Australian golfer Ryan Peake has officially turned his life around.
The 31-year-old qualified for the Open Championship on Sunday with a victory in the New Zealand Open, five years after he spent a decade in prison.
Peake was a member of Rebel’s motorcycle gang and was convicted of assault at the age of 21.
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Ryan Peake from Australia celebrates after winning the 2025 New Zealand Open at Millbrook Resort on March 2, 2025 in Queenstown, New Zealand. (Hannah Peters/Getty Images)
After leaving prison, he returned to golf and began to rebuild his career using the leading coach Richie Smith and with the support of his family.
He received his Australasian tour card this season and this was his first professional victory.
“I always knew I could do it, but it was just a matter of when to do it,” Peake said. “Together with my family and my team everyone believed, and most of all I thought too.”
Former open championship winner Ian Baker-Finch congratulates Ryan Peake from Australia after winning the 2025 New Zealand Open, qualified for the next open championship at Millbrook Resort on March 2, 2025 in Queenstown, New Zealand. (Hannah Peters/Getty Images)
PGA Tour Star Billy Horschel Shoos Gator off the field with golf club in wild scene
Peake pulled Guntaek Koh from South Korea of four strokes on the night of South Koh on the way into Sunday’s final round at Queenstown’s Milbrook Resort. He took the lead for the first time on the 67th hole and went 55 holes without a bogey.
“I just changed my life,” Peake said. “This is what I do. I just want to be here and play golf. The story is what it is. But I’m right out here and play golf.”
Majors have seen their reasonable proportion of wild stories, perhaps recently Michael Block’s performance on the 2023 PGA Championship.
Ryan Peake from Australia celebrates with New Zealand Open Trophy after winning the 2025 New Zealand Open. (Hannah Peters/Getty Images)
A Club Pro, Block, suddenly found himself on the weekend, and in his last round paired with Rory McIlroy, he hit a hollow-in.
Other criminal sentences to turn their lives around athletic include 2010 American League MVP Josh Hamilton and former MLB Reliever Matt Bush.
