Four Aussies will make a 15,396-kilometre mad dash from a rain-soaked St Andrews to the Kalgoorlie desert to take their place in the CKB WA PGA Championship starting tomorrow.
Haydn Barron, Lincoln Tighe, Nathan Barbieri and Justin Warren’s travel plans were disrupted by the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship extending into a Monday finish in Scotland, but have now set off on their journey to play the most remote tournament on a major professional tour.
All four have been drawn to tee off in the afternoon wave on Thursday but are not expected to arrive in Kalgoorlie until that morning.
Barron shot 65 in the final round at the famed Old Course to climb into a tie for 25th on Monday and will have to call upon the course knowledge he gleaned from his top-20 finish at Kalgoorlie Golf Course 12 months ago.
Barron, Warren, Barbieri and Tighe were all in Scotland by virtue of their respective finishes on last year’s PGA Tour of Australasia Order of Merit.
Hailing from western Sydney, Warren finished ninth on the 2022-2023 Order of Merit with Tighe just a quarter of a point behind in 10th spot.
Barron, who earned a start at the Open Championship with his tie for fourth at the ISPS Handa Australian Open, finished 12th on the Order of Merit to also earn a start at the Dunhill Links. Barbieri was 13th, just three points behind Barron.
PGA Tour of Australasia tour development manager Kim Felton says it is reflective of the significance of the WA swing that all three are embarking on a marathon trip to tee it up in Kalgoorlie.
“This is the tournament that David Micheluzzi won last year, which was the springboard for David to go on and win the Order of Merit,” Felton said. “Now that the Order of Merit is a points-based system, every event has the potential to impact the final standings at the end of the year so the guys are very aware of the importance that the WA PGA plays in the season.
“It’s wonderful that these four guys are making the effort to come and play in Kalgoorlie. I’m not sure anyone would have ever played St Andrews and Kalgoorlie in the same week, so they can claim that unique slice of history, too.”
Warren and Barbieri have been paired together at 11:40am along with former champion Jarryd Felton from the first tee, Barron is off the 10th tee at 11:30am with Louis Dobbelaar and Kalgoorlie amateur Connor Fewkes with Tighe to follow in the group behind at 11:40am with Braden Becker and Aaron Pike.
Known for having one of the largest open-cut gold mines in Australia, Kalgoorlie has hosted the WA PGA Championship since 2012 with the honour roll of past champions boasting Brett Rumford (2015), Dimi Papadatos (2017) and Felton (2020).
