November 16th, 2025

By Australian Golf Digest

[Picture: Getty images]

Chris Wood won the Ford NSW Open after a gruelling four-hole play-off over James Marchesani at The Vintage Golf Club on a windy, tough day of golf in the Hunter Valley.

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When the trio of Wood, Marchesani and Will Florimo finished four rounds at The Vintage at six-under-par (278), a continuous journey up the 18th was needed. Florimo was the first to exit early, leaving Wood and Marchesani battling it out for the Kel Nagle Cup.

A change of hole location on the 18th green was also required for the fourth extra hole and it was Wood who stepped up.

Wood, from Brisbane, received a bounce off a tree back into the fairway for his tee shot on the fourth trip up 18. He then fired a wedge to close range. A tough moment followed for Victoria’s Marchesani when he caught his wedge approach heavy. He saved par after a gutsy pitch shot but Wood rolled in the birdie for the biggest victory of his career.

“Feels great, it was a long day and long week,” Wood said, with The Vintage set up to play its toughest and with strong winds adding to the difficulty. “It’s great to get over the line and be [called] a champion.”

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Wood started his final round with a bogey and dropped two more shots in regulation but six birdies gave him a 68 that forced overtime.

“I hit a couple of clutch shots at good times,” Wood said. “The playoff [mentality was] you have to take it as a separate tournaments and make birdies. [Marchesani and Florimo], they’re very good golfers, they weren’t going to back down.”

Wood had previously won the 2021 Victorian PGA at Moonah Links but called the 2025 NSW Open his biggest victory to date. “Definitely the biggest; the one back in 2021/2022 [season was huge] but this is pretty hard to beat,” he said.

Marchesani and Florimo were tied second, while overnight leader Ben Henkel finished outright fourth at five-under after a two-over 73.

A disappointed Marchesani was taking the silver lining that his game was close to winning shape with several major events on the Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia calendar coming up, including the Australian PGA at Royal Queensland later this month and the Australian Open at Royal Melbourne in December.

“Not too bad,” Marchesani said when asked how he felt after the play-off loss. “[Starting the day] I thought if I got to five-under [it’d be enough], and I got to six. I’m pretty pleased with how I played all week. Obviously, I’m disappointed not to get the win … [but] it’s a big month so this is something I can build on.”