Spain's David Puig wins BMW Australian PGA Championship

It was billed as a Sunday shootout yet Spanish phenom David Puig emulated his hero Seve Ballesteros with a commanding BMW Australian PGA Championship triumph.

Starting the final round in a share of the lead at 13-under par, Puig bolted clear with three straight birdies from the par-4 second, landing body blows that few players in the field could counter.

Perennial Royal Queensland bridesmaid Marc Leishman threw everything he could muster in a 4-under 67, Kiwi Nick Voke (66) played the type of golf that he displayed prior to the COVID disruption and 2023 champion Min Woo Lee (69) fought gamely, drawing to within two after making birdies at 11 and 12 before finishing tied fifth.

Chinese 21-year-old Wenyi Ding made four birdies in the space of five holes to close out his front nine and loom as a genuine contender and Thursday’s hole-in-one hero Daniel Gale dragged himself into contention only to bogey 16 and 18.

Yet wherever the challengers came from, Puig had an answer, playing his final 40 holes in 13-under par and without a single dropped shot for an 18-under par winning total.

The 23-year-old – who will celebrate his 24th birthday next Sunday at the Crown Australian Open – is just the second international winner of the Joe Kirkwood Cup this century and comes 44 years after Ballesteros won by three strokes at Royal Melbourne Golf Club.

“It means the world for sure,” Puig said of his first win on both the Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia and the DP World Tour.

“Was really looking forward to that first professional win on the DP World Tour. I was pretty close a few times throughout the last couple of years, but I wasn’t able to get it done, especially in that Spanish Open last year.

“Really happy about that and excited and proud of all the work that I’ve been putting in and obviously, my name being with Seve’s name as the only two Spaniards to have won this event makes it even more special.”

Although he never got to see him play in person, Puig says the influence of Ballesteros carries through generations, regaled with stories from his Fireballs GC captain Sergio Garcia and Arizona State alumni, Jon Rahm.

“You watch replays of every major he won and how he did it and his little movie that there is, seen it at least three or four times,” said Puig said of ‘Seve The Movie’ released in 2014.

“He’s such a big figure for Spanish golf I’m kind of close with Jon Rahm and the stories that he has and all he knows about what Seve accomplished too and everything… It’s just his presence and everything he accomplished.”

Two back at the start of the final round and craving a major win on Aussie soil, Leishman picked up shots at two and three, endured a run of five straight pars and then made another birdie at the par-5 ninth to turn in 3-under.

A birdie at 12 kept the 42-year-old within reach before a tee shot that went left into the trees on 14 led to an untimely bogey.

“It’s definitely the hardest tee shot on this golf course - I’ve struggled with it over the years,” Leishman conceded.

“Sort of missed few, I wouldn’t say short putts, but makeable putts but probably everyone in the field could say that.

“A little frustrating, but I mean signs are really good for next week. Playing some of the best golf I’ve ever played – driving it good, irons are good, putter feels great. Just hopefully I can make a few putts next week.”