Perth’s Haydn Barron has completed his first full season on the ISPS HANDA PGA Tour of Australasia by winning the Rookie of the Year award.
Barron, 27, clinched the award when he finished T36th in the season-ending National Tournament on Victoria’s Mornington Peninsula over the weekend, which enabled him to narrowly pip Queenslander Louis Dobbelaar to the accolade.
The Western Australian Golf Club member finished 12th on the Order of Merit, mainly through his barnstorming finish at the ISPS HANDA Australian Open in December at Victoria Golf Club, where his hole-out from a bunker for eagle at the 72nd hole pushed him into a tie for fourth.
His top-five finish there also secured Barron an exemption into July’s Open Championship at Royal Liverpool.
“The Australian Open was a massive highlight,” said Barron. “That was the best I played all year. I did play well in a number of tournaments but didn’t necessarily finish super high. There’s definitely some positives and a few things to work on.”
Barron is a product of GolfWA’s High Performance Program, who captained the WA team on a number of occasions during his amateur career.
Despite turning pro at the end of 2019, the COVID pandemic stalled his ambitions and it wasn’t until the 2022-23 PGA Tour of Australasia season that he was finally able to complete a rookie year on tour.
A version of this article first appeared on the PGA Australia website. Photo credit: Australian Golf Media
