Victorian Cameron John gets his first chance in the event courtesy of his great Australasian Tour efforts last season
This week’s 25th edition of the $5 million Alfred Dunhill Links Championship, played over three layouts in the Fife and Angus Council areas to the north and east of Edinburgh, provides a great opportunity for several Australasian golfers to gain exposure to a high-class event on outstanding layouts and for a prize fund to which they are seldom, if ever, exposed.
Played in a pro-am format, similar to that of the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am and more recently the New Zealand Open, players are teamed with one amateur for the opening three rounds played at each of St Andrews Old Course, Kingsbarns Golf Links and Carnoustie Golf Links before leading professionals and teams, making the 54-hole cut, return to St Andrews for the final round.
That the purse of US$ million is no greater than that offered in 2010 tells the story of an event for which its popularity is built on the format in which many of the game’s leading players enjoy the opportunity to not only play for a reasonable purse on fine golfing facilities, but the opportunity to reward many of the friends and families the opportunity to join them as golfing partners for the week.
Many of the game’s modern-day greats have played the event, and several have won, although the only one to have done so from our part of the world is New Zealand’s Ryan Fox, who also teamed with Shane Warne to finish runner-up in the 2021 team’s section of the championship.
Ryan Fox is not in the field for this year’s event, which is understandable given his involvement in Chicago last week, but there is a long list of twenty-two Australians who have entered the event, many of them gaining a start in the event courtesy of their performances on the PGA Tour of Australasia last season.
Cameron John, James Marchesani, Will Florimo, Jay McKenzie, Marc Leishman, Austin Bautista, Jack Thompson, Matias Sanchez, Nick Voke, and Decland Donovan are in the field as a result of the Australasian Tour Order of Merit standings, but there are several others who also get a chance.
Wade Ormsby and Kevin Yuan compete based on their Asian Tour efforts, while Ryan Peake gets another chance to improve his standing in his rookie year in Europe.
New Zealand’s Daniel Hillier, who surprisingly did not play in France last week, is entered, hopefully over a recent injury, to allow him to improve on his already impressive 13th position in the Race to Dubai rankings and to consolidate his current 9th place in the list of 10 who earn PGA Tour cards at the end of this DP World Tour season.
LIV golfers Elvis Smylie, Cam Smith and Lucas Herbert are in the field, while Jason Scrivener, David Michelussi, Anthony Quayle, Jack Buchanan and Conner McKinney round out a large ‘down under’ brigade.
James Marchesani earns first Australasian Tour title in WA
James Marchesani watches his lengthy putt at the last to set up his one shot win – image Australian Golf Media
36-year-old Victorian James Marchesani won his first PGA Tour of Australasia title today, nine years after turning professional, with a one-shot win at the WA Open at Secret Harbour Golf Links south of Perth.
After sharing the 54-hole lead with defending champion and South African, Oliver Bekker, and Jasper Stubbs, Marchesani produced a final nine of 31 to edge one clear of Stubbs and two over Bekker and win the $36,000 first prize.
Bekker led by one at the turn over Stubbs with another shot back to Marchesani, but a stunning back nine which included five birdies saw Marchesani take a one-shot lead to the last, which he safely negotiated for his breakthrough win in Australia.
Marchesani, who played much of his amateur career at college in Oklahoma in the US, actually finished first in the Webex Series Victoria in 2023, but as it was a mixed gender event, the title went to the overall winner, Min A Yoon, but this victory now gives him his first official PGA Tour of Australasia title and seocnd place on the PGA Tour of Australasia Order of Merit.
Marchesani was delighted to have finally broken through after numerous podium finishes over the last few years and despite missing the cut in his last two events at St Andrews and Kalgoorlie, he impressed with the quality of his play over the Graha Marsh-designed layout.
“I think it was a matter of how long can you sort of wait and when is it going to happen?,” said Marchesani when asked about winning for the first time in Australia. “When is it going to happen? I’m playing good, but it’s not quite happening. So yeah, I think it does, but I’ve always believed I’ve been good enough to… It’s probably come a little later than what I though out here.
“But yeah, everyone’s so talented now, so you got to work harder and harder and harder. And as I get a little bit older, it is a little bit harder, but I still love it. So yeah, just a really rewarding week.
Stubbs had missed five of his previous seven cuts before an encouraging 3rd place in Kalgoorlie last week and was another looking for his first win, but he is a player good enough to have won the Asia Pacific Amateur Championship and to have finished 3rd at the 2024 Australian Open, and many are predicting a bright future for the 24-year-old.
His runner-up finish is his best on the PGA Tour of Australasia.
South African but now Australian resident Bekker was attempting to win this event for the second year in succession, and when he took an early lead on day four, he appeared on track to do just that. He still led by two with five holes to play. Bogeys at the 14th and 15th, however, were his downfall.
The PGA Tour of Australasia now heads to South Australia for this coming week’s mixed-gender Webex Series South Australia event.
RESULTS
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.
Leaderboard
Indian Golf Championship attracts three 2026 major winners
Rory McIlroy during practice this week – image DP World Tour / Getty Images
Indian golf has likely never seen anything like it. This week’s US$4 million DP World India Championship contains three of this year’s four major championship winners, 13 major winners overall, and the leading seven players in the Race to Dubai rankings, making it the strongest field ever seen in the country.
The Delhi Golf Club in the country’s capital, New Delhi, is 96 years old and has played host to countless Indian golf events over a long period. Redesigned by three-time Indian Open winner, Peter Thomson in 1967, the layout is protected by significant tea tree growth and is considered a very much a placement golf course.
Rory McIlroy, Ryan Fox and Aaron Rai are the three 2026 major winners in the field but the current leader on the race to Dubai Order of Merit, Patrick Reed will be doing his best to hold off McIlroy over the next few weeks as the 2026 season comes to an end in Dubai in mid-November.
McIlroy played her last year and finished back in 26th place but arrived in Delhi full of confidence for what lies ahead.
“It’s looking good. Just as tight as I remember from last year,” said the Northern Irishman. “It’s definitely a different golf course than what we’re used to playing. It doesn’t offer you a lot of room off the tee. A lot of irons and strategic play with your tee shots.
“It’s great to be back. I had a wonderful experience here last year, and I come here now as a DP World ambassador. Deepened my relationship, obviously, with the company that puts on this event which is also the umbrella sponsor of the DP World Tour.
“Obviously very happy to be back and representing them. Looking forward to a great week.”
Fox, who is playing the event for the first occasion, feels it will require very different strategies this week to do well.
“It’s been great,” said the Open Champion. “We’ve been looked at fantastically well so far, and been enjoying the food, enjoying the golf course. It’s something I feel a bit different. I don’t have a driver in the bag this week, like a fair chunk of guys don’t.
“It’s a placement, control-your-ball-style golf course. Yeah, it’s been fun the last couple days and obviously looking forward to the week.”
Fox is currently in 6th place in the Race to Dubai rankings but has not given up hope of winning the title in Dubai in three week’s time. He is entered for the events in Korea, Abu Dhabi and Dubai.
Other Australians and New Zealanders in the field are Min Woo Lee, Daniel Hillier, Jason Scrivener, Elvis Smylie, Anthony Quayle and Ryan Peake,
Leaderboard
John Lyras leads in Kalgoorlie
The Graham Marsh designed Kalgoorlie Golf Club in Western Australia – image PGA of Australia
The second event of the 2026/2027 Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia schedule, the WAPGA Championship, has reached the halfway stage at the Kalgoorlie Golf Club in Western Australia, one of 18 tournaments on this year’s schedule.
The opening event of the new season was played in Port Moresby in August when Josh Armstrong won over Lachlan Aylen and Louis Dobbelaar, but this event kicks off a prolonged series of events over the next five months culminating in a three-event swing in New Zealand through February and the National Tournament on the Mornington Peninsula in late March.
The three standout events in terms of prestige and prize money will be the Australian and New Zealand Opens and the Australian PGA Championship, with most of the other events carrying prize money of around A$250,000, the exception being the NSW Open, which plays for around A$800,000.
This week’s event in Kalgoorlie is played at the publicly owned, Graham Marsh-designed Kalgoorlie Golf Club, set amid the red dirt of the gold-mining area east of Perth, about 600 kilometres east of the city.
Through 36 holes, the leader is NSW golfer John Lyras, who has returned to tournament golf after a wrist injury has curtailed much of 2026, and although without a victory on the Australasian Tour, he has produced one or two runner-up finishes, including when second behind Brendan Jones at the 2023 NZ Open.
“I feel like I’m getting to a point where I’m starting to understand my game a bit better,” said Lyras. “And playing these first two rounds, that was really evident out there for me, even just analysing my own game out there. And I’m really pleased with the progress that I’ve got going at the moment.
“And truthfully, I love the direction I’m heading, but ultimately it’s just trying to alleviate some stresses on the body and my swing. And at the same time, it’s translating into better shots and the scoring still, you probably don’t score as well as you’d like to every round of golf – I think every golfer can say that – but I think just in terms of the way the ball feels off the club and through the turf, it’s been very different, and it’s been nice to feel a little bit less stress through the hands and the arms during a round of golf.”
Lyras leads by one over Queensland’s Dylan Gardner and American Tyler McCumber, whose father, Mark, was a ten-time winner on the PGA Tour, including wins at the Players Championship and the Tour Championship.
28-year-old Gardner is another yet to win on the PGA Tour of Australasia, but he did finish runner-up at the Gippsland Super 6 in 2024.
The cut fell at 2 over, eight shots from the lead, with 51 players making it to the weekend.
Leaderboard
Grace Kim finishes 7th in Hawaii
Grace Kim – file imageSydney’s Grace Kim has recorded her equal best result of the 2026 LPGA Tour when she finished in a share of 7th place at the Lotte Championship on Oahu in Hawaii.
Kim finished 7th earlier in the season at the Meijer Classic, but although she has made 13 of 17 cuts, there have been few finishes in contention.
Kim, who won her first major title in 2025 and has now just two top-ten finishes this season, has improved to 62nd in the Race to the Globe rankings compared to her 31st place at the completion of last season.
Porter is in 46th place in the Race to the Globe rankings.
Robyn Choi and Gabi Ruffels were the only other Australians to make the weekend but finished well back.
Results
Steve Alker makes it four wins for PGA Tour Champions season
Alker with yet another trophy – image Getty ImagesNew Zealand’s Steve Alker has held off a strong final-day challenge from Tag Ridings to win his 4th PGA Tour Champions title of the season, his 5th win of 2026, and his 14th PGA Tour Champions title in five years.
Alker earns US$345,000 for his win and takes his season’s earnings to US$2.3 million.
Alker’s win was all the more meritorious after back issues early in the week and after his regular caddie fell ill during Friday’s opening round, and a local 19-year-old caddie replaced him.
After one win early in the season, Alker has been on a roll, winning three of his last four and adding a European Senior Tour win, for four wins and a runner-up finish in his last five starts.
“Yeah, it’s pretty special, I haven’t done it since ’22,” said the 55-year-old, referring to the four victories. “Kind of a little bit surprised. I just crushed it the last six weeks; the scoring got better, my putting got better, driving it better, doing everything better. So I didn’t have my A-game today; we didn’t have our A-game in the last group, but just good to get it done. Made some big putts there at the end. Just so happy with No. 4.”
“Whyatt, (replacement caddie), he’s a local guy here; he’s only 19. He’s done a great job, helped me on some putts here and there I just wasn’t sure of because I hadn’t seen the golf course, hadn’t had enough time on it. So it all worked out.”
Alker will move past US$2 million for the season (US$2.3 million) but remains in 3rd position on the PGA Tour’s Charles Schwab standings behind Stewart Cink and Zach Johnson.
RESULTS
Adrian Meronk wins first event in nearly four years
Adrian Meronk – first win since the 2022 Australian Open Germany-born but Polish citizen Adrian Meronk, has today won the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship at St Andrews, his first win since his 2022 Australian Open victory and his first DP World Tour success since the 2022 Irish Open.
Meronk, who has played the LIV Golf League in recent times, began the final round two behind the leader, Casey Jarvis of South Africa, but his equal best 3rd round of the week, a 63, had given him the momentum heading into the final day over the Old Course at St Andrews and by the turn he had drawn level.
He would finish the stronger and eventually won by two over Denmark’s Niklas Norgaard and Jarvis.
“It’s unreal,” said emotional Meronk. “As I told you before, I never usually cry but this one feels really special. I’m sorry, I’m just lost for words. To win here after ten years, after turning pro, it’s a dream come true, and it’s unusual. I’m sorry, I’m at a loss for words, but I’m extremely happy and relieved.
“The goal for the rest of the season was to try to get my status for next year, and that helps me a lot. I’m super happy that I actually got that goal, but I will have to re-evaluate my goals for the rest of the season and see what happens. I’ll do that tomorrow and then see what happens. I’m super happy and super grateful to be in that position.
Scotland’s Michael Stewart and England’s Tommy Fleetwood tied for 4th.
In what was an overall disappointing week for the large contingent of Australians and New Zealanders, Daniel Hillier did best when he tied for 30th.
Nick Voke was 51st, Declan O’Donovan 55th and Cameron John 61st.
The DP World Tour now heads to Madrid for the Spanish Open.
Results
Daniel Hillier best of the large Australasian contingent at St Andrews
Daniel Hillier – file image NZ Open / Photosport NZ
The 54-hole cut has been made at the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship and New Zealand’s Daniel Hillier is the best of the large contingent of Australasians, with Hillier’s three-round total of 10 under par leaving him in a share of 21st and eight shots behind the leader, Casey Jarvis of South Africa.
Hillier played the St Andrews Old Course layout on day three and made the turn in 33, but a homeward nine of 37 saw him lose ground but he is one good round away from a top ten.
Hillier is chasing one of the PGA Tour cards for 2027 handed out to the leading ten players in the Race to Dubai rankings at season’s end and not otherwise exempt to the PGA Tour. He is currently 9th in those rankings so a good round tomorrow will assist in that cause.
Victorian Cameron John and NSW’s Declan O’Donovan have done well to make the cut at 7 under and in a share of 46th place while New Zealand’s Nick Voke is the only other of the original 22 Australasians to make it to tomorrow’s final round.
LIV Golf members Cameron Smith, Lucas Herbert, Elvis Smylie and Marc Leishman were amongst those to miss the cut.
Leaderboard
Victorian Nadene Gole chasing second US title
Nadene Gole – image USGA
Victorian Nadene Gole has reached the quarter-finals of the US Senior Women’s Amateur Championship at the Portland Golf Club in Portland, Oregon, the 58-year-old, who two years ago became the first Australian to win the US Senior Women’s Amateur Championship, taking on China’s Xiaolong Zhong, who qualified in first place in Monday’s stroke play, in her quarter-final match-up.
Gole, who qualified in 34th place on Monday, is in good form at present, having won the recent Arizona Women’s Senior Amateur and, in 2024, also won the British and New Zealand Senior Women’s Amateur after what had been a lengthy break from tournament golf.
Sydney’s Gemma Dooley also qualified for the match play phase but was beaten in today’s round of 16 match against Gole’s opponent tomorrow.
SCORING
Many Australasians get unique opportunity at Alfred Dunhill Links Championship
Victorian Cameron John gets his first chance in the event courtesy of his great Australasian Tour efforts last season
This week’s 25th edition of the $5 million Alfred Dunhill Links Championship, played over three layouts in the Fife and Angus Council areas to the north and east of Edinburgh, provides a great opportunity for several Australasian golfers to gain exposure to a high-class event on outstanding layouts and for a prize fund to which they are seldom, if ever, exposed.
Played in a pro-am format, similar to that of the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am and more recently the New Zealand Open, players are teamed with one amateur for the opening three rounds played at each of St Andrews Old Course, Kingsbarns Golf Links and Carnoustie Golf Links before leading professionals and teams, making the 54-hole cut, return to St Andrews for the final round.
That the purse of US$ million is no greater than that offered in 2010 tells the story of an event for which its popularity is built on the format in which many of the game’s leading players enjoy the opportunity to not only play for a reasonable purse on fine golfing facilities, but the opportunity to reward many of the friends and families the opportunity to join them as golfing partners for the week.
Many of the game’s modern-day greats have played the event, and several have won, although the only one to have done so from our part of the world is New Zealand’s Ryan Fox, who also teamed with Shane Warne to finish runner-up in the 2021 team’s section of the championship.
Ryan Fox is not in the field for this year’s event, which is understandable given his involvement in Chicago last week, but there is a long list of twenty-two Australians who have entered the event, many of them gaining a start in the event courtesy of their performances on the PGA Tour of Australasia last season.
Cameron John, James Marchesani, Will Florimo, Jay McKenzie, Marc Leishman, Austin Bautista, Jack Thompson, Matias Sanchez, Nick Voke, and Decland Donovan are in the field as a result of the Australasian Tour Order of Merit standings, but there are several others who also get a chance.
Wade Ormsby and Kevin Yuan compete based on their Asian Tour efforts, while Ryan Peake gets another chance to improve his standing in his rookie year in Europe.
New Zealand’s Daniel Hillier, who surprisingly did not play in France last week, is entered, hopefully over a recent injury, to allow him to improve on his already impressive 13th position in the Race to Dubai rankings and to consolidate his current 9th place in the list of 10 who earn PGA Tour cards at the end of this DP World Tour season.
LIV golfers Elvis Smylie, Cam Smith and Lucas Herbert are in the field, while Jason Scrivener, David Michelussi, Anthony Quayle, Jack Buchanan and Conner McKinney round out a large ‘down under’ brigade.