The theme of the week so far at the Nexus Advisernet Bowra & O’Dea WA Open has been one of the players appreciating the firm and fast surfaces at the renovated Mount Lawley Golf Club. Those ground conditions were amplified during today’s third round when strong winds turned the course into a fierce test and served up a crowded leaderboard ahead of the final day.
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West Australian Haydn Barron re-took the lead he held after the first round and will enter Sunday tied with Victorian Cameron John and New Zealander Jared Edwards [pictured] at five-under-par. Beyond that trio, 16 players sit within three shots of the lead, and with wet, windy weather forecast for Sunday in Perth, this remains anyone’s tournament.
On a day when only seven players broke the par of 72, South African Oliver Bekker carded the lone sub-70 round with a 68 that propelled him to four-under and within a shot of the lead. He shares fourth place with New South Welshman Josh Armstrong (70), Perth’s Hayden Hopewell (70) and veteran South Australian Adam Bland (72).
Three more players sit at three-under and six more at two-under, just three shots off the lead, including tournament drawcard Marc Leishman (75).
It was a see-sawing round that had the leading players battling strong winds from the outset. Overnight leader, Kiwi Mako Thompson, hit more provisional balls than most club golfers do while recording nine bogeys in a wayward 78. Also emblematic of the survival nature of the round was Anthony Quayle, who double-bogeyed the short par-4 first hole and battled thereafter, yet still carded a 74 to remain two behind.
Leishman threatened to use his experience and nous to assume control of proceedings, but three bogeys in his final six holes left him with work do to tomorrow.
All in all, the conditions meant no player was able to take a stranglehold of the tournament, which sets up a scintillating Sunday.
“It was so tough and it’s awesome,” said Barron, who missed a makeable birdie putt on the 18th green for the outright lead. “The setup’s amazing and it’s proper golf, so I’m absolutely loving it.”
It’s new territory for Edwards, who says he’s relishing the prospect of chasing down a breakthrough win.
“I’m pretty proud of myself. I hung in there and finished quite strong,” Edwards said. “Now I’ve got a taste for it, it’s going to be good fun to see how I go tomorrow.”
John knows what it takes to win on the Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia, having won The National Tournament in Victoria in 2024. Having grown up playing links golf on the Melbourne Sandbelt, John says the firm and fast conditions at Mount Lawley will leave him in good stead on Sunday.
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“I think [the course] suits my eye. I’ve been working ball both ways off the tees and running shots up. It feels very Victorian,” he said.
“It’s definitely shaping up to be very similar to what we all expect of Royal Melbourne later in the year [at the Australian Open]. It’s a true test and although the course isn’t super-long, it’s really holding its own against some pretty good golfers.”
– additional reporting by Neil Maidment
