Singapore: For Declan O’Donovan, there will be no holding back when he tees-off in next week’s Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship (AAC).
Following a fabulous year highlighted by multiple wins on home soil, victory in the Canadian Amateur Championship and a runner-up finish in the individual standings at the World Amateur Team Championship in Singapore, O’Donovan has determined that the time is right for him to move on to the next phase of his golfing career.
At the age of 22, the Sydneysider is ready to test himself in the ranks of the professionals, having earned his card for the 2025-26 PGA Tour of Australasia season through its qualifying school in April.
Indeed, he admits his mind is already made up and that he’ll be relinquishing his amateur status immediately after the 16th edition of the AAC at Emirates Golf Club next Sunday (October 26).
But there is, he concedes, one scenario in which he’d be more than happy to delay his decision.
The lure of the prizes that go with winning the AAC are simply too attractive to turn down. “The winner of the AAC gets to play in The Masters and The Open,” said O’Donovan, confirming that he'd willingly put his professional plans on hold if he emerges triumphant in Dubai. “I’d love to experience that, which is why I’ll be attacking the course (in Dubai) and going at every flag.”
Adding further motivation to O’Donovan ahead of the AAC is the announcement that Golf Australia is offering the champion at Emirates Golf Club an invitation to compete in the 2025 Australian Open at Royal Melbourne Golf Club from December 4-7, alongside Rory McIlroy, the golfer he’s looked up to more than any other.
He said: “I’ve always believed that Rory never backs down from his fellow competitors. He plays to win. He also reminds me a bit of myself – he’s Irish and one of the smaller guys out on Tour.”
Unlike McIlroy, who was introduced to golf at a young age, O’ Donovan did not take up the game until he was 15.
It’s only been in the last two years that he’s flourished. In 2024 he had three wins and seven top-five finishes in World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR) events, including second place individually (behind Nguyen Anh Minh) at the Asia-Pacific Men’s Amateur Team Championship for the Nomura Cup in Vietnam.
He’s built on those performances this year, culminating in his play-off triumph at Royal Ottawa Golf Club, securing him an exemption into the 2026 RBC Canadian Open on the PGA Tour.
In the WATC for the Eisenhower Trophy at Tanah Merah Country Club last week, O’Donovan was the star performer for an Australian team that also included Harry Takis and Billy Dowling, both of whom began the week ahead of him in the WAGR.
However, in finishing second individually to runaway winner Christiaan Maas of South Africa, O’Donovan helped his country claim second place in the 36-nation event and has been rewarded with an 87-place rise in the WAGR to a career-best 229th, overhauling Dowling (241st) but still behind Takis, who himself soared 25 spots to 90th in the standings.
Now to Dubai and the final chapter in O'Donovan's amateur career. Or not?
