[Photo: Flynn McCallum/PGA of Australia]
Years of near misses will soon be forgotten after Josh Armstrong earned the first Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia win of his career at the 2026 PNG Open.
Almost a decade since he represented the International team at the inaugural Junior Presidents Cup in 2017, the Canberran endured a typically tumultuous final day at Royal Port Moresby Golf Club where NRL star and avid golfer Jarome Luai was a special guest.
One behind Queenslander Louis Dobbelaar at the start of today’s final round, Armstrong surged to the front with an eagle at the par-5 ninth hole followed by a birdie at the par-5 10th.
Yet first wins never come easy, especially for a 27-year-old so talented that he has accrued six top-five finishes, the best of which was a tie for third at the Heritage Classic in March.
A bogey at the par-3 13th was followed by a disastrous double-bogey at the par-4 14th to bring Dobbelaar (72) and Victorian Lachlan Aylen (71) back into the frame.
Armstrong steadied with pars at 15 and 16 and then delivered a miraculous stinger shot from within the Royal Port Moresby vegetation on the 17th, draining the birdie putt from 10 feet to remain one clear with one to play.
“I don’t know if anyone saw, but I actually gave myself a fist pump after hitting that [shot],” Armstrong said.
“I said to myself a few expletives when I was walking off that tee there, just trying to fire myself up to get the job done. Fortunately, it paid off.”
As Aylen closed with a bogey and Dobbelaar could only make par, a par of his own would be enough for Armstrong to close out a round of three-under 69 to finish at 14-under-par and a two-stroke winner.
“I don’t even know what to say. It probably won’t be until I get back to the hotel or probably even later that it’ll sink in properly,” Armstrong said of finally breaking through.
“Everyone works to win golf tournaments and I’ve been knocking on the door lately, so it’s nice to finally do it.”
Admitting to periods of self-doubt as he tried to establish his professional career, Armstrong will now look forward to the BMW Australian PGA Championship and the Capital.com Australian Open as he assumes No.1 spot on the Order of Merit.
“It’s a great feeling,” Armstrong added. “I said to all my team back home that I wasn’t going to do an overseas Q-school this year just because I wanted to prioritise the stuff here in Australia, try and finish as high up on the Order of Merit as I can.
“Things have been trending in the right direction, so you’ve just got to keep the trend climbing.”
Without status for the 2026-2027 season, a tie for second will help Aylen secure more starts in the months to come while Dobbelaar looks poised for a big summer.
It was an impressive performance from New Zealand rookie Rebekah Blackwell-Chin to come from behind and claim the second PNG Women’s Open.
A graduate of the WPGA Tour of Australasia Qualifying School in December and a two-time NT Amateur champion, Blackwell-Chin admitted that she was “caught off guard” by her eight-over 80 in the opening round.
She turned that around in emphatic fashion, making six birdies in her opening 10 holes in a round of one-under 71 to finish five strokes clear of Kathryn Norris with defending champion Amelia Mehmet-Grohn sharing third with Kay Bannan.
“I thought I played actually quite decent and then I tallied my scores up and went, Oh my goodness,” Blackwell-Chin said of her opening-round score.
“And then next day I came out and I just knew that something had to change in the way that I approached my game, especially with short game aspect of it. Tweaked a few things practising before I went out and played and yeah, fixed it.
“It would be insane for me to card a round like I did today and play super well and then compete with the likes of the other girls in my field. It means the total world to be able to walk away with it.”
