[Photo: Bradley Kanaris/Getty Images]
Spanish professional David Puig has become the first international winner since 2016 and just the second from his homeland to claim the BMW Australian PGA Championship.
The 23-year-old emerged quickly from a packed leaderboard entering the final day at Royal Queensland Golf Club to shoot 66 to reach 18-under and record a two-shot win over China’s Wenyi Ding (66 for 16-under). Kiwi Nick Voke (66) joined Marc Leishman (67) in a share of third at 15-under, the latter the lone Australian to finish in the top four.
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LIV Golf member Puig is the first non-Australian to claim the title since American Harold Varner III nine years ago, and the first Spaniard since the legendary Seve Ballesteros in 1981. The pair are also the only Spanish golfers to win a tournament on the PGA Tour of Australasia. In an eerie twist, Ballesteros won his PGA at Royal Melbourne, where this week’s Crown Australian Open will be held for the first time in 34 years.
Although he never got to see Ballesteros play in person, Puig says his influence carries through generations, regaled with stories from his Fireballs GC captain Sergio Garcia and Arizona State University alumni, Jon Rahm.
“You watch replays of every major he won and how he did it and his little movie that there is, seen it at least three or four times,” Puig said of ‘Seve The Movie’ released in 2014.
“He’s such a big figure for Spanish golf I’m kind of close with Jon Rahm and the stories that he has and all he knows about what Seve accomplished too and everything… It’s just his presence and everything he accomplished.”
Puig compiled a spectacularly steady campaign, navigating 72 holes at Royal Queensland with just two bogeys, including none on the weekend. Today, he distanced himself from the pack by carding three birdies in a row from the second hole and didn’t take a backward step thereafter.
“I was definitely nervous, but I think I kept my composure really well and that start helped a lot,” said Puig, who turns 24 next Sunday and owns two Asian Tour victories – one in 2023 and one last year.
“Really happy and excited and proud of all the work that I’ve been putting in and, obviously, my name being with Seve’s name as the only two Spaniards to have won this event makes it even more special.”
Outside the trio of early birdies, if there was a moment that signalled this was Puig’s week, it came via a piercing iron shot to tap-in range at the difficult par-4 13th hole. It was his only birdie of the inward journey but carried more leaderboard value than a lone gained stroke.
The Australian contingent lacked sustained momentum in the last round. Overnight co-leader and Queenslander Anthony Quayle made two double-bogeys in the first five holes to drop away quickly. A day after making eight birdies, Adam Scott found just three on Sunday, although one was a genuine crowd-pleaser at the ‘party hole’ 17th.
That left Leishman and 2023 champion Min Woo Lee as the primary hopes of keeping the Joe Kirkwood Cup on home shores, yet both couldn’t keep dropped shots from their cards in the same manner as Puig.
Lee moved into the frame with birdies at the 11th and 12th holes but lost hope with a bogey at the tough 14th, while Leishman bogeyed the same hole to stall his run and leave him winless in our largest events. His share of third left him as the best-placed Aussie.
“I missed a lot of makeable putts,” Leishman said in summarising his week. “But probably everyone in the field could say that. It’s a little frustrating, but the signs are really good for next week. I’m playing some of the best golf I’ve ever played.”
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Ultimately, Puig’s error management made the difference on a course where birdies are plentiful at tour level but plenty of bogeys live among the giant fig trees that frame many of Royal Queensland’s fairways.
“[It’s] kind of hard on this golf course,” Puig said. “You still need to attack a little bit, right? With these greens and how tough they are.
“My plan was definitely smart golf throughout the week and I know it was pretty tough to make lots of birdies on this course, especially the pins that we had during the week. So I knew hitting it into the fat part of the green and trying to avoid mistakes was clutch. Besides Friday, I played three rounds of golf bogey-free so really, really proud of myself and following to that plan.”
The LIV golfer can now accept DP World Tour membership as a winner of a co-sanctioned event. Puig intends to juggle both circuits.
“I’m kind of planning the schedule a little bit at the beginning of the year,” he said. “It’s really important for myself and knowing where I want to go and what tournaments should I play. And so kind of having that in mind, it’s really important. I grew up watching the DP World Tour since I was 6, 7 years old and watching as Seve first and then Sergio, Jon Rahm [played]. I’m really happy and hopefully I can be a member for lots of years.”
The Australian stranglehold on our PGA Championship is broken. Now, attention turns to the Australian Open where only two locals (Matt Jones, 2015 and 2019; Cam Davis, 2017) have emerged victorious since 2012.
