The Latest MASHIE News
Members’ Christmas Special at New Zealand
The weather finally gave us a break, setting the stage for a fantastic day at New Zealand Golf Club for the PAYNTR Christmas Special – sponsored by Not Just Travel. Spirits were high, the golf was competitive, and the prize table was exceptional thanks to PAYNTR. We were also joined by Prime Time Beer, who kept everyone refreshed with crisp beers out on the course.
MASHIE Ambassador Dan Bradbury Shines in South Africa
MASHIE ambassador Dan Bradbury has started the 2026 DP World Tour season in impressive form. Despite beginning the final round seven shots behind, he charged early with three birdies in a row on holes 4–6. Dan kept the pressure on leader Kristoffer Reitan all afternoon, ultimately forcing Reitan to hole a nervy four-footer on the final green to secure the win. Outstanding performance, Dan!
Read Dan’s latest tour diary here
In the world of Professional golf
Hideki the Hero in Albany Playoff
Hideki Matsuyama outduelled Alex Noren in the Bahamas to win the Hero World Challenge. The pair were tied at 22-under through 72 holes, but Matsuyama birdied the first sudden death hole, a replay of the 18th, to seal the title. The 33-year-old from Japan led for the majority of the back nine on Sunday, after being seven-under through 10 holes. But Noren holed a lengthy birdie putt on the last to tie it up.
54-hole leader Sepp Straka was thwarted by two back nine bogeys, hampering his quest to convert the overnight lead into a win. He ironically also birdied the last but to finish one behind the lead. Scottie Scheffler was also in the hunt in the final round in search of his third consecutive Hero victory but ultimately came up short. The World Number One looked potent in the heat of the battle, but two dropped shots early in the back nine proved too detrimental, despite being offset by a bridie and an eagle inside the final five holes. Matsuyama threw a dart of an approach shot on the first playoff hole to three feet, as Noren was unable to replicate his regulation heroics as his birdie try slipped by.
Trio Book Birkdale Spot with Strong Finish Down Under
Adam Scott, Si Woo Kim and Michael Hollick all secured a place in next year’s 154th Open Championship thanks to their finish at the Crown Australian Open. A new addition to the convoluted yet rewarding Open Qualifying Series, the national open offered three spots to those at the top of the leaderboard not already exempt.
45-year-old Scott is on a generational run of competing in every single Major Championship. A crucial birdie on the par-five 17trh on Sunday leapfrogged the Aussie above U.S. Amateur Champ and Rae’s Creek urinator Jose Luis Ballester. Scott finished in fifth place, enough to claim an elusive spot in July. It will be his 26th consecutive Open and 97th straight major, a mind-boggling achievement for the veteran. The tally is likely but not indefinitely going to reach three figures, with Scott’s lifetime exemption into the Masters following his 2013 triumph. However, Adam is yet to solidify an appearance at either the PGA Championship or U.S. Open, with an improvement in world ranking required. But with Sunday’s finish, the Adelaide-born star moves up to 60th, with a top 50 berth affirming Scott’s eligibility criteria.
South African Michael Hollick was perhaps the surprise name to emerge from the trifecta, but the 28-year-old will make his Open debut at Royal Birkdale in 2026. Ranked 291st in the OWGR, Hollick fired an impressive final round 65 to vault the leaderboard into solo fourth.
The third place was locked up by former Players champion Si Woo Kim, who played in the last group on Sunday, ending two back in solo third. Next year will be the South Korean’s eighth Open appearance, his first, incidentally, being on the Southport coast back in 2017. The 30-year-old has endured four missed cuts in seven tries, but a T15 at the Old Course in 2022 will instil a degree of confidence for the four-time PGA Tour winner.
Dane Neergaard-Petersen Spoils Aussie Bash
Rasmus Neergaard Petersen sunk a clutch par save on the 72nd-hole to edge out home favourite Cam Smith at Royal Melbourne. The pair were tied going up the 18th, a dogleg left par-four with no fairway bunkers but an emphasis on precision. The treacherous back right pin location required an angle from the left side of the fairway. Neergaard-Petersen missed his approach right, in the rough next to the bunker, Smith hit a conservative iron on the green but to around 75-feet. RNP had an impossible flop but executed a chip to 20-foot. Cam nestled his first putt around six foot short of the hole to gain a minor advantage. But the Dane poured his attempt in the left door to put the pressure on. But as the thousands of locals held their breath for their compatriot, one of the best putters in the world, Smith lipped out his par putt on the high side to gift the victory to Petersen as it looked destined for a playoff. An audible gasp from onlookers summated the moment perfectly. Heartbreak for the home favourite after an outrageous up and down eventual winner Petersen deemed a “one in a hundred save”.
This Australian Open, at one of the world’s best golf courses, was a showcase to the world on the brilliance of sand belt golf and a microcosm of golf down under. The firm and fast and sometimes windy conditions played a huge factor all week long. The composite track, combining 12 holes form the West and six from the East attracted remarkable crowds, purportedly due to the presence of Rory McIlroy.
It is Rasmus’ first win on the DP World Tour, after three wins on the challenge tour last year. In his first eight DP World starts, Petersen had five top tens, leading to some discussions about his veracity for a Ryder Cup captain’s pick. RNP recently secured dual citizenship for the PGA Tour next season, with this elevated victory the possible catalyst for the Dane’s young career. The Oklahoma State product converted a two-shot 54-hole lead with a Sunday 70 just enough to overcome the threat of former open champion Smith. The latter had previously missed the cut in his last seven OWGR status events, including all of the 2025 majors, so this runner-up could still prove to be the start of a comeback for the 32-year-old from Brisbane.
Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen also claims a dream Masters Invite with the Australian Open glory, having already qualified for the Open Championship in 2026. He moves up to 51st in the OWGR from 82nd, a by-product of a T3 finish at the DP World Tour Championship last month.
McIlroy unsurprisingly garnered monumental crowds on all four days, and after battling to make the cut, the Northern Irishman battled to a 14th place finish with rounds of 72-68-68-69. His first appearance at the event in a decade was nothing but beneficial for Australian golf. McIlroy birdied the final two holes on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, rounding off polarising rounds of bright spots and mistakes – easily done on the tough Royal Melbourne layout that tested all facets of the game.
Reitan Holds on for Sun City Success
Kristoffer Reitan capped a spectacular week for Scandinavia in the other DP World Tour event in South Africa. The Norwegian clung on to win by one stroke at the Nedbank Golf Challenge in honour of Gary player despite playing the closing nine in one-over par on route to a 72. Thankfully, the 27-year-old had manufactured a healthy enough lead, buoyed by an opening round 63. Reitan fought off Jayden Schaper, playing in his home country, and Mashie ambassador Dan Bradbury, the latter shooting a final round 66 to finish T2 and one back. The victory marks Reitan’s second DP World Tour success of 2025 and his career. He became the first Norwegian to play in the U.S. Open back in 2018 as a 20-year-old amateur, after qualifying at Walton Heath, but ultimately missed the cut. In his only other major appearance, he came T30 at this year’s Open at Portrush. Following on from Reitan’s victory, the DP World Tour heads to Johannesburg for the Alfred Dunhill Championship.
Olympics forces 2028 Open Date Change
As was hinted in the last couple weeks, the R&A have moved the dates of the Open Championship in 2028, in order to accommodate for the Olympic Games in Los Angeles. The games are being held on the west coast between the 14thand 30th July, with the Open typically falling in the middle of that span. And with golf’s triumphant return to the Olympics since 2016 following a 112-year hiatus, it created a clash between the two events.
Thus, the R&A announced that the 156th Open, at a venue to be announced, will now take place the first week of August, following the conclusion of the Olympics, with the final round taking place on Sunday the 6th August 2028. The Olympic golf events, which entails a men’s and women’s four round Strokeplay competition, either side of a newly introduced 36-hole mixed team event, will occur between the 19th-29th July.
This also manufactures a backlog of the R&A’s other championships, as the Senior Open will now take place the week after the Open Championship, with the AIG Women’s Open being held between the 17th-20th August – all venues are unknown but likely to be announced early in the new year.
The reshuffled schedule prognosticates a hectic summer season on both the men’s and women’s side of golf in 2028, with majors and gold medals to be battled for. Riviera Country Club is the host for the Olympic elements, with the long-time PGA Tour venue for the Genesis Invitational playing host to several enticing editions in previous years, and is a favourable layout from an entertainment perspective. The course did not host in 2025 due to the Pacific Palisades fires but will be primed to exhibit world-class golf on the Olympic stage come 2028.
