[PHOTO: Jarrod Lucas/PGA of Australia]
Ben Eccles didn’t dare look at the leaderboard once as he endured “the most uncomfortable” round of his life to win the CKB WA PGA Championship at Kalgoorlie Golf Course.
A six-shot leader through 54-holes, Eccles’ 23-under total and five-stroke victory masks the turmoil of a restless night’s sleep, two chats with coach Grant Field between rounds and a host of challengers who bridged the gap to just three before the final group made the turn.
If he’d cared to look, Eccles would have known that Haydn Barron (65), Lachlan Barker (70), Kit Bittle (70), James Gibellini (67) and James Marchesani (69) fancied their chances of reeling in the runaway leader at various times in the final round.
Par putts at the seventh and eighth holes would prove crucial in Eccles holding his nerve, but it was a holed bunker shot on the ninth that he called the “best shot I’ve ever hit” and a duffed approach that went to a foot to set up birdie on 10 that would ultimately keep the pack at bay.
Barron loomed as the greatest threat had Eccles lost his nerve, but birdies at the 16th and 17th ensured the 28-year-old would play the final hole five strokes clear. Not that he knew that.
“I had no idea,” Eccles said of the leaderboard that changed furiously below his name.
“I knew I had to keep pushing. There are so many good players in there… I haven’t even looked at the leaderboard. Who came second? When you’ve got someone like that (Barron) in contention, you know he’s going to shoot a good score.
“You know he’s made for that moment so I said to myself on the 10th tee, ‘Stick to what you’ve been doing, keep applying yourself the way you want, keep trying to play the game the way that you want to play it.’”
Although it is Eccles’ second win on the Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia, it is his first as a professional. He won the 2015 New South Wales Open as a 20-year-old amateur and seemingly had the golf world at his feet.
As he contemplated what that 20-year-old expected life to be like, the enormity of what he had achieved and how far he has had to go to achieve it came flooding to the surface.
“At that age I thought everything was to come,” Eccles said.
“I thought things would be pretty easy, to be honest. And it’s been absolutely far from that. It’s been a tough road. It’s such an uncomfortable feeling, being in contention and leading, constantly backing yourself. It’s really, really hard to do, particularly not having been there for a while. I’m pretty lost for words.”
Barron’s 65 for outright second at 18-under was a remarkable result for a player who only arrived from Scotland on the morning of the tournament.
He credited that 72 on day one for providing the foundation for a strong week that was suggested he would be better off missing.
“I spoke to a few people that were close to me coming back from Scotland and they said maybe skip it. But I said I wanted to play,” said Barron, who will tee it up this week at the inaugural Webex Players Series South Australia.
“I needed to come and try and get some points and we’ll get a few points this week so that’s a good start. Probably makes the remainder of the year less stressful.”
It’s been a whirlwind week, too, 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.”
