West Australian rising star Connor McKinney completes dominant victory at Webex Players Series Perth

West Australian rising star Connor McKinney will head to the Middle East to continue his debut season on the DP World Tour full of confidence after completing a dominant wire-to-wire victory at Webex Players Series Perth. McKinney, 23, came through 252 holes of DP World Tour Qualifying School to wrap up a card for the 2026 season in November, debuting at the co-sanctioned Australian PGA Championship later the same month. He hopes his maiden victory on the PGA Tour of Australasia, by four-strokes at home in Perth on Sunday, can be a springboard for bigger things to come this year. “It just gives me of confidence heading to Bahrain in a few weeks and looking forward to get going over there,” the Joondalup product said after a three-under-par 69 saw him finish at 18-under for the tournament. “It definitely hasn’t (sunk in) yet. It’s just happened. To see all the boys and my dad and my brothers and stuff, all run onto the green there and celebrate with me there, it’s pretty special. “It’s something I’ve looked forward to for a long time, but to actually do it at home with everyone here is awesome.” McKinney’s win at Royal Fremantle Golf Club came after a stunning four-hole stretch across the finish to his third round on Saturday and start to his final round on Sunday. He turned a three-shot deficit into a two-stroke lead with a hole-in-one and birdie to finish on Saturday, picking up where he left off with a birdie at the first on Sunday and an eagle at the par-5 second after being announced on the first tee by three-time major champion and tournament co-host Minjee Lee. The six-under-par stretch expanded his lead to five, and he never looked back. As playing partner Andrew Johnston struggled to keep pace, McKinney added birdies at five, six and eight to lead by as many as eight midway through the back nine. Curtis Luck (67), Kirsten Rudgeley (68) and Abbie Teasdale (70) chipped away marginally, with McKinney giving up three shots late at 14, 17 and 18 to make the final margin of victory four. “When you roll in a 40-footer on the second hole of the day, you’re like, OK, I could do something good today,” McKinney, who had coach David Milne greenside to congratulate him and brother Archie on the bag, said. “I knew there was a gap walking down 11. I’d played a lot of good golf. “My goal at the start of the day was just to extend the lead and I’d done that in the end. “I know (the lead) was considerably larger, but it was fine. I just struggled on that back nine all week for the wind and just couldn’t quite get it right, but pieced it together and had a pretty solid run.” The putter problems that plagued his round on Saturday continued to hurt Johnston’s quest for a first win in 10 years while Luck had four birdies on the back nine to share second with Rudgeley and Teasdale and secure his third top-10 finish of the season.