Wright is one of 11 Australians and two Kiwis in the field for the second senior major championship in as many weeks, Wright buoyed by shooting 11-under across the weekend to finish eighth at the Regions Tradition.

But while he went 66-67 the final two rounds in Alabama, Wright expects that the 7,152 yardage and lack of a first cut of rough will make any score under par for four rounds a competitive one.

Now in his second year on the PGA TOUR Champions, Wright believes that his length will be a particularly effective weapon this week.

“Someone told me it was playing 7,200 yards which is very strong when you’ve got the wind as well,” said the 51-year-old, who will have son Noah on the bag.

“There are some par 4s that are 480 yards and you play those into the wind and you are hitting some pretty strong clubs in.

“The second hole is brutal. It’s an uphill par 3, really hard to stop it on the green, but it’s not a standout because they’re all freaking tough.

“That’ll play into my hands a little bit. I feel young on this tour and I can hit it pretty long. Even if you put me on against the young guys, I don’t feel out of place.

“It’ll be a big advantage having a little bit of length there.”

A first-time visitor to the Masters last month, Wright was in awe of the grandeur of Congressional when he arrived on Monday.

Host to the US Open in 1964 (Ken Venturi), 1997 (Ernie Els) and 2011 (Rory McIlroy), Congressional has been consistently ranked among the top 100 golf courses in America, and Wright is understanding why.

“Walking in for the first time early this week, I’ve never seen anything like it, and I’ve been to quite a few golf courses now,” said Wright, who won Webex Players Series Victoria on the Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia in January.

“I was talking with Rob Labritz, who has played nine PGA Championships and hundreds of golf tournaments around the world, and he said he’s never seen anything as in good a condition as this.

“That’s saying something. I mean, I haven’t either. I went to Augusta a month ago and… it’s not Augusta, but oh man, it’s so nice. It’s just like nothing I’ve seen before.

“It’ll be a good challenge. And you have to think your way around it.

“A bit like Carnoustie in the Senior Open last year. That was a very mentally draining week because you have got to think about every shot.

“There’ll be a little bit of that going on this week.”

The strong Aussie presence in Maryland is replicated globally this week.

There are eight Australians playing the inaugural MEXICO Riviera Maya Open on the LPGA Tour, seven Aussies are playing the Kolon Korea Open co-sanctioned by the Asian Tour and Korean PGA Tour and there are five Australasians in the field on both the DP World Tour and Ladies European Tour.

Photo: Courtesy PGA of America

Round 1 tee times AEST

PGA TOUR
Charles Schwab Challenge
Colonial Country Club, Fort Worth, Texas
3:56am            Cam Davis
3:56am*           Karl Vilips

Past champion: Davis Riley
Past Aussie winners: Bruce Crampton (1965), Bruce Devlin (1966), Ian Baker-Finch (1989), Adam Scott (2014)
Prize money: $US9.5m
TV times: Live 3:40am-9am Friday, Saturday; Live 3am-8am Sunday, Monday on Fox Sports 503 and Kayo.

PGA TOUR Champions
Senior PGA Championship
Congressional Country Club, Bethesda, Maryland
9:27pm*          Andre Stolz
9:38pm*          Michael Campbell (NZ)
9:44pm            Michael Wright
9:55pm            Brendan Jones
11:01pm          Richard Green
2:25am            Mark Hensby
2:31am*           Mick Smith
3:09am            Stuart Appleby
3:20am            Scott Hend
3:26am*           Steven Alker (NZ)
4:21am*           Rod Pampling
4:32am*           Cameron Percy
4:37am            David Bransdon

Past champion: Richard Bland
Past Aussie winners: Peter Thomson (1984)
Prize money: $US3.5m
TV times: Live 3am-6am Friday on Fox Sports 505; Live 3:15am-6am Saturday on Fox Sports 506; Live 5am-8am Sunday, Monday on Fox Sports 505 and Kayo.

LPGA Tour
MEXICO Riviera Maya Open at Mayakoba
El Camaleon Golf Course at Mayakoba, Playa del Carmen, Mexico
11:33pm          Hira Naveed
4:22am*           Sarah Kemp
4:44am            Robyn Choi
4:55am            Cassie Porter
5:06am*           Gabriela Ruffels
5:28am            Su Oh
5:39am*           Sarah Jane Smith
6:01am            Karis Davidson

Past champion: Inaugural event
Past Aussie winners: Nil
Prize money: $US2.5m
TV times: Live 1am-4am Friday on Fox Sports 506; Live 2am-4am Saturday on Fox Sports 505; Live 5am-8am Sunday on Fox Sports 507; Live 2am-5am Monday on Fox Sports 505 and Kayo.

DP World Tour
Soudal Open
Rinkven International GC, Antwerp, Belgium
3:50pm            Kazuma Kobori (NZ)
3:50pm*          Daniel Hillier (NZ)
4:40pm            Daniel Gale
5:20pm*          David Micheluzzi
9:10pm*          Jason Scrivener

Past champion: Nacho Elvira
Past Aussie winners: Noel Ratcliffe (1978)
Prize money: $US2.75m
TV times: Live 9pm-2am Thursday, Friday; Live 9:30pm-2am Saturday; Live 9pm-2am Sunday on Fox Sports 505 and Kayo.

Asian Tour/Korean PGA Tour
Kolon Korea Open presented by ELORD
La Vie Est Belle (Dunes Cse), Korea
7:41am*           Ryan Peake
9:20am            Maverick Antcliff
12:30pm          Kevin Yuan
12:41pm          Danny Lee (NZ)
12:41pm*         Aaron Wilkin
1:03pm            Junseok Lee
1:14pm*          Jed Morgan
1:25pm            Travis Smyth

Past champion: Min-kyu Kim
Past Aussie winners: Junseok Lee (2021)
Prize money: KRW1.4b
TV times: Live 2pm-6pm Thursday, Friday, Saturday on Fox Sports 503; Live 2pm-6pm Sunday on Fox Sports 507 and Kayo.

Ladies European Tour
Jabra Ladies Open
Evian Resort Golf Club, France
4:33pm            Wenyung Keh (NZ)
4:55pm*          Momoka Kobori (NZ)
5:17pm*          Kelsey Bennett
9:35pm            Kirsten Rudgeley
10:30pm          Maddison Hinson-Tolchard

Past champion: Morgane Metraux
Past Aussie winners: Nil
Prize money: €300,000

Korn Ferry Tour
Visit Knoxville Open
Holston Hills Country Club, Knoxville, Tennessee
8:45pm*          Rhein Gibson
10pm*             Harrison Endycott
3:40am            Harry Hillier (NZ)

Past champion: Harry Higgs
Past Aussie winners: Kim Felton (2005), Jarrod Lyle (2008)
Prize money: $US1m

HotelPlanner Tour
Danish Golf Challenge
Bogense Golf Club, Bogense, Denmark
4:20pm            Sam Jones (NZ)
4:20pm*          Hayden Hopewell

Past champion: Andreas Halvorsen
Past Aussie winners: Nil
Prize money: €300,000

PGA Tour Americas
Inter Rapidisimo Golf Championship
Club El Rincón de Cajicá, Bogotá, Colombia
10:35pm*         Charlie Hillier (NZ)
2:25am*           Grant Booth

Past champion: Harry Hillier
Past Aussie winners: Nil
Prize money: $US225,000

LET Access Series
Allegria Stegersbach Ladies Open
Sudburgenland of the Allegria Golf Resort, Austria
4:41pm*          Justice Bosio
4:33pm            Kristalle Blum
9:45pm            Stephanie Bunque

Past champion: Inaugural event
Past Aussie winners: Nil
Prize money: €50,000