Leishman makes special return to Western Australia

Marc Leishman will be teeing it up in Western Australia for the first time in 20 years this week at Mount Lawley Golf Club for the Western Australia Open. The Ripper GC star would, of course, love to win the event but has his eyes on a first career victory at the Australian Open at Royal Melbourne in December.

"I didn’t want to go without playing tournament golf for three months leading into an Australian Open at Royal Melbourne, particularly. It’s a course I love,” Leishman said at his pre-tournament press conference. “I wanted to stay sharp, and this is a tournament where I can do that on a golf course that is probably going to play similarly to how Royal Melbourne will with how firm it’s going to be and the way it’s set up.”

Leishman enjoyed his best season yet on LIV Golf, finishing 13th in the season-long standings. The 41-year-old broke through for his first LIV Golf win in Miami, surviving an incredibly difficult golf course and a stacked leaderboard to celebrate both an individual and team victory for the all-Australian Ripper GC.

After the successful season, LIV Golf’s schedule allowed Leishman to take advantage of some off time to rest and make minor adjustments to his swing.

“It is really good to be able to have an offseason, which I’ve never had,” he said. “My offseason has normally been about two or three weeks, so to be able to have six weeks off where I’ve been able to do some work on my swing without having to worry about competing and having time to let it sort of bleed into my game naturally, rather than having to force it really quickly, is nice. It’s nice to be able to do that so I can test out the small changes I made.”

In 2025, Leishman struggled with driving accuracy, ranking 43rd in Strokes Gained: Off the Tee. His iron play was fantastic, as he ranked 5th in the league in Strokes Gained: Approach. He’s hoping minor tweaks to his swing will allow him to hit more fairways, setting him up to take advantage of his stellar approach play.

“The courses we play are very tough and quite narrow off the tee," Leishman said. "With the driver, hopefully, the swing changes will help that and give me more opportunities with my iron game.”

Leishman is now accustomed to attempting to qualify for major championships through his play outside of LIV Golf. Last year, he earned a spot in the U.S. Open at Oakmont by qualifying after a three-man playoff on golf’s longest day. After playing in the Australian PGA Championship at Royal Queensland, he’ll look to punch a ticket to Augusta National for The Masters by winning the Australian Open. Leishman has finished in the top 10 at The Masters on four occasions but hasn’t qualified since 2022. A win would also earn him an exemption into The Open Championship at Royal Birkdale.

While he’s in Western Australia, Leishman has also had the chance to check out Optus Stadium in Perth, which will host an Australia-India one-day international on Sunday. In addition to his pre-tournament preparations, he also had the opportunity to mow the outfield in advance of the cricket match. Mowing has been a source of relaxation for Leishman, who spoke about his love for grass maintenance at the 2017 BMW Championship on the PGA Tour.

"It's definitely stress relief for me," Leishman said in a 2019 Golf Digest feature. "But I do try to stay somewhat healthy and in shape, but that is like a little workout – it’s probably 150, 200-pound mower I’m pushing. Good workout. Yeah, stress relief, I guess. ... It's kind of become an obsession."

Leishman’s pre-tournament mowing may be just what he needs to get into the proper mindset to compete at the challenging Mount Lawley Golf Club.

“It’s a big week of sport for Western Australia, so hopefully everyone can get out to both the golf and the cricket,” he said.