The field may be the smallest of the season, but the stakes have never been greater.

After Travis Smyth clinched the 2025/2026 Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia Order of Merit in the penultimate event of the season, attention has turned to the race for two tickets to the HotelPlanner Tour in Europe.

A two-time winner this season – and winner of this event two years ago – Cameron John returns to The National Golf Club in second position with 772 points.

Less than 70 points behind is Mornington Peninsula native James Marchesani, who has a 63-point buffer from great mate and Webex Players Series Murray River champion, Haydn Barron.

Less than 13 points separates fourth-placed Barron and seventh-placed Jay Mackenzie, with Heritage Classic champ Will Florimo also in the mix to push for a top-three finish.

Earning his maiden professional title at Webex Players Series Sydney, Sydney’s Declan O’Donovan is in a commanding position to claim Rookie of the Year honours, with Q School winner Jimmy Zheng able to unseat him with a win this week.

Yet the most compelling storyline of the week may live lower down in the Order of Merit ranking.
Finishing inside the top 50 at season’s end guarantees entry into almost every event on the 2026/2027 schedule. The higher up you are, the more confident you can be of teeing it up in the richest tournaments of the summer.

Just one player from No.45 Ben Eccles to No.59 Tim Hart is not in the field, creating an effective bubble of 13 boys within 50 points of each other who can set up their next season by finishing this one on the best possible note.

The final two rounds of The National Tournament will be broadcast live from 3pm-6pm AEDT Saturday and 1pm-6pm AEDT Sunday on Fox Sports 503 and Kayo Sports.

The National Tournament
The National Golf Club (Gunnamatta Cse)
Prizemoney: $200,000
TV times: Live 3pm-6pm AEDT Saturday and 1pm-6pm AEDT Sunday on Fox Sports 503 and Kayo Sports.

Players to watch
Cameron John – Three-time Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia winner
James Marchesani – Third on Order of Merit
Haydn Barron – Webex Players Series Murray River champion
Will Florimo – Heritage Classic champion

Past champions
2022 Derek Ackerman (Ocean Cse)
2023 Tom Power Horan (Moonah Cse)
2024 Cameron John (Moonah Cse)
2025 Harrison Crowe (Gunnamatta Cse)