Austin Bautista overtook long-time mate Jay Mackenzie on the final stretch to land the WA PGA Championship title at Kalgoorlie Golf Course.
Bautista’s 2-under-par 70 reeled in overnight leader Mackenzie (73), who led by as many as five shots early in the final round, to secure his third global title of the year after two wins on South Africa’s Sunshine Tour.
Bautista (66-72-66-70) finished on 14-under-par, with Mackenzie at 13-under and Queensland’s Will Florimo third at 10-under.
PNG Open runner-up Zach Ion continued his emergence as challenger on Tour by posting the low round on Sunday, a 7-under-par 65, to move to equal fourth,
Curtis Luck was the highest-placed WA golfer in T8th at -8 for the championship, while Jeffrey Guan posted his best score since his return to professional golf after a horrific eye injury — a 66 — to claim T10th.
In the All Abilities competition, world no.3 Lachlan Wood (QLD) scored a convincing victory, shooting a round of 73 on Sunday to break out of an overnight tie with South Australia’s George Vassiliadis (82).
After battling to a 76 on Saturday, Wood, the 2023 champion in Kalgoorlie, set up his victory with four birdies in five holes on the front nine of the final round.
View the final leaderboards here.
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