Victorian James Marchesani has authored an imposing victory at the WA Open by emerging from a congested leaderboard to win his first PGA Tour of Australasia title in a genuine shoot-out.
He shot a bogey-free 65 to edge past playing partners Jasper Stubbs (66) and Oliver Bekker (67) on a day when all three held the outright lead at some stage in the last five holes at Secret Harbour Golf Links.
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Marchesani improves his status on the Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia and will embark on a campaign on the secondary HotelPlanner Tour in Europe in 2027 with renewed confidence. But this moment was a long time coming.
The 35-year-old had recorded 11 top-10 finishes since the beginning of 2025 without registering a victory, his most heartbreakingly result a playoff loss at the Ford NSW Open last November.
Yet it was the manner in which he won today that was the hallmark of this tournament. There was no limping over the line as Marchesani, runner-up Stubbs and third-placed Bekker combined for an 18-under-par Sunday.
How good were the final trio? Among the rest of the field, only Queensland’s Louis Dobbelaar (65) shot better than 67, while Bekker’s 67 was the worst score in the last group.
The leaders all but ensured the Roy Paxton Bowl would come to one of them via a frenetic start. Despite the breeziest day of the championship, Stubbs made an eagle and two birdies in the first five holes, while Bekker made six birdies in his first 11. Marchesani was no slouch, reaching two-under for his Sunday lap at the turn then birdieing the 10th and 11th holes. Only Stubbs’ bogey at the ninth blotted the three front-nine scorecards.
Having sat back a shot or two off the lead for most of the round, Marchesani made his move at the tough 14th hole, parking a pure iron shot within eight feet to make a birdie as Bekker dropped his first shot of the day, leaving the pair tied for the lead at 15-under, a shot ahead of Stubbs.
Considering the location – 40-odd kilometres south of Fremantle – it turned out to be Marchesani’s “Wharfie Time” moment, a turning point that ignited his closing charge. He visited two bunkers at the 15th hole yet still saved a telling par before reaching the par-5 16th in two shots and two-putting from long range for his sixth birdie of the day. Then at the par-3 17th, a laser-like iron shot finished within tap-in range to restore a one-shot advantage over Stubbs, who’d eagled the 16th. When all three contenders closed with two-putt pars, Marchesani had his title by a shot at 17-under.
Fellow tour players Jarryd Felton and Hadyn Barron were among the first to congratulate Marchesani.
“If you had’ve told me I’d have to shoot 65 today – I think that’s what I shot? I don’t even know – to win, I would have thought you were a bit crazy,” the new champion said. “The past 18 months, I’ve just played some really good golf and obviously hadn’t quite got there and I just knew if I just keep doing the same things, it’s going to happen.
“It’s hard to wait and think, When? And guys are just so good out here now, you just can’t miss a shot.”
In this instance, it was Marchesani who didn’t miss a shot. He was the only player to break 70 each day and carded the lone bogey-free round on Sunday, as well as the equal-best score in the field for the day.
The winner also had Brady Watt, who lost the 2012 WA Open in a playoff, as his caddie. Watt was a key part of the shot that won the tournament.
“I had a good number and it’s funny, I hit a similar shot yesterday that finished in a similar position,” Marchesani said of his near-ace at the 17th. “So I sort of knew that the slope would sort of help me and push it in there. Brady and I picked a good line, [I] hit it straight down it and obviously got the perfect land number and got help off that ridge.”
The man with the distinctive pause at the top of his backswing endured a pause in the victory column for long enough. Having showed such poise under pressure, Marchesani will be a marked man at the rest of the summer’s tournaments and beyond.
