Ben Eccles did not dare look at the leaderboard even once as he endured the “most unpleasant period” of his life to win the CKB WA PGA Championship at Kalgoorlie Golf Course.
Leading by six shots through 54 holes, Eccles totaled 23 under and a five-shot victory masked the chaos of a sleepless night, two discussions with coach Grant Field between rounds and the crowd. The crowd of challengers had narrowed the gap to just three. before the last group comes around.
If he wanted to watch, Eccles knew Haydn Barron (65), Lachlan Barker (70), Kit Bittle (70), James Gibellini (67) and James Marchesani (69) were hoping to have a chance of toppling the fugitive. led many times in the final round.
The par putts on the 7th and 8th holes would prove crucial for Eccles in keeping his composure, but it was the holeshot on the 9th hole that he called “the best shot I’ve ever putt.” putt” and a failed approach as far as a foot to set up a birdie on the 10th that would eventually hold the field.
Barron appeared the biggest threat when Eccles lost his composure, but birdies on holes 16 and 17 saw the 28-year-old play the final hole five strokes ahead of his nearest rival. Not that he knew that.
“I don’t know,” Eccles said of the chart swings under his name.
“I know I have to keep trying. There are a lot of good players there… I didn’t even look at the rankings. Who is second? When you have a guy like that (Barron) racing, you know he’s going to score well.
“You know he was born at this time, so I said to myself on the 10th tee: ‘Stick to what you’ve been doing, keep applying yourself the way you want to, keep trying to play Match the way you want to play. .’ .’”
Although this was Eccles’ second win on the Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia, it was his first as a professional.
He won the 2015 NSW Open as a 20-year-old amateur and seemed to have the world of golf at his feet.
When he thought about what the 20-year-old hoped to achieve in life, the magnitude of what he had achieved and the journey he had to take to get there came through clearly.
“At that age, I thought everything would come,” Eccles said. “Honestly, I thought it would be pretty easy. And that’s completely impossible.
It’s a difficult road.
“It’s a frustrating feeling to have to compete and stay ahead, constantly supporting each other.
“It’s really hard to do, especially not being here for a while. “I really don’t know what to say.”
Barron’s 65 to finish second at 18-under was a remarkable result for a player only from Scotland on the first morning of the tournament.
He credited those 72 on day one for providing the foundation for a solid week that would have been better left alone.
“I spoke to a few people close to me who had just returned from Scotland and they told me I could skip it. But I said I wanted to play,” said Barron, who will compete in the inaugural Webex Players Series South Australia next week.
“I need to go out and try to score some points and we’re going to get some points this week, so it’s a good start. “It might make the rest of the year less stressful.”
It’s also been an eventful week for Lachlan Wood, winner of the WA PGA All-Abilities Championship.
Victorious in the WA All Abilities Open at Joondalup last Sunday, Wood flew back to Brisbane to play the 72-hole Queensland PGA Associate Championship where he finished fourth.
He then made the mad dash back to Perth and flew out to Kalgoorlie the day before the first round.
He led Cameron Pollard by one heading into the final round but had to fight back late to earn a seven-shot win.
Pollard played the front nine in one-under on Sunday to take the lead but a two-under back nine sparked by an eagle at the par-5 11th saw Wood complete the WA quinella for the first time.
“He was definitely putting up a good challenge and took the lead pretty early on,” Wood said of Pollard’s early salvo.
“On the back nine I managed to regroup, flicked the switch and rolled a really nice putt in.
“I’m definitely beyond tired. I’m looking forward to a good rest that’s for sure.”
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