I'm over the moon, it's only my second event as a pro. I started the back nine with five threes in a row, so I did all the work early and continued to play pretty solid through the remainder of the round.
- Darcy Brereton
A baby-faced professional from Royal Melbourne in just his second event overcame the big names to win the inaugural Gen Z pro-am at Wodonga on Wednesday.
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Darcy Brereton fired a superb five-under par 65 to win by a shot from sentimental favourite and Wodonga product Zach Murray.
The course is generally a par 72, but two of the par-fives were trimmed a shot as many of the pros and amateurs would have swallowed them, given the amount of run on the course.
Booming drives of around 300m weren't uncommon, with the relatively lightly-built Brereton cranking out a monster on the 438m 4th, which is uphill.
The right-hander shot seven birdies and two bogeys.
"I'm over the moon, it's only my second event," he said after pocketing $3000.
"I started the back nine with five threes in a row, so I did all the work early and continued to play pretty solid through the remainder of the round."
The 26-year-old, who could easily pass for being years younger, only saw the course for the first time on Tuesday, where he played 14 holes.
Brereton turned pro 12 months ago after completing a Bachler of Business degree at Melbourne's Monash University, but the initial part of his career never got going due to COVID-19.
"I had a bit of a back injury, so I was just at home resting and recovering and then when I started to get back out here (on course) it just started to get better, so it was a bit of a boring time but it was much the same for everyone else," he explained.
As an amateur, Brereton trod the path of many before him by playing in a host of big events, including the British Amateur.
He's naturally learning all the time about the pro circuit, particularly in an event where the host was 2006 US Open champion Geoff Ogilvy and Wodonga export Zach Murray, who won the 2019 New Zealand Open after just a handful of pro events, was also in the field.
"You have to enjoy it and being back out there, it was just so different to actually playing recreationally at home, it's good to have the (competitive) juices flowing again," he said.
"(Mentally) you've got to keep it much the same, as stress free and relaxed as possible.
"If you start worrying about it, that's when things start tightening up a little bit.
"You've just got to go in with the mindset that you've done all the work and trust that it will happen and if it doesn't, just move on to the next one (tournament) and understand the journey you're on is the most important thing."
A round of 65 in those conditions was a terrific effort, given the heat (in the high 30s) and wind.
A number of the players spoke of the fluky wind, creating uncertainty.
Only four players shot under par with emerging duo DJ Lopuer (67) and David Micheluzzi (69) joining the top two.
IN OTHER NEWS:
Ogilvy fired a one-over par 71 and while he's naturally hoping to play more golf this year after COVID wiped out 2020, he confirmed he won't return to the US PGA Tour full-time, opting rather to play a handful of events.
He's set to stage a number of events, including a return to Wodonga next year.
