Spencer Harrison underlined his potential by outscoring Marc Leishman, but Haydn Barron leads the way after day one of the Nexus Advisernet Bowra & O’Dea WA Open.
Seventeen-year-old amateur Harrison (pictured above) was drawn alongside LIV Golf superstar Leishman and WA’s Jordan Doull for the opening two rounds at Mount Lawley Golf Club and eclipsed both after overcoming a slow start today.
A double-bogey at the reachable par-five 12th (his third) could have derailed a lesser talent, but Harrison quickly steadied the ship with five straight pars before picking up his first shot of the day with a birdie on 18.
It was the start of an astonishing stretch of holes for Harrison, who found his range superbly to card eight birdies in his final 10 holes, his only blemish being a bogey five at the 2nd (his 11th).
During this hot-streak, Harrison reeled in and then overtook his esteemed playing partners, his four-under-par 68 leaving him two clear of Leishman and four clear of fellow Mount Lawley member Doull. It set the early clubhouse lead, and Harrison ended the day in T2nd, three strokes off the lead.
Seemingly unphased by the hundreds of spectators following his group, Harrison showed composure beyond his years and was understandably delighted with his day’s work.
“I feel like as good as I played, I still could have done better today,” he told GolfWA. “I felt as though I just stuck to my own game and didn’t let anything get to me.
“There were a lot of people out there today, so it could have been very easy for me to let it get away from me, but I feel like I did well just sticking in my lane and playing my game.”
Having first nabbed Leishman’s autograph as an eager pre-teen at the 2019 President’s Cup, Harrison admitted he gained a lot from the experience of playing alongside one of his idols.
“Yeah, it was cool to be able to play with Leish,” he added. “He’s obviously one of the role models that you look up to as a kid and one of the best that’s ever played the game from Australia.
“Being able to play with him and see how he manages himself around the course is, I think, really big for me… as well as learning how to deal with crowds and pressure.”
Bumper crowds flocked to Mount Lawley to see Marc Leishman in action
After a six-week break from tournament golf, Leishman was satisfied with his day’s work as he traded five birdies with three bogeys en route to a two-under 70.
“There was a lot of good and a few not so good out there today after six weeks off, but, yeah, happy with two-under to start the tournament,” said Leishman.
“The course is great. There’s a score out there, but you’ve got to take some risks to make birdies on a lot of holes.”
As well as being impressed by the Mount Lawley layout, Leishman was full of praise for Harrison’s sterling efforts alongside him.
“Yeah, he had a great day,” Leishman added. “His last 10 holes, I think he had seven birdies. Hit it great. Got a bright future ahead of him.”
As the third member of the feature group, home-club favourite Doull put in a typically battling display on his way to a level-par 72.
Despite some wayward tee and approach shots, Doull’s tenacity and touch around the greens saw him salvage a round that could easily have slipped away. He remains very much in contention.
Resurgent Barron back in business
Although Harrison’s fine form was the main talking point of the day, the tournament lead lies with WA’s Haydn Barron, who fired a bogey-free, seven-under-par 65 to establish a three-stroke lead and set a new course record.
On the comeback trail after months on the sidelines with injuries and illness, big-hitting ‘Baz’ made the most of the benign afternoon conditions to take a stranglehold on the championship.
A birdie at the drivable 1st was the perfect start and Barron added three more to reach the turn in 32 strokes. Back-to-back birdies on 12 and 13 moved him into outright lead, with his closing birdie the icing on a very satisfying cake.
Haydn Barron missed only two greens in regulation all day as he took the first-round lead
“Golf was just easy today, which doesn’t happen very often, but it’s just the way it was,” he said. “A couple of lucky bounces here and there, and added up to 65.”
After his health travails, Barron admitted that he’d entered the week with low expectations and was just relishing the prospect of being back playing competitive golf.
“[I’m] just happy to be out here, which is a bit of a far cry from where I was probably six, 12 months ago,” he added. “So, yeah, just absolutely loving being on course.”
Behind Barron, a crowded leaderboard is jockeying for position with Harrison sharing second with Louis Dobbelaar (QLD), Tom Power Horan (Vic), Cam John (Vic) and Adam Bland (SA).
A clutch of five players at three-under-par includes Brett Rumford and WA amateur Josiah Edwards, who briefly shared the lead at -5 before bogeying the final two holes.
Other talking points at a glance
- Kirsten Rudgeley’s bid to make the cut at a second WA Open looks to be over as she battled illness to card to a nine-over-par 81
- WA’s Josh Greer was unfortunately disqualified after signing for an incorrect score
- WA trio Hayden Hopewell, Connor McKinney and Curtis Luck sit in a share of 12th with Marc Leishman at -2
- On his return to the WA Open after several years away, six-time champion Stephen Leaney went round in level par
View full event information here.
The Nexus Advisernet Bowra & O’Dea WA Open at Mount Lawley Golf Club from October 16-19. Entry is free.
You can tune in to live coverage of the championship on Kayo over the closing two rounds
– Saturday, October 19: 1pm – 4pm (AWST)
– Sunday, October 20: 11am – 4pm (AWST)
Keep up with the latest WA golf news news via the GolfWA news section and our Facebook and Insta accounts. You can also subscribe to our monthly e-newsletter here.
