[Photo: Brett Costello]
Brendan Jones has won a second national championship some 27 years after the first, claiming the 2026 Australian PGA Seniors Championship at Richmond Golf Club.
Far from stress-free, despite starting the day with a five-shot lead, Jones added one of the PGA Legends Tour marquee events to his 1999 Australian Amateur title and swathe of professional wins.
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This victory came with a 54-hole total of nine-under-par and a four-shot margin over the fast-finishing Adam Henwood, with Murray Lott a shot further back, and is Jones’ first major event with pregnant partner Shiho as his caddie.
“Look, some people might enjoy it, I don’t enjoy it,” Jones said of trying to close out a win. “I like competing. I love competing. But your body just doesn’t feel normal, and that’s what nerves do.
“I’ve had a lot of success dealing with the nerves over the years, but at the same time, you don’t always come away with trophies, so today was good day for me. I managed to hold on, but it was funny, I didn’t know how I should have played out there.”
How he did play, was not as good as the rest of the week but had its moments as Jones authored a final round of one-over-par 71 with four bogeys mixed with three birdies, including one at the 18th hole after Henwood had done his best to apply pressure with a hat-trick of birdies from the 15th hole.
“Conditions have been tough the last few days. We haven’t played any day the same way,” Jones said. “I found whether it was having the lead or just this wind that we had today, probably the most difficult to get clubs right, because early on, I felt like I was hitting some good shots, but they just weren’t going the right distance.
“I made some good putts to keep the round going and look back on this week as being a very good putting week, and sort of controlling it the best I could.
“I looked at the turn and there wasn’t anyone going berserk, so I just thought if I can just stay ahead of the guys I was playing with, we should be right. But it’s never easy finishing tournaments out, and I proved that today… I didn’t realise it was as close as it was.”
Bouncing back with birdies soon after bogeys at the seventh and 10th, Jones started to look shaky when pulling his approach at the 13th and failing to get up-and-down, the 15-time Japan Tour winner also dropping a shot when going long at the par-3 next.
Jones salvaged pars at the par-5 15th when he blocked his second shot well right and caught a lucky break, with the New South Welshman saving another par at the 16th when taking driver at the short par 4 and finding the greenside water.
Henwood’s pressure up ahead, as Lott and Nigel Lane attempted to do likewise in the final group, didn’t affect Jones as he rolled in a six-foot par putt at the par-3 17th and caught another piece of luck when he found the trees off the 18th tee.
Jones’ ball ended in a near-perfect position, however, which the 51-year-old took full advantage of with a laser-like approach leading to a 15th birdie of the tournament to secure a less-than-perfect victory, something that didn’t matter to Jones with the words of his long-time mentor ringing true.
“I didn’t know if I should have been more aggressive and tried to win by 10, but Alex Mercer, who’s been my coach forever, has always said, ‘It doesn’t matter if you win by 10 or one,’” he said.
“The prizemoney is the same. Just getting it done, I’m extremely happy about that, but knowing that there was a few shots up my sleeve was nice too.”
The bank account might potentially grow over the next week as the Legends Tour plays a lucrative run of events in Sydney, but not before Jones enjoys a beer with a trophy bearing some of the greatest names in Australian golf.
He also paid tribute to his caddie and partner.
“Shiho’s been caddieing for me four years now and that’s our first major event. She’s been phenomenal through everything, just giving me the belief I can do it,” Jones said.
“We’ve got an exciting few months coming up. I think winning it for her, it’s very special.”
