“I feel like I can lift and play my best golf tomorrow,” 2023 Queensland PGA Championship winner Phoenix Campbell had said. Ultimately, he did the same as he rose above Cameron Smith’s final-round challenge before holding his nerve in a playoff to defend his title. The 23-year-old won at Nudgee Golf Club as an amateur last year and returned as a newly turned professional to add another crown. In that, the Victorian became the first player in 26 years to win the Queensland PGA Championship in successive years.

Last year, Phoenix Campbell made history as the first amateur to win the tournament since it began in 1926, finishing with a final-round score of 67, his best of the week. His total of 9-under 279 secured a one-shot victory over 7 competitors, including David Micheluzzi. But he did not win 18% of the winner’s share of the total prize money because of his status. He got the trophy, though.

This year, the same amount is at stake for the winner, with the total purse being $250,000. This year, Phoenix Campbell finally took home the $45,000 that he could not last year. Here is the full list of how much the participants are taking home:

• 1: Phoenix Campbell: $45,000
• 2: Jak Carter: $25,000
• T3: Blake Proverbs and Cameron Smith: $15,000
• 5: Elvis Smylie: $10,250
• T6: Tyler Wood and Jack Buchanan: $8,175
• 8: Harry Hillier: $6,862.50
• T9: Billy Dowling (amateur, therefore no prize money) and Kerry Mountcastle: $5,987.50
• 11: Blake Windred: $5,362.50
• 12: Kyle Michel: $4,825
• T13: Jason Norris and Ben Eccles: $4,075
• T15: Cory Crawford, Jasper Stubbs, Will Florimo, and Aaron Pike: $3,212.50
• T19: Jack Harrison, Dimitrios Papadatos, Lewis Hoath, and Daniel Gale: $2,643.75
• T23: Michael Sim, Lincoln Tighe, Scott Strange, Denzel Ieremia, and Jake McLeod: $2,375
• T28: Adam Brady, Edward Donoghue, and Lucas Higgins: $2,175
• T31: Josh Armstrong, Declan O’Donovan (amateur), Jye Pickin, and Jay Mackenzie: $2,025
• T35: Nathan Barbieri and Chris Crabtree: $1,900
• T37: William Bruyeres, Braden Becker, Ashley Hall, and Harrison Crowe: $1,750
• T41: Andrew Evans and Jarryd Felton: $1,600
• T43: Brett Rankin, Darcy Brereton, Andrew Richards, and Aaron Townsend: $1,450
• T47: Tim Hart and Darcy Boyd: $1,293.75
• T49: Lawry Flynn, Max Charles, and Alexander Simpson: $1,162.50
• 52: Jack Wright: $1,062.50
• 53: Jack McLeod: $1,032.50

Let us now take a look at how Campbell snatched the win.

Phoenix Campbell wins the nerve-game

Campbell needed two playoff holes to beat Jak Carter on Sunday. Both finished 11-under, then nailed their approaches to the par-three 18th and made birdie on the first playoff hole.

Carter’s (71, 71, 66, 69) lie in a bunker led to a bogey when they replayed the hole, and Campbell’s calm up-and-down for par was enough for the win. Earlier, Carter could only wryly smile when Campbell’s (66, 68, 73, 70) 10-metre putt to win in regulation smashed the middle of the cup and landed near the hole rather than blowing right by. Smith (eight under), who will play the NSW Open before returning to Brisbane’s Australian PGA Championship in his home state later this month, birdied the first two holes to move within two of the lead.

But he bogeyed the next after overshooting a par three, then took a drop on the par-five fourth before slamming his putter into the bag after taking a seven when his bogey putt lipped out. There was some magic with the wedge at the turn, as Smith (67, 72, 71, 70) chipped in for birdie.

But even with Campbell’s bogey he was still five shots behind and the former British Open champion followed his front nine with nine pars on the way home for a two-under 70. Smith’s struggle left Campbell and Carter in a final group shoot-out, where Campbell showed his nerve after bogeys on the 16th and 17th gave Carter hope. Blake Proverbs finished level with Smith at eight under while Elvis Smylie was a shot back in outright fifth.

“Defending is definitely tougher. Last year I came from the clouds. I was in the clubhouse with four or five groups to come in still so it was a very different experience. There wasn’t much pressure on me. No one really expected much from you,” Campbell said after the win.

“This week, coming in, there’s a lot more expectations and obviously leading every day of the tournament. It’s a different event, so I can’t really compare myself to last year, but it just shows how far I’ve come in the last 12 months and that I’m on the right track,” he had further added. Campbell was tied second a week ago at the Webex Players Series South Australia and now moves to third on the Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia Order of Merit.