David Micheluzzi didn’t have to leave Melbourne to get a glimpse of how good you have to be to win on the PGA TOUR.
A three-time winner and runaway Order of Merit winner this past season on the ISPS HANDA PGA Tour of Australasia, Micheluzzi has received an invitation to make his PGA TOUR debut at this week’s AT&T Byron Nelson in Texas.
In addition, courtesy of his Order of Merit win, Micheluzzi has been granted an exemption to make his major championship debut at next week’s US PGA Championship, has received an invitation to play Jack Nicklaus’s Memorial tournament and is exempt into The Open Championship at Royal Liverpool in July.
He has been suddenly thrust into the company of the very best golfers on the planet yet has seen first-hand just what makes these guys so good.
In working on his short game with Andrew Cooper at Victoria Golf Club, Micheluzzi has spent time with eight-time PGA TOUR winner and 2006 US Open champion, Geoff Ogilvy.
More a mate than a mentor, Ogilvy has not so much told Micheluzzi what it takes to succeed on the PGA TOUR, he’s shown him.
“I do ask him the odd question and all that, but it’s more just playing games and seeing how good he is,” said Micheluzzi, who will tee off at 11.51pm AEST in his first round on Thursday night.
“He didn’t play for ages on the PGA TOUR but he’d still go out and whoop my ass.
“It was like, Aww, he’s not even playing and this is what it’s like. I’ve got to get a lot better.”
Ogilvy just so happens to be in the field this week alongside fellow Aussies Adam Scott, Jason Day, Min Woo Lee, Aaron Baddeley, Greg Chalmers, Cameron Percy and Harrison Endycott.
Micheluzzi and Lee were members of the Victorian and WA Junior Interstate Teams playing in Perth when Scott won the Masters in 2013.
The pair reconnected with a nine-hole practice round on Monday and reflected on their respective pathways to the PGA TOUR.
“It was really cool to actually go, yeah, we played amateur golf together, we played Interstate Series together, we played Eisenhower Cups together, now we’re playing the same event on the PGA TOUR and next week playing in a PGA Championship,” said the 26-year-old Micheluzzi.
“That was a real cool moment.”
It shapes as the first of many cool moments in Micheluzzi’s immediate future.
As much as possible, he wants to maintain the mindset that served him so well over the Australian summer where he won the WA PGA, TPS Sydney and NSW Open.
He will tap into his Aussie connections when he can though to make the transition as seamless as possible, fellow Victorian Lucas Herbert already dropping a priceless piece of advice.
“Don’t do skids in the Escalade they give you,” Micheluzzi revealed of Herbert’s first suggestion.
“He said (the majors) are brutal and long. Probably don’t play 18, just play nine every day. Stuff like that.
“You don’t want to be burnt out, especially at majors. From what I’ve heard from Herbie, it’s quite taxing.
“It’s my first PGA TOUR event, so even if I miss the cut I don’t think I’m going to be too down on myself, but obviously I want to play as well as I can.
“Hopefully it’s not one of the last PGA TOUR events. Hopefully I can get many more in the future.”
Well versed in the ways of mixed events due to their involvement in The Players Series the past three years, 14 Aussies and Kiwis will contest the first of Trust Golf’s Thailand Mixed events this week in Rayong.
PNG Open winner Lachlan Barker and Queensland’s Shae Wools-Cobb lead the men’s contingent while Celina Yuan, Rhianna Lewis and Steffanie Vogel make up Australia’s WPGA representation in the first of a new co-sanctioned agreement.
On the back of her performance with Team Australia at the International Crown, Minjee Lee will defend her Cognizant Founders Cup title in New Jersey, West Australians Whitney Hillier and Kirsten Rudgeley make their returns to the Ladies European Tour and five Aussies are in action at the Regions Tradition, the first senior major of the year.
Round 1 tee times AEST
PGA TOUR
AT&T Byron Nelson
TPC Craig Ranch, McKinney, Texas
9.50pm* Aaron Baddeley, CT Pan, Sangmoon Bae
10.23pm* Adam Scott, Min Woo Lee, Mackenzie Hughes
11.29pm Geoff Ogilvy, Kevin Stadler, Roger Sloan
11.51pm* David Micheluzzi, Scott Harrington, Brent Grant
3.22am Greg Chalmers, Brice Garnett, Kyle Stanley
3.44am Jason Day, Scottie Scheffler, KH Lee
3.55am* Cameron Percy, Stephan Jaeger, Robby Shelton
5.01am Harrison Endycott, Carson Young, Mac Meissner
Defending champion: KH Lee
Past Aussie winners: Peter Thomson (1956), Bruce Devlin (1969), Adam Scott (2008), Jason Day (2010), Steven Bowditch (2015)
TV times: Live 10.30pm-9am Thursday; Live 11.30pm-9am Friday; Live 3am-8am Sunday, Monday on Fox Sports 503.
LPGA Tour
Cognizant Founders Cup
Upper Montclair Country Club, Clifton, New Jersey
9.37pm Stephanie Kyriacou, Xiaowen Yin, Daniela Darquea
10.21pm Hannah Green, Lydia Ko (NZ), Nelly Korda
10.43pm* Sarah Kemp, Pernilla Lindberg, Wichanee Meechai
10.54pm* Karis Davidson, Celine Borge, Stephanie Meadow
2.59am* Grace Kim, Yuka Saso, Xiyu Lin
3.21am* Minjee Lee, Lexi Thompson, Celine Boutier
Defending champion: Minjee Lee
Past Aussie winners: Karrie Webb (2011, 2014), Minjee Lee (2022)
TV times: Live 12.30am-3.30am Friday, Saturday; Live 6am-9am Sunday, Monday on Fox Sports 505.
DP World Tour
Soudal Open
Rinkven International GC, Antwerp, Belgium
5pm* Blake Windred, David Howell, Pedro Figueiredo
9.50pm Jason Scrivener, Nacho Elvira, Louis De Jager
10pm* Maverick Antcliff, JC Ritchie, Mikael Lindberg
10.10pm Daniel Hillier (NZ), Kristof Ulenaers, Deon Germishuys
Defending champion: Sam Horsfield
Past Aussie winners: Noel Ratcliffe (1978)
TV times: Live 9pm-2am Thursday, Friday on Fox Sports 507; Live 10.30pm-2am Saturday; Live 9.30pm-2am Sunday on Fox Sports 503.
Trust Golf
Thailand Mixed 2023 Match 1
St Andrews 2000 Golf Course, Rayong, Thailand
10am* Celina Yuan, Kwanchai Tannin, Nattagate Nimitpongkul
10.10am Matthew Stieger, Sakchai Sirimaya, Chanokmanee Charoenpattanasatit
10.10am* Shae Wools-Cobb, Denwit David Boriboonsub, Phannarai meesom-us
10.20am* Siyi Keh (NZ), Amarin Kraivixien, Kultida Pramphun
10.30am Aiden Didone, Newport Laparojkit, Chanokphisut Charoenpattanasatit
10.30am* Tim Hart, Suteepat Prateeptienchai, Samaporn Khangkhun
11am* Andre Lautee, Nattawat Suvajanakorn, Asmitha Sathish
2.20pm Elmay Viking (CI), Sirapob Yapala, Wanich Petcharit
2.40pm Lachlan Barker, Rhianna Lewis, Tanapat Pichaikool
2.50pm Steffanie Vogel, Sangchai Kaewcharoen, Budsabakorn Sukapan
2.50pm* Liam Georgiadis, Jittakorn Nuamthanong, Cholcheva Wongras
3pm Munchin Keh (NZ), Ekpharit Wu, Kanyalak Preedasuttijit
3.10pm Lachlan Armour, Witchayanon Chothirunrungrueng, Sherman Santiwiwatthanaphong
3.20pm Danielle Price (NZ), Thammanoon Sriroj, Onkanok Soisuwan
Defending champion: Ratchanon Chantananuwat
Past Aussie winners: Nil
The G4D Open
Woburn GC, Buckinghamshire, England
6.35pm Geoff Nicholas, Petri Takkunen, Kim Moore
8.09pm Adam Letherbarrow, Vittorio Cascino, Joseph McCarron
9.09pm Cameron Pollard, Kipp Popert, Casper Holst-Christensen
10.55pm Lachlan Wood, Darren Grey
Defending champion: Inaugural tournament
Past Aussie winners: Nil
LIV Golf
LIV Golf Tulsa
Cedar Ridge Country Club, Tulsa, Oklahoma
Australasians in the field: Cameron Smith, Marc Leishman, Matt Jones, Jed Morgan, Danny Lee (NZ)
Defending champion: Inaugural event
Past Aussie winners: Nil
TV times: Live from 3am Saturday, Sunday and Monday on 7 Plus.
Ladies European Tour
Jabra Ladies Open
Evian Resort Golf Club, Evian, France
4.56pm Wenyung Keh (NZ), Niina Liias, Yuri Onishi
5.18pm* Whitney Hillier, Meghan MacLaren, Liz Young
9.25pm Kirsten Rudgeley, Emie Peronnin, Isabella Deilert
10.20pm* Hanee Song (NZ), Emma Grechi, Helen Tamy Kreuzer
Defending champion: Tiia Koivisto
Past Aussie winners: Nil
PGA TOUR Champions
Regions Tradition
Greystone G&CC, Birmingham, Alabama
12.22am Rod Pampling, Mike Weir, Colin Montgomerie
12.22am* Stuart Appleby, Robert Gamez, Tim Herron
12.55am Mark Hensby, Padraig Harrington, Vijay Singh
12.55am* John Senden, Brian Cooper, Esteban Toledo
1.06am Richard Green, Robert Karlsson, Rocco Mediate
1.50am* Steven Alker (NZ), Jim Furyk, Brett Quigley
Defending champion: Steve Stricker
Past Aussie winners: Graham Marsh (1999)
TV times: Live 3.30am-6am Friday, Saturday on Fox Sports 505; 11am-12pm Sunday on Fox Sports 503; Live 5am-8am Monday on Fox Sports 507.