Woo Lee has started the 2026 playing season in the best possible fashion with an opening round of 62 to share the lead at the American Express Championship in La Quinta, California.
Lee, whose last tournament was when finishing 14th at the Australian Open in early December, was bogey-free in producing nines of 31 and 31 to share the lead with American Pierceson Coody in an event played over three different courses before returning to the Pete Dye Stadium Course for the final round on Sunday.
“Yeah, there was a little bit of anxiousness starting out,” said Lee, referring to starting the year. “The first round of the year, a bit of a swing, not change, but something that we’ve been working on in the off-season.
“I changed my grip only like a week and a half ago, so it was a very, it’s good that you see results straight away. But that was pretty much the anxiousness that I had. I didn’t know how it would go on the greens, and it turned out well.
“So you didn’t really know how it was going to go. But, yeah, started off really nice. Yeah, kept it going. It was a great day to make some birdies. Probably the stillest day I’ve ever played golf in. So the numbers were exactly, you know, what you wanted, and you just execute ’em. But it was a really fun day.”
When asked how a possible suggestion of date changes and rescheduling on the PGA Tour might impact this event in the future, Lee responded;
“I love this tournament. It’s a great place to start the year. Great courses and lots of fun, and make some birdies. So it is nice to have in the schedule, because the Signature Events are very hard and major like, so it is nice to be able to hit it in the rough and actually hit it on the green. So I would love it to be in the schedule, and I would love it to, yeah, just be there next year and years coming.”
Earlier in the week, Lee played a practice round with Jason Day in a recorded piece for Day’s YouTube channel, and despite a solid debut in the event when 21st in 2024, Lee has clearly benefited from the advice Day gave him on Monday.
Day, too, was brilliant on day one, finishing strongly for a round of 63 on the Stadium Course to be in a share of 3rd place and just one off the lead with, amongst others, Scottie Scheffler.
Day finished 3rd in this event last year behind the winner Sepp Straka.
Leaderboard
Dubai Desert Classic next for DP World Tour
Elvis Smylie – newly recruited to LIV Golf, but plays in Dubai this week – image PGA of Australia
The DP World Tour stays in Dubai this week for the Hero Dubai Desert Classic but moves location to the Emirates Golf Club, where an extended field of 126 face the starter on Thursday.
Following last week’s Dubai Invitational, where just two Australasians were in the field, six will tee it up in the US$9 million event.
Last week’s runner-up, Daniel Hillier, will be joined by his fellow countryman and leading Australasian in the world ranking, Ryan Fox, recent LIV Golf recruit, Elvis Smylie, Kazuma Kobori, David Micheluzzi and Jason Scrivener.
After missing his first two cuts in the event, Hillier finished runner-up last year, earning nearly US$1 million, and he heads into this week with his confidence high after his runner-up finish last week and four top-six finishes in his last five DP World Tour starts.
Ryan Fox has only one top ten in nine starts in the event, that coming last year when 10th. Fox is, however, a significantly more credentialed player than was the case last year and with a rust moving event last week, he heads into this week as one of the more favoured entrants.
Elvis Smylie is a recent recruit to LIV Golf, but the relationship between the DP World Tour and LIV Golf is a lot less toxic than that between LIV and the PGA Tour and he gets the chance to continue his membership of the DP World Tour.
Smylie made the cut in the event last year but finished well back in 58th place.
Kobori’s first season on the DP World Tour in 2025 was very impressive, making it all the way to the Tour Championship in Dubai. He will play the event for the first occasion.
The field includes Roy McIlroy, Tommy Fleetwood and Shane Lowry.
In 15 starts in the event, McIlory has won on four occasions and been inside the top ten on all but three of those starts.
TEE TIMES
Daniel Hiller finishes runner-up in Dubai after final round 65
Daniel Hillier – file image courtesy of Photosport NZ / NZ Open
New Zealand’s Daniel Hillier staged a remarkable final round of 65 (beaten by only one golfer) to almost snatch the Dubai Invitational at the Dubai Creek Resort after beginning the final round five shots behind the eventual winner, Nacho Elvira of Spain.
Hillier would finish in the runner-up position and earn €258,400, increasing his already significant take from events in the UAE following his runner-up finish in Dubai last year and a 5th place in Abu Dhabi.
When he finished his round nearly an hour before the final group of Elvira and South Africa’s Dylan Fritelli, Hillier was perhaps only hoping for the chance to finish in a share of second place, especially with the likes of Shane Lowry and Rory McIlroy still with a few holes to play.
A lengthy birdie putt at the 15th had given Hillier a share of the lead with McIlroy and Elvira with Lowry and Marcus Armitage another shot back, but with those players having holes to play, surely someone would finish strongly to grab the lead.
Lowry appeared to have stolen a march on the field when he moved one ahead with a birdie at the 15th. It would be the Irishman, however, who gave up a one-shot lead at the 72nd hole when he found the greenside bunker with his approach, blasted across the green and into a penalty area, double bogeyed and at that point Hillier and Elvira were left in the lead at 9 under.
Within a few minutes, the 38-year-old Elvira had taken the lead with a birdie at the 17th, and he managed to safely negotiate the potentially dangerous 18th to secure his third DP World Tour title.
Hillier has become one of the real forces amongst the DP World Tour regulars since joining the tour in 2023, finishing 18th on the money list last year, and although he so nearly gained access to the PGA Tour via the DP World Tour money list, he is already showing that another year in Europe will be an even more successful one.
Hillier has finished inside the top 6 in four of his last five DP World Tour starts.
Hillier suggested after his round that a round of golf with fellow countryman Ryan Fox earlier in the week allowed him a different mindset this week, and it so nearly paid off in the best possible way.
“To be honest, at the start of the week I was chatting with Foxy,” said Hillier. “We had a couple of nine-hole matches, and he said, Why can’t you be like this when you’re playing in a tournament?
“Yeah, just pretend I was playing a little nine-hole match against the golf course, and yeah, basically taking it one shot at a time. Yeah, for the most part, happy days.”
Fox finished 27th in the 60-man field.
The DP World Tour continues in Dubai with this week’s Dubai Desert Classic, where Hillier and Fox will be joined by fellow Australasians Kazuma Kobori, Elvis Smylie, Jason Scrivener, and David Micheluzzi.
Results
Cameron John and Lydia Hall Vic Open Champions
Cameron John and Lydia Hall – enjoying their victories.
26-year-old Victorian Cameron John has won his third PGA Tour of Australasia title and his second of the 2025/2026 season with a sensational come-from-behind win at the Vic Open at 13th Beach.
In doing so, John has leapt to 2nd on the current PGA Tour of Australasia Order of Merit behind only Christopher Wood and has opened the door for some of the significant offerings for those who finish inside the top three on the order of Merit at season’s end, including the right to play the DP World Tour in 2027.
John, who earlier this season won the Queensland PGA Championship to go with his National Tournament title in 2024, is a former Australian Junior Champion with now six years behind him as a professional.
Today he began the final round five shots behind the long-time leader Nathan Barbieri, who was chasing his first victory on the PGA Tour of Australasia, but by the turn he was just two back and kept niggling away as Barbieri struggled with the greens despite some reasonable tee to green play.
At the par 5 18th and still two behind, John hit his approach shot second to 18 feet right of the hole while Barbieri found the right-hand greenside bunker, and when he blasted across the green and failed to get up and down, John had his putt to win.
It slipped past the left edge, and so it was back to the 18th to seal the deal. John was a little long with his second at the first extra hole but got up and down for birdie while Barbieri was unable to match his slightly younger opponent and had to settle for his 4th runner-up finish on the PGA Tour of Australasia.
Austin Bautista moved into 3rd place with a final round of 71 in the blustery conditions and moves inside the top ten (10th) on the current Order of Merit.
38-year-old Welsh golfer Lydia Hall would eventually win the Vic Women’s Open by four shots, but her final round battle with NSW golfer Kelsey Bennett suggested the margin did not reflect the contest that took place.
The pair were tied through eleven holes, but the more experienced Ladies European Tour winner drew clear over the closing holes and put the icing on the cake with a 20-foot birdie putt at the last.
Bennett ended in a share of second place with West Australian Kathryn Norris.
Both the men and the women head across to Rosebud on the Mornington Peninsula for this coming week’s Webex Players Series event hosted by Marcus Fraser.
Leaderboard Men
Leaderboard Women
Barbieri and Hall lead respective Vic Opens
Nathan Barbieri – in action today – image PGA of Australia
New South Wales golfer, Nathan Barbieri, has the halfway lead in the men’s division of the Vic Open at 13th Beach on the Bellarine Peninsula, his best of the day by four shots round of 65, moving him four clear of first round leader Canberra’s Brendan Jones, with another shot back to Victorian Cameron Jones and Queenslander Jack Munro.
Barbieri is chasing his first win on the PGA Tour of Australasia, although he has been runner-up or third on several occasions. His faultless round of 65, which was three strokes better than any other player on day two at 13th Beach, was a notable achievement.
Jones, who led after his opening round of 66 over the Creek Course, battled for much of the day until a final hole eagle saw him move back into contention despite being four off Barberi’s lead.
Jones has won on the PGA Tour of Australasia when he was successful at the 2023 New Zealand Open and did finish runner-up at the 2012 Australian Open and was several times inside the top ten in other lesser events but he is a prolific winner on the Japan Tour Open and after a season on the PGA Tour Champions he has started his PGA Tour of Australasian campaign well.
Barbieri has stolen a march on the field with a massive 15 shots between the leader and those who just made the cut on the number at 5 over, but getting across the line over the weekend will be a big task for the 28-year-old former leading amateur.
The Women’s Vic Open is being led by Welsh golfer, Lydia Hall, who, despite a second round of 75, was able to lead into round three.
38-year-old Hall has won events on the Ladies European Tour, but with just two top tens on the Ladies European Tour last season, this represents a significant turnaround for the lady from Bridgend in Wales.
Hall leads by one over Japan’s Aina Morohashi and NSW’s Kelsey Bennett.
Leaderboard Men
Leaderboard Women
Lydia Hall – leads the ladies’ field after a stunning second round
Professional golfing year builds momentum
New Zealand’s Josh Geary defends his Vic Open title
The world of professional golf builds momentum into 2026, when the DP World Tour and the PGA Tour begin their seasons in Dubai and Hawaii, respectively.
In Dubai, the Dubai Invitational at the Dubai Creek Resort provides a forerunner to next week’s significantly more lucrative Dubai Desert Classic at the Emirates Golf Club, but with Rory McIlroy and Tommy Fleetwood as entries into the event, the field offers plenty of star power.
Australasian entries in this week’s restricted field (60 professionals) tournament are Ryan Fox and Daniel Hillier, the event played in a pro-am format over the opening 54 holes, with the final round for professionals only.
In Honolulu, the event, which has traditionally been the second event of the season to follow the opening Sentry Championship, gets the PGA Tour underway this year, as the normal opening event, the Sentry Championship, was unfortunately cancelled due to drought conditions and associated water problems.
Australasians currently entered in this week’s field at the Waialae Country Club are Adam Scott and Cam Davis, Davis looking to reverse the form that saw him slip from inside the top 50 in the world twelve months ago to outside the top 130 at present.
In Victoria, the time-honoured Victorian Open for both men and women is played at the 13th Beach Golf Club on the Bellarine Peninsula, where New Zealand’s Josh Geary looks to defend the title he won by four shots over last week’s Webex Series Perth winner Connor McKinney.
Prize money is significantly below what it was in earlier years, when the event was played as part of the DP World Tour
Local golfer Su Oh won the women’s event.
Australians miss out on LIV Golf vacancies
Chris Wood – the NSW Open earns starts in the International Series events – image PGA of Australia
The four Australians who made it to the final rounds of qualifying for the three available places on the 2026 LIV Golf League have been unable to secure one of those coveted spots.
Matt Jones, chasing a return to LIV Golf, and Queenslanders Cory Crawford and Chris Wood tied for 8th place in the field of 22 who lined up on the final day, while Travis Smyth finished in a share of 16th.
The available spots went to Canadian Richard Lee, Swede Bjorn Hellgren, and Anthony Kim, a returnee to Liv Golf, having played there this past season.
Crawford, Wood, and Jones will, however, each earn one of the ten places in the International Series events this year, the leading ten and ties in this week’s event gaining access to the lucrative events, which are an addition to the Asian Tour schedule.
Smyth will also get to play the International events courtesy of his standing on the Asian Tour.
Final results