You've probably seen the headlines by now, but the australian pga championship leaderboard from the 2025 edition tells a much weirder story than just a simple tally of strokes. Golf is usually about the home-grown hero lifting the Joe Kirkwood Cup at Royal Queensland. Not this time. Instead, a 23-year-old Spaniard named David Puig basically dismantled the field, finishing at 18-under par and leaving the local favorites wondering what hit them.
Honestly, the energy at Royal Queensland was electric until Puig decided to go bogey-free for his final 40 holes. Think about that for a second. In a professional tournament with wind and tricky pins, he didn't drop a single shot for more than two full rounds. It was clinical. It was also a bit of a gut punch for the "Ripper GC" fans who came out in droves to see Marc Leishman and Min Woo Lee.
Breaking Down the Australian PGA Championship Leaderboard
If you look at the final numbers, it looks like a comfortable two-shot win. But the australian pga championship leaderboard was actually a chaotic mess for most of Sunday morning. At the start of the final round, there were literally 31 players within six shots of the lead. It was anyone's game. Then Puig happened.
He opened his final round with three straight birdies. Bang, bang, bang. By the time he hit the turn, he had a two-shot cushion and never looked back.
The Top Finishers (The Real Numbers)
- David Puig (Spain): -18 (Winner). He shot a final round 66.
- Wenyi Ding (China): -16 (Solo Second). The 21-year-old is a serious talent to watch.
- Marc Leishman (Australia): -15 (T3). The local favorite just couldn't find the extra gear.
- Nick Voke (New Zealand): -15 (T3). Voke actually matched Puig's 66 on Sunday.
- Min Woo Lee (Australia): -14 (T5). The defending champ fought hard but finished four back.
The story of the week wasn't just the winner, though. It was the "Kiwi drought" that everyone in the gallery kept whispering about. A New Zealander hasn't won this thing since Greg Turner in 1999. For a while, it looked like Kazuma Kobori might break the curse—he was leading after 36 holes—but he absolutely fell apart on the weekend, shooting a 75 on Saturday that essentially killed his chances.
Why Cameron Smith Missing the Cut Matters
Maybe the biggest shock on the australian pga championship leaderboard wasn't who was at the top, but who was missing from the weekend entirely. Cameron Smith. The man is a god in Brisbane. People wear mullets in his honor. But he missed the cut at his home event.
It was rough to watch. Smith has been struggling with a "horror run of form" lately, and seeing him pack his bags early at Royal Queensland felt like a shift in the Australian golf landscape. While he later found some rhythm at the Australian Open a few weeks later, his failure to make the weekend at the PGA was the talk of the clubhouse.
When your biggest star isn't even in the mix, the leaderboard feels a bit hollow for the casual fans. But for the purists, it opened the door for guys like Elvis Smylie (the 2024 winner) and Anthony Quayle to step into the spotlight.
A History of Scoring Records
The Royal Queensland course is known for being gettable if the wind stays down. We saw that in early 2022 when Jediah Morgan went nuclear and finished at 22-under par. That’s the tournament record. Puig’s 18-under was impressive, but it didn't quite touch Jed's historical heater.
Actually, speaking of Jed Morgan, his 11-shot victory remains one of the most absurd things to ever happen in Australian golf history. Usually, these things are decided by a playoff or a nervous par on the 18th.
The LIV Golf Influence
You can't talk about the current australian pga championship leaderboard without mentioning the LIV factor. David Puig is a LIV golfer. Marc Leishman is a LIV golfer. Lucas Herbert, who also had a decent showing, is a LIV golfer.
💡 You might also like: Son Heung-min Military Service: What Really Happened in Those Three Weeks
The DP World Tour co-sanctions this event, which creates this weird, beautiful melting pot of players. You have young guys from the Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia trying to earn their cards in Europe, playing alongside major winners who have moved over to the Saudi-backed circuit. It makes the leaderboard look very different than a standard PGA Tour event in the States.
Lessons from the Leaderboard
If you're looking at these results to figure out how to play Royal Queensland yourself, or just to understand the pro game better, here are the takeaways:
- Starts are everything. Puig won the tournament in the first four holes on Sunday. He put the pressure on everyone else before they even had their morning coffee.
- Bogey avoidance wins trophies. While everyone else was making "messy" birdies and following them up with bogeys, Puig played mistake-free golf for two days.
- Local knowledge isn't a silver bullet. Yes, Leishman and Lee know this grass better than anyone, but a hot hand from overseas (like Puig or Ding) can still overpower home-field advantage.
Next time you check the australian pga championship leaderboard, don't just look at the names. Look at the round-by-round consistency. The guys who hover around 66 or 67 every single day are almost always going to outlast the guy who shoots a 62 and follows it with a 74.
💡 You might also like: The Man U Starting Lineup Nobody Talks About: What Really Happened Under Carrick
To stay ahead of the curve for the 2026 season, keep a close eye on the Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia Order of Merit. Players like Elvis Smylie and Wenyi Ding are likely to be the names dominating the top of the board when the tour returns to Queensland later this year. Watching their transition from local stars to international contenders is where the real drama lies.