For the first time, Leishman will team up with his 13-year-old son Harvey in the tournament’s pro-am format – the final event on the Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia schedule before a short Christmas-New Year break.
Adding to the family factor, Harvey’s grandad – and Marc’s father – Paul will be caddying for his son across the Open and Legends layouts, which have been the Vic PGA’s home since 2021.
There has been some interesting family banter amongst the Leishmans about how Paul missed out on playing this week. Marc said he asked his dad if he was interested when they were in an Irish pub, but didn’t get a positive response, with the elder Leishman claiming to have no recollection of that conversation.
“We’ve been really looking forward to this week. It’s going to be a new experience for us and a fun one as well,” Leishman, the 2008 Vic PGA champion, said.
“I’ve been hitting the ball well so hopefully that rolls over into this week.”
This will be the Ripper GC squad member’s fourth Challenger Tour of Australasia event of the season, making him eligible for the end-of-season Order of Merit standings.
He is currently in seventh position after finishing equal third at both the Bowra & O’Dea Nexus Advisernet WA Open and BMW Australian PGA Championship, and T18 at the Crown Australian Open.
A win this week would push him close to the top three.
“The Open was very frustrating,” Leishman said.
“Probably one of the best ball-striking weeks I’ve had ever and just couldn’t adjust to the speed of the greens. It’s probably the most putts I’ve had in a tournament for 10 years.
“It was so good to be back in Victoria and playing it on a course like Royal Melbourne.
“It just shows that if you put a big tournament on a great golf course, the crowds will come. I’m excited for the future of the tournament with this as the example of what can be done.”
Joining Leishman in the professional field this week as feature players are former Vic PGA winner and DP World Tour member David Micheluzzi, trying to make amends for missed cuts at both the PGA and Open, defending champion Cory Crawford and Queensland PGA winner Cam John.
This year’s amateur field boasts England cricket greats Sir Ian Botham and Allan Lamb, former Australian cricketer Damien Fleming, comedians Peter Helliar and Anthony ‘Lehmo’ Lehmann, former Group 1-winning jockey Simon Marshall, AFL legend Brendon Fevola, and modern stars including Ryan Papenhuyzen, Montana Beruldson, and Grace Egan.
All the pro-am teams play 36 holes on Thursday and Friday before a cut is made to the top 25 teams for Saturday, and then a further cut to the top eight teams after the third round.
The final two rounds will be broadcast live on Foxtel through Fox Sports 503 and Kayo Sports, with coverage starting at 3:00 pm AEDT on Saturday and 1:00 pm AEDT on Sunday.
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