Formerly known as the Senior PLAYERS Championship and to be played at Firestone Country Club for the seventh straight year, 10 Australians will contest the third senior major of 2025 starting Friday.

Including Bransdon and Percy, eight Aussies have been paired together for the opening two rounds with Brisbane boys Michael Wright and John Senden to tee off at 12:10am Friday AEST, followed 11 minutes later by Bransdon and Percy.

A couple of country boys in Stuart Appleby and Mark Hensby will tee off at 12:42am while Victorians Richard Green and Steve Allan are in the same group off the first tee at 1:13am.

Rounding out the Aussie contingent this week are Rod Pampling (12:21am) and Greg Chalmers (12:42am), the influx from Down Under not going unnoticed each week on the PGA TOUR Champions.

“You hear all the time, ‘Not another Aussie’ when you’re going into the equipment truck or the gym,” said Wright, who is in his second year on the over-50s circuit.

“I took a few little mini Aussie flags over with me this year and I plant them all over the gym and put them in the equipment truck, just to stir them up.”

A journeyman who had never played on an international tour until earning his Champions Tour card in dramatic fashion in late 2023, Wright has been pleasantly surprised by the reception he has received, and not just from his fellow Aussies.

“The biggest thing that shocked me over here was how welcoming they were,” Wright said.

“I thought they’d just sort of snub me a bit, but they’ve done the opposite.

“Fred Funk went welcomed me. He almost took me under his wing, Freddy. I’m starting to talk quite a bit now with Bernard Langer; Stewart Cink’s a really nice guy.

“They’re all really good guys, to be honest. I think they’ve just left their ego at the door.”

While legendary figures Peter Thomson (1984), Bruce Crampton (1986, 1987) and Graham

Marsh (1999) have all finished runner-up, only one Australian has ever won the Kaulig Companies Championship, Stewart Ginn in 2002.

Like the seniors, there is a strong group of Australians contesting the third women’s major of 2025, the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship in Texas, as Adam Scott and Jason Day dust themselves off after going four rounds with Oakmont Country Club to back up for the Travelers Championship, the final Signature Event of the PGA TOUR season.

Photo: David Berding/Getty Images

Round 1 tee times AEST

KPMG Women’s PGA Championship
Fields Ranch East at PGA Frisco, Frisco, Texas
10:27pm*         Robyn Choi
10:38pm*         Grace Kim
11:28pm          Lydia Ko (NZ)
11:44pm*         Hira Naveed
11:50pm          Minjee Lee
3:54am            Cassie Porter
4:27am            Stephanie Kyriacou
4:49am            Gabriela Ruffels
5:28am*           Hannah Green
5:33am            Karis Davidson

Past champion: Amy Yang
Past Aussie winners: Hannah Green (2019)
Prize money: $US12m
TV times: Live 1am-5am Friday, Saturday; Live 1am-8:30am Sunday; Live 1am-8am Monday on Fox Sports 505 and Kayo.

PGA TOUR
Travelers Championship
TPC River Highlands, Cromwell, Connecticut
10:30pm          Min Woo Lee
11:10pm          Jason Day
12:05am          Adam Scott
12:45am          Ryan Fox (NZ)
2:10am            Cam Davis

Past champion: Scottie Scheffler
Past Aussie winners: Greg Norman (1995), Marc Leishman (2012)
Prize money: $US20m
TV times: Live 9:30pm-8am Thursday, Friday: Live 10pm-8:30am Saturday; Live 9:30pm-8am Sunday on Fox Sports 503 and Kayo.

PGA TOUR Champions
Kaulig Companies Championship
Firestone Country Club, Akron, Ohio
12:10am*         Michael Wright, John Senden
12:21am          David Bransdon, Cameron Percy
12:21am*         Rod Pampling
12:42am          Stuart Appleby, Mark Hensby
12:42am*         Greg Chalmers
1:13am            Richard Green, Steve Allan
1:34am            Steven Alker (NZ)

Past champion: Ernie Els
Past Aussie winners: Stewart Ginn (2002)
Prize money: $US3.5m
TV times: 10:30am-12pm Friday; 10am-11:30am Saturday on Fox Sports 503; Live 6am-8am Sunday on Fox Sports 506; 1:30pm-3:30pm Monday on Fox Sports 503 and Kayo.

Ladies European Tour
Tipsport Czech Ladies Open
Royal Beroun Golf Club, Czech Republic
Australasians in the field: Kirsten Rudgeley, Momoka Kobori (NZ), Kelsey Bennett, Amelia Garvey (NZ), Maddison Hinson-Tolchard, Amy Walsh

Recent champion: Marta Martin
Past Aussie winners: Nil
Prize money: €300,000

Korean PGA Tour
68th KPGA Championship
A-One Country Club, Yangsan
8:20am*           Changgi Lee (NZ)
8:40am*           Matthew Griffin
9:15am*           Wonjoon Lee
1pm                 Sungjin Yeo (NZ)
1:20pm            Junseok Lee

Recent champion: Jeon Ga-lam
Past Aussie winners: Andrew McKenzie (2008), Matthew Griffin (2014), Wonjoon Lee (2019)
Prize money: KRW1.6b

Korn Ferry Tour
Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas Wichita Open
Crestview Country Club, Wichita, Kansas
10:20pm          Rhein Gibson
5:05am            Harry Hillier (NZ)

Past champion: Taylor Dickson
Past Aussie winners: Jeff Woodland (1992), Bradley Hughes (2004), Mathew Goggin (2011)
Prize money: $US1m

HotelPlanner Tour
Blot Play9
Golf Bluegreen de Pléneuf Val André, Pléneuf, France
4pm*               Hayden Hopewell
9:20pm*          Sam Jones (NZ)

Past champion: John Parry
Past Aussie winners: Scott Arnold (2015)
Prize money: $US1m

Epson Tour
Island Resort Championship
Sweetgrass Golf Club, Harris Michigan
Australasians in the field: Su Oh, Jess Whitting

Past champion: Soo Bin Joo
Past Aussie winners: Nil
Prize money: $US225,000