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Sports correspondent & historian with |
A quick flick through the Sky Sport channels last Thursday afternoon, turned into four days of must watch action of the Australian PGA from the Royal Queensland Golf Club.
What unfolded, was a revolving Kiwi assault on the leader board throughout the four days of play.
Co-sanctioned by the European Golf Tour and the PGA Tour of Australasia, the Brisbane event brought golf players from around the globe to chase the $2.5 million prize pool.
Catching my early attention on day one was the flying start made by Kiwi professional Ryan Fox.
Further attention to the field, revealed a good number of New Zealand players who had made the trip across the ditch to chase the pot of Aussie gold on offer.
The Australian Professional Golf Association tournament sits behind only the Australian Open in stature, and dates back nearly a century to the first event in 1929.
Ryan Fox grabbed the early headlines leading the field at the conclusion of the opening round.
Day two belonged to another Kiwi in Kazuma Korbori who shot a sizzling eight under 63 including a hole in one.
Daniel Hillier carried the NZ flag in round three to lead the Kiwi charge on the leaderboard, with Nick Voke and Western Bay’s Josh Geary in close attendance.
At the end of four days of pulsating play, David Puig from Spain, held off all challengers to his day three lead to lift the big prize in triumph.
New Zealand was well represented on the payment schedule with Nick Voke finishing third and Daniel Hillier earning a share of the fifth placed stake.
Geary finished in 19th position at nine under par, with Kazuma Korbori and Ryan Fox, in the top 40 from the 165 starters on day one.
The NZ PGA dates back even further than the Australian players championship to 1909.
One player stands out like a shining beacon in the history of the Australian and NZ PGA history.
Australian golf legend Kel Nagle won 13 Australian and NZ individual PGA titles between 1949 and 1975.
Born in 1920, Nagle was a late starter as a golf professional due to five and a half years’ military service during World War II, joining the professional ranks in 1946.
Nagle won worldwide golfing attention when he won the British Open as a relative outsider in 1960.
The Sydneysider won the NZ PGA three times when it was a match-play event in 1957, 1958 and 1960. Like a good wine, Nagle got better with age, and collected his first stroke play PGA crown at the Mount Maunganui links course at 24 under in 1970.
Three successive NZ PGA titles, in his 50s, wrote a special place in the folklore of golf in our country.
A return to the Mount Links in 1973, saw a nine under par victory, before leaving the rest of the field in his wake at the Tauranga Golf Club the following year.
History came in 1975, when he went 17 shots under par to record a remarkable three successive NZ PGA titles and seventh overall.
Nagle left an indelible mark on golf down under; with seven NZ PGA, seven NZ Open titles, and six Australian PGA Championships.
While the NZ PGA had a chequered past after leaving the Western Bay of Plenty in 1985, next year’s edition will continue the history at the Paraparaumu Beach course February 19 - 22, 2026.
