Rising WA golf talent Spencer Harrison to tee it up alongside LIV Golf star Marc Leishman at the WA Open

Spencer Harrison was an 11-year-old fan at Royal Melbourne Golf Club for the Presidents Cup in 2019 when he asked Marc Leishman for his autograph. Six years later, the now 17-year-old will seek the LIV Golf star’s signature again on Thursday, only this time it will as a playing partner on his scorecard at the WA Open. Harrison, a rising amateur star, will play alongside Leishman and fellow Mount Lawley Golf Club member Jordan Doull in the feature group of this year’s event. The Wesley College Year 11 student, who is a member of both Mount Lawley and Royal Perth golf clubs, said he was buzzing to play alongside one of the game’s biggest Australian names. “It’s my home course so I kind of had a feeling I could get a decent draw but when it came out and I saw I was playing with Leish I was pretty excited,” he said. “It’s going to be great just to play with him and see how he goes about it, given he is one of the best to come out of Australia.” Harrison took up golf around age three with both his parents playing socially. He has since gone on to represent Western Australia on multiple occasions in both junior and senior competitions and was last year selected in a national team that took on the USGA in match-play. Despite still being a year away from finishing school, he has already committed to playing US collegiate golf for Stanford University in 2027 before any move to turn professional. The California institution counts golf icon Tiger Woods and WA-raised PGA Tour rising star Karl Vilips among its alumni. “I’m just looking forward to playing about the best players in the world week-in, week-out,” Harrison said of his college aspirations. “I’ll hopefully use it as a stepping stone to take it to the next level as a professional.” Harrison said having played plenty of golf at Mount Lawley, he had a pretty good idea of what was key to shooting a low score. “I think the key is leaving it in the right spots,” he said. “With the greens getting pretty firm, if you find yourself out of position it can be pretty punishing, so keeping it on the fairway and in play is a priority. “I’d like to say I’m pretty accurate off the tee and then my putting is definitely a strong suit. Given I know the greens here pretty well hopefully I can use that to my advantage.” Entry to the WA Open is free all week.