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Play abandoned, BMW Aus PGA reduced to 54 holes


The BMW Australian PGA Championship will now be a 54-hole tournament, with play abandoned before the start of Round 2 at 11:30am local time on Friday.

Almost 250mm of rainfall has fallen in the area around Royal Queensland Golf Club since last Friday, continuing heavy rain on Friday morning making it impossible for course staff to prepare the course for play.

“Continued downpours throughout the morning have left a number of fairways at Royal Queensland Golf Club saturated and the course has been deemed unplayable today,” said Jose Maria Zamora, the DP World Tour Tournament Director for the BMW Australian PGA Championship.

“We plan to start the second round of the BMW Australian PGA Championship at 6am on Saturday, with the third and final round on Sunday.

“We want to ensure we are able to bring this incredible tournament to the planned conclusion on Sunday, mindful of the logistics of playing next week’s ISPS HANDA Australian Open over two courses.”

It is the first time in the 95-year history of the Australian PGA Championship that it will be played over 54 holes, a championship that was a matchplay tournament until 1964.

General Manager of Tournaments & Global Tour Relationships, Nick Dastey, said that the inability of players to take casual relief from water on the fairways made the course unplayable on Friday.

“You can obviously take relief from casual water, but if you haven’t got anywhere to go, you can’t get it,” said Dastey.

“You need to be able to take full relief when taking relief from that casual water.

“At the moment that’s not possible and it’s highly unlikely to be possible at any stage today.

“Hopefully by six o’clock tomorrow morning they’re good.”

Elvis Smylie’s round of 6-under 65 was the best in Round 1, Frenchman Victor Perez, Chilean Christobal Del Solar and Victorian Matias Sanchez playing through the worst of the conditions on Thursday afternoon to join Switzerland’s Joel Girrbach at 5-under and one off the lead.

Aussie pair David MIcheluzzi and Ben Eccles are among eight players tied for sixth at 4-under and spoke glowingly of the condition of the golf course for Round 1 given the amount of rain that had fallen.

“The amount of rain we’ve had since Saturday is just an absolute joke,” said Micheluzzi, the 2022/2023 Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia Order of Merit winner.

“Credit to all the ground staff. I was speaking to one of the boys on the ground staff and I’m just like, we can’t thank you enough.

“I saw one of them put a photo on his Instagram story of this bunker that was just fully flooded. To get it in this shape is just a massive, massive credit to them.”

“They’re still rolling amazing,” added Eccles on the state of the putting surfaces.

“I just can’t believe how good they are considering how much rain we’ve had.

“It’s a massive credit to the team.”


He has aspirations to emulate his idols but Queenslander Elvis Smylie upstaged some of golf’s biggest stars to lead after day one of the BMW Australian PGA Championship at Royal Queensland.

A teen prodigy who was touted for greatness, Smylie has had to find his feet gradually in the world of professional golf.

Now 22 years of age, he burst through with a maiden Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia victory at the WA Open last month and now looks primed to take his place within the top echelon of the game.

He had three of his eight birdies in his final holes in a round of 6-under 65, one clear of French star Victor Perez, DP World Tour regular Joel Girrbach, Chilean Christobal Del Solar and Victorian Matias Sanchez.

Both Perez and Sanchez had to play through the worst of the conditions in the afternoon wave, persistent rain complicating shot-making and causing caddies consternation.

With Duane Smith on the bag for the second straight week, Smylie had no such issues, holing a bunker shot at his final hole – the par-5 ninth to edge one stroke clear.

“I hit a really good second shot, actually just flared a little bit into that green-side trap,” said Smylie.

“I had a little bit of room to work with the bunker shot, but I got it a bit fat and ended up going into the bunker ahead of me and then I holed the next one.

“Technically didn’t touch the green and I made four, which is a good way to finish and lots of positives out of the day.

“It’s great having all the Aussies back home and supporting the Australian tournaments. And it’s great to compete against them because, ultimately, I want to be in their shoes and what they’re doing in their career.”

There were plenty of positives, too, in the morning supergroup of Jason Day, Cameron Smith and Min Woo Lee.

Defending champion Lee started fastest with four birdies in his first six holes but it was Day and Smith who shared best scores of the trio with matching 4-under 67s. Lee bogeyed holes four, five and eight to post 3-under and tied for 14th.

Although he sits one shot off the lead, Perez’s 5-under 66 could be considered the round of the day given the conditions he faced.

After making back-to-back birdies at 12 and 13 he had joined Smylie at 6-under, a dropped shot when he found the penalty area at the par-5 15th and a missed 12-footer for birdie on 18 keeping him in a share of second.

“Everything seems to bother you a little bit more when you’re not playing as well, but I felt like I was hitting the ball nicely so I was able to just free flow and play,” said Perez.

“I think based on what I saw, we should get more of the good draw (tomorrow). I think there’s some rain coming in the afternoon tomorrow, so it’d be nice to come out, put on a good round early and hopefully see the elements happen in the afternoon.”

South Korean Minkyu Kim produced one of the highlights of Round 1 with a hole-in-one at the par-3 11th, his 8-iron from 147 metres landing on the front edge of the green before hopping into the bottom of the cup.

Headed for the PGA TOUR in 2025, Del Solar joined the leaderboard logjam with an extraordinary late run on Thursday.

Even par through nine holes, Del Solar made four birdies in his final five holes in some of the day’s heaviest rain to also post 5-under.

For BMW Australian PGA Championship tickets, go to ticketek.com.au

The Australian PGA Championship is supported by the Queensland Government, through Tourism and Events Queensland’s Major Events Program and Brisbane City Council, through Brisbane Economic Development Agency.


Aldrich Potgieter plays golf under the South African flag, is bound for the PGA TOUR next year and is two shots back of Elvis Smylie’s first-round lead at the BMW Australian PGA Championship in something of a homecoming.

Born in Mossel Bay – like major champion Louis Oosthuizen – Potgieter’s family moved to Western Australia when he was eight-years-old, before returning to South Africa when Aldrich was 17.

Potgieter claiming The Amateur Championship at the same age to become the second youngest winner, before turning professional in 2023 and becoming the youngest ever winner on the Korn Ferry Tour this year.

The now 20-year-old’s January triumph in the Bahamas part of run that has led him to the PGA TOUR, where he will test his game against the world’s best following an extended period in Australia going toe-to-toe with his former country’s top stars.

Potgieter opening his account at Royal Queensland on Thursday with a 4-under 67 that included a run of five birdies in seven holes,

“Bogey on the first (10th hole) didn’t really help the round at all, but I knew there was a lot of opportunities out there during the day,” Potgieter said.

“We were just trying to keep moving forward. Had three birdies in a row, had some momentum shift and just try to build off that.”

Unable to convert more chances late in his round, including at the two par-5s in the closing stages of his back nine, Potgieter is making his first start in what was once his homeland since the 2022 WA Open after reacclimatising himself with Australian golf in recent weeks.

“I was just over there (Western Australia) for a little visit for three weeks,” he said.

“After the Playoffs on the Korn Ferry in America, decided to come back to Perth for a little while … the whole family came over to go see some friends, so it’s been nice.”

Included in those friends was Min Woo Lee, with the pair reuniting by teeing it up at Lake Karrinyup when both spending time in Perth following busy seasons and ahead of the local Summer of Golf.

The pair were in close proximity again on Thursday when Potgieter played alongside David Micheluzzi and Englishman Jordan Smith one group in front of the supergroup comprising Lee, Cam Smith and Jason Day.

Potgieter’s 4-under round was equalled by both players in his match, as well as Day and Smith, while Lee’s title defence opened with a 3-under 68 to sit three shots back of Smylie’s 6-under mark that held up on a wet and soft Royal Queensland.

“Looking at the leaderboard, it’s pretty stacked up there,” Potgieter said.

“I know some of them pretty well. I know Min decently well and he’s a good player. It’s nice to connect with those bigger names. But yeah, we’ll see three more days, see where they finish up.”

The BMW Australian PGA Championship is available live on Channel 9 and 9Now, as well as Fox Sports, available on Foxtel and Kayo.


Jason Day gave his most loyal fans the highlights they craved in his first tournament round in Queensland since 2011.

Whenever you throw a “Supergroup” tag on three golfers, you always know deep down there is one with more superstar lustre than the others.

On a rare occasion, it never played out that way in the opening round of the BMW Australian PGA Championship at Royal Queensland Golf Club on Thursday.

All offered magnetic highlights as they harvested 16 birdies in all to keep fans cheering impartially.

The gallery swelled to more than 1,500 during the march of Day (67), 2022 British Open champion Cameron Smith (67) and defending Australian PGA champion Min Woo Lee (68).

At times, it was like watching the one composite golfer you imagined the trio could blend into becoming with a little DNA engineering.

When Lee smote his opening drive 30 metres past his playing partners you instantly wanted his driver game.

When he lasered short irons or bump-and-runs to close range during his three birdies through the opening four holes, you wanted to copy that momentum gear of his.

When Smith fashioned his two front nine birdies with exquisite chip shots, you again wanted to plug that trait into your dream golfer.

Then there was Day. He was the one nailing the longer birdie putts and staying composed throughout without a bogey on his card.

It was just good to see him at close range on a course in his home state again.

He hadn’t played at RQ since before the second span of the Gateway Bridge was opened. That’s pre-2010. Is it that long?

He dived into two meat pies from a local bakery before 8am when he landed in Brisbane this week. Too long, he joked.

“It’s been a while since I’ve been here, so wasn’t not too sure how things would unfold,” Day commented post-round.

“But it’s been great. The crowds have been fantastic and seeing a lot of junior golfers out there.

“It’s fun. It’s only going to get bigger and better as the week progresses.”

Now 37, his last Queensland appearance was a joint ninth at the Australian PGA at the then-Hyatt Coolum in the week after the 2011 Presidents Cup.

If you are a golf fan, you want to see shots you can never dream of. OK, Lee smoting the ball a ridiculous distance down the 18th fairway is sort of standard brilliance for him.

One fan, Bundamba’s Toby Evers, made his support obvious. He’d made his own MinWoozy T-shirt with “ball speed of 9000” on the back.

If we are talking elite shots, it’s also Day being stuck right off the tee in the trees and mud on his 14th hole, the par-4 fifth.

Given a ruling and a better lie, Day punched a low bullet from the mud into the greenside bunker. As easy as you like, he flipped a shot from the firm sand to close range. Par. Nods of appreciation everywhere.

Scorecards always do a serious disservice to pars. Some of the best golf a pro plays is to salvage par from such precarious situations.

You hear quirky background stories years later in many cases. Day told the PGA Awards dinner earlier in the week that he didn’t touch a can of Coke for two years around that period he became world No.1.

We’re hearing Smith’s diligent approach to this summer and 2025 has some similar hallmarks of discipline.

The definition of “Supergroup” spawned from the music industry when stars already with fame as solo artists came together.

You know, the Traveling Wilburys type of thing in the late 1980s when Bob Dylan, George Harrison, Jeff Lynne, Roy Orbison and Tom Petty came together.

Golf has had its fair share at big Aussie tournaments since the halcyon days of the late 1970s and ‘80s when Jack Nicklaus and a young Greg Norman might be paired at an Australian Open or a Nick Faldo or Seve Ballesteros came out for a big event.

Day has been in plenty himself. In 2011, it was hard not to follow the Day-Tiger Woods-Robert Allenby group for the opening two rounds of the Australian Open at The Lakes.

In 2013 at Royal Sydney, Adam Scott shot a glorious course record 62 beside Day and American Kevin Streelman at the Australian Open.

For riveting two-balls, few have been bigger than the Scott v Rickie Fowler final group showdown for the 2013 Australian PGA at Royal Pines when the Australian was fresh off his drought-breaking Masters triumph.

It’s funny. Tournament organisers grapple with a conundrum every time they calculate who to pair in the opening two rounds.

You can split stars so one is the glow for the morning field and the other is the magnet for afternoon audiences.

You then run the risk of 2014. Organisers didn’t pair Adam Scott and Rory McIlroy for the opening two rounds at the Australian Open at The Australian Golf Club. The two marquee players didn’t play together at all in that event.

Australian PGA organisers bit the bullet a few years ago and played their trumps up front with a Scott-Smith pairing first thing on Thursday’s opening morning so they were the guaranteed TV talent on Friday afternoon’s broadcast.

Those who got up early in Brisbane for the 6:10am tee time enjoyed the same treat with Day, Smith and Lee together.

There’s every chance we’ll be hearing a lot more from one of them by Sunday afternoon.


Play has been officially abandoned on Friday with Round 2 to commence at 6am Saturday and the BMW Australian PGA Championship to now be decided over 54 holes.

Follow along live as we track their opening rounds and all the action from across the course.

Friday play abandoned

With continuing rainfall adding to the almost 250mm received since last Friday, play has been officially abandoned. Weather permitting, Round 2 will now begin at 6am on Saturday morning with the third and final round to be played on Sunday. After careful consideration, it was decided that there will be no provision for a Monday finish thus the tournament will be decided over 54 holes.

Update on conditions

Tour officials continue to monitor the state of the golf course. A further update will be issued at 11:30am local time with play delayed until at least 1pm.

Day two on hold

Welcome to a very wet Royal Queensland where more rain overnight has left the course unplayable to start the second round. More than 150mm has fallen since Saturday. Yep, it’s frustrating for sure. Next call on a possible time to start will come at 10am (Qld time)

Sanchez charges

Aussie Matias Sanchez storms home with 30 on his second nine to climb to a share of second, shooting a 5-under 66 in the worst of the conditions.

Round 1 leaderboard

(in the clubhouse)

-6: Elvis Smylie (Qld)

-5: Joel Girrbach (Switzerland); Victor Perez (France); Matias Sanchez (Vic)

-4: Marc Leishman (Vic); Jason Day (Qld); Cam Smith (Qld); Aldrich Potgieter (Sth Africa); Jordan Smith (England); David Micheluzzi (Vic); Ben Eccles (Vic)

Perez ends up one back

A birdie putt on 18 slips by for Victor Perez and he finishes at -5, just one behind Elvis Smylie.

Davis and Herbert finish

Aussie duo Cam Davis and Lucas Herbert have ended their opening rounds. Davis locks in a 69 and Herbert a 71 after an off day with the putter.

Rainy afternoon heading towards its end
Steady rain has made a sodden course even heavier this afternoon. Best of the Aussies still out there is Matias Sanchez at -4, just two back. He’s picked up five shots in his last seven holes

Perez joins the lead

The Frenchman has joined Elvis Smylie on top of the leaderboard after birdies at 12 and 13. The Paris Olympian is bogey-free in the tougher conditions this afternoon.

Allez Victor
France’s Victor Perez is the only serious challenger to Elvis Smylie from the afternoon wave – at the moment anyway. One of the chief DP World Tour contenders this week is -4 through 10 and two shots back.

Star quotes

Elvis Smylie (-6): It’s a home game for me this week. I mean, I’m from the Gold Coast, it’s only an hour’s drive. I’ve played a lot of golf here. I’m quite familiar with the course and every part of my game’s really good at the moment. I’m really comfortable with what I’m doing.

Jason Day (-4): The crowds have been fantastic and seeing a lot of junior golfers out there. It’s fun. It’s only going to get bigger and better as the week progresses, but also as this tournament gets better with BMW. I played with (CEO) Wolfgang yesterday and he says that we’re going to slowly improve this tournament, which is fantastic. I think that’s what Australian golf needs, a big backer like BMW, and Rolex always brings just that little bit extra to a tournament and a good feel of that.

Cam Smith (-4): It was good (to play with Jason Day). It’s been a while since Jase has been home. I think we were probably both hoping for different conditions of the golf course, but you can’t help the weather. I’m sure Jase is looking forward to getting back to firm and fast Australia and it’s quite the opposite out there, so hopefully this rain can go away. The greens are actually still pretty firm, so yeah, hopefully by Sunday we get an Australian golf course.

The afternoon’s best

So far, it’s -2 leading the way in the afternoon groups. DP World Tour players Victor Perez, Ivan Cantero and Jonathan Goth-Rasmussen the top three, four from leader Elvis Smylie

A golden flashback

A much younger Cam Smith was perhaps the first Aussie golfer to hold an Olympic gold medal. Not his own but beach volleyball legend Nat Cook. They played together in the 2014 Australian PGA pro-am when this photo was taken. Keen golfer Nat was on course at RQ today following the Smith group.

New name near the top

Switzerland’s Joel Girrbach has posted a 67 to be one behind our leader Elvis Smylie.

How the super group finished

Cam Smith finished his round with four back nine birdies for his 4-under-par 67.
He found the green in two on the 545m par five seventh, his 16th hole of the day. The hole was playing downwind on the river breeze. A two-putt birdie was comfort.
It was a fine recovery after a few misfires on the front nine. Smith was smiling post-round, something he wasn’t doing 12 months ago when shooting 73-78 to miss the cut.

Jason Day (67) birdied the same seventh hole with a precise shot from the greenside bunker and a good putt. It was his fourth birdie of a round without a bogey.

Min Woo Lee made it three birdies for the group. His approach to the par five just drifted a little left of the pin, caught a slope and fed into the bunker. He’d shortsided himself but a good bunker shot gave him a birdie look which he duly took.
It was good repair work after back-to-back bogeys earlier on the back nine.
He signed for a 68 when that looked like being as high as he could possibly score after reaching -5 through 12 holes with two par fives still to play.

Tight at the top
There’s 23 players within three shots of the lead as we head towards midday. One of those at -3 is defending champion Min Woo Lee. Another is our Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia leader Jack Buchanan.

Our leaders are in the clubhouse

Elvis Smylie birdied the last for a round of 66 to be two shots clear of a group of seven players that includes some of our biggest drawcards – Jason Day, Cam Smith, Marc Leishman and Jordan Smith

Morning breeze

Out on course, you sense the Round 1 leaders will come from the early morning field as the wind starts to whip up on the holes closest to the river. Expect RQ to bare its teeth this afternoon.

Kitchen has cooled

Min Woo Lee has blazed his approach shot through the green on the par-4 14th, currently playing as the second-hardest hole on course. After a delicate chip to the raised green was left with 10 feet for par, which he missed to the right. That’s back-to-back bogeys from nowhere and now 3-under. He is not the only one to have dropped a shot in the last few moments, Potgieter and Harrison Crowe now joint leaders at 4-under with 14 players at 3-under-par.

Sticky situation

Given a ruling and a better lie from the mud and trees on his 14th hole, the par-4 fifth, Jason Day plays a fine shot. Still found the green side bunker but a neat sand shot and it’s par.

Tide turns

As Cam Smith makes yet another birdie, Min Woo Lee is unable to get up-and-down from a soggy greenside bunker on 4. The result is that we now have a six-way tie at the top of the leaderboard at 4-under and 15 players – including Smith – separated by a single shot.

The graduate

Currently 4-under par and tied for the lead, South African Aldrich Potgieter is headed to the PGA TOUR in 2025. At 20 years of age, he is the second-youngest graduate from the Korn Ferry Tour to advance to the PGA TOUR. The youngest? Jason Day.

Back to front

Momentum is a fickle thing in golf. Cam Smith’s issues on the front nine appear to have dissolved. He has made back-to-back birdies on the first and second holes – his 10th and 11th. As the breeze picks up, he has hit a superb tee shot into the par-3 fourth for another birdie chance.

Eagle alert!

New South Welshman Jordan Zunic has surged to within one-stroke of Min Woo’s lead with an eagle at the par-5 seventh. Zunic began his round with three straight birdies at one, two and three and is now 4-under through seven.

Cam turns it around

That’s more like the Cam Smith we know. Lasered iron to his 10th hole, the par 4 first, and sank an eight-footer for birdie. Pars for both Lee and Day.

Day break

As Cam Smith shows his frustration at coming up short and right of the green on 18, Day holes a birdie putt from outside 15 feet to join a group of six players at 3-under and just one back of Min Woo Lee and Freddy Schott.

Seafood, watch golf

If you want to elevate your BMW Aus PGA experience in 2024, Tillerman on 18 offers the best seafood in Brisbane, and you won’t miss any of the on-course action.

Turning first

First players are through nine holes at Royal Queensland, South African Aldrich Potgieter making four birdies in his past five holes playing the back nine to turn in 3-under 32. David Micheluzzi and Will Bruyeres also teed off on 10 and have headed to the front nine at 2-under 33.

Fan fare

Bundamba’s Toby Evers is all in as a Min Woozy fan. Home-made, one-off T-shirt.

Fun Freddy facts

Currently one shot off the lead, Freddy Schott was playing off scratch at the age of 13 and at 16 years of age, partnered DP World Tour legend Marcel Siem in Germany’s Golf-Bundesliga for their home club.

Party getting started

It’s early and overcast but the party is starting to build at the Dabble Party Hole. All three players in the feature group walk away with par.

Not so sweet 16

While Jason Day makes birdie to move to 2-under, it is a dropped shot for Cam Smith at the par-4 16th. Smith needed two chips to get up onto the putting surface after falling foul of the deep hollow in the middle of the green. Bunker off the tee, two chips and a bogey who drops back to even par.

Shot, Freddy

The DP World Tour players are showing an early liking to Royal Queensland. Germany’s Freddy Schott birdies the sixth hole to join Lee and Neergaard-Petersen at 3-under. Marc Leishman has birdied his last two holes and is one of five players at 2-under.

Cam Smith doing Cam Smith things

From the rough left side and 60m out on 15, Smith lasers a pinpoint wedge from wet grass to one metre to set up birdie.

Direct feed

Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen working really hard for some TV time on 15th. One of just a few players not to make birdie early at the par 5.

The champ is here

Min Woo Lee is on a roll. That’s birdie on 13 now. His approach to two feet was superb. It is almost a tap-in to go to 3-under after just four holes.

Get to know Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen

For those unfamiliar with the Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen phenomenon, the Danish golfer won three times on the Challenge Tour this year. He has started his debut DP World Tour season with three straight birdies to be tied with Min Woo Lee at the top of the leaderboard.

Lions spotted at Royal Queensland

Mixed fortunes on 12

The driveable 292m 12th is a wonderful, beguiling challenge at RQ with so many ways to play it.
You can take driver, a fairway metal or play an iron short. Min Woo Lee nearly drives the green with a fairway wood, displaying his wonderful touch to play a bump-and-run to inside a metre. He holes the birdie putt to move to 2-under, tied at the top with German Freddy Schott and Denmark’s Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen.

ICYMI

Both Smith and Day take driver off the tee at 12 and find the puddled trap right of the green. Smith seeks a ruling and can take a drop or rather place the ball on pure grass outside the bunker. That’s a break. He hits an exquisite chip to close range. Makes birdie and is back to even par. Deeper into the puddled trap, Day doesn’t want to risk a plugged ball with a drop. He plays from his original lie in the wet sand, catching his bunker shot a bit heavy. He has a long putt for birdie but must settle for par.

Order of Merit champion of two years ago, David Micheluzzi, jumps out to the early lead. With the honour of hitting the opening tee shot off the 10th tee, Micheluzzi has birdied the par-3 11th and par-4 12th to set a cracking early pace.

Min strikes first

Our first move… Min Woo Lee drains an eight-metre slider for birdie after a nice tee shot had fed left off the mid-green ridge. Day misses a shorter putt for his birdie while Smith misses his par save from nearly four feet and has to settle for bogey with a long strained look at the hole.

And we’re underway

Pars all around for Smith, Day and Lee at the par-4 10th. More than 400 fans were on hand flanking the fairway at 6:10am, Smith the only player with a genuine look at birdie. His putt from 10 metres came up just short as his playing partners both got up-and-down for pars.


Hannah Green may have had a Greg Norman Medal hung around her neck this week but by Thursday, she will have reverted to normal routines and the grind of the tour.

Green, the world No. 5 who has won three times this year, tees it up in Florida for the biggest winner’s pay cheque in women’s golf history starting early Friday AET.

The CME Group Tour Championship is the finale of the LPGA Tour season and carries $US 11 million prize pool and a $US 4 million first prize cheque, which is bigger even than the US Women’s Open first prize. The runner-up gets $1 million and even last place in the 60-player field is worth $55,000.

Beyond this weekend she will be on a flight to Melbourne and the ISPS HANDA Australian Open next week. Needless to say, it has been a marathon rather than a sprint, but the big prizes are coming around.

The 27-year-old from Perth had a rare missed cut last weekend but she will remain one of the favourites in Florida this week – albeit that everyone will be chasing Nelly Korda, whose win last week was her seventh for the season.

Green is one of two players, with China’s Ruoning Yin, to have won three tournaments this year.

She will be joined by Minjee Lee, Grace Kim and Gabriela Ruffels on tour championship debut at Tiburon Golf Club while New Zealand has Lydia Ko in the field.

No Australian has won the tour championship since its inception in 2011, although Green was runner-up to Jin Young Ko from South Korea in 2020.

The LPGA Tour has a different system to the PGA Tour for its season-ender, with the top 60 players on points qualifying, and the points then reset, which gives everyone a chance of winning the main prize.

That includes the likes of Australia’s Lee, who only confirmed her place in the field by playing well in The Annika last week after one of her most quiet years. She has played in the tournament every year since 2015 but has not had a better finish than her tie for fifth in 2021.

The DP World Tour is in Australia for the next two weeks, beginning with the BMW Australian PGA Championship at Royal Queensland.

Meanwhile a bunch of Australians are teeing it up in the Hong Kong Open, part of the  International Series, on the Asian Tour this week.

PHOTO: Hannah Green has won more than $US 2 million this year. Image: Getty

Round 1 tee times AEDT

LPGA Tour

CME Group Tour Championship

Ritz Carlton Resort, Naples, Florida

12.15 am Minjee Lee

12.55 am Grace Kim

2.15 am Gabriela Ruffels

4.15 am Hannah Green

4.25 am Lydia Ko (NZ)

Defending champion: Amy Yang

Past Aussie winners: Lydia Ko (NZ)  2014, 2022

Prizemoney $US 11 million

TV times: Live Fox Sports 506 6am-9am Friday-Monday

PGA TOUR

RSM Classic

Sea Island Golf Club, Georgia

5.23 am Aaron Baddeley

5.45 am* Tim Wilkinson (NZ)

Defending champion: Ludvig Aberg

Past Aussie winners: nil

Prizemoney $US 7.6 million

TV times: Live Fox Sports 503 4am-8am Friday-Monday

Asian Tour

Hong Kong Open

Hong Kong Golf Club

9.45 am Maverick Antcliff

9.55* Jed Morgan

10.05 am Marcus Fraser

10.05 am* Matt Jones

10.15 am Kevin Yuan

10.25* Ben Campbell (NZ)

10.35 am Zach Murray

10.35 am* Jack Thompson

10.45 am Andrew Dodt

10.45 am * Scott Hend

11.15 am* Aaron Wilkin

11.35 am* Douglas Klein

2.15 pm* Shane Kuiti (NZ)

2.55 pm Wade Ormsby

3.35 pm* Deyen Lawson

3.25 pm Sam Brazel

3.35 pm Justin Warren

Defending champion: Ben Campbell (NZ)

Past Aussie winners: Ben Campbell (NZ) 2023, Wade Ormsby 2017, 2020, Sam Brazel 2016, Scott Hend 2014, Frank Nobilo (NZ) 1997, Greg Norman 1979, 1983, Frank Phillips 1966, 1973, Walter Godfrey 1972, Randall Vines 1968, Peter Thomson 1960, 1965, 1967, Len Woodward 1962, Kel Nagle 1961.

Prizemoney $US 2 million

Japan Golf Tour

Casio World Open

Kochi Kuroshio Country Club

12.50 pm Michael Hendry

Defending champion: Taichi Nabetani

Past Aussie winners: David Smail (NZ) 2012, 2014

Prizemoney ¥40 million


He is prepared to be the second-most popular Queenslander in his group on Thursday yet Jason Day hopes to win back a legion of Aussie fans as he makes his long-awaited return to the BMW Australian PGA Championship.

Day will tee off alongside Cameron Smith and defending champion Min Woo Lee from the 10th tee at 6:10am on Thursday morning, his first competitive round on Australian soil since the 2017 Australian Open.

It is his first Australian PGA Championship since he finished tied for ninth at Coolum in 2011, the 37-year-old spending the past three days reacquainting himself with a Royal Queensland layout that has changed significantly in that time.

At No.31 in the Official World Golf Ranking, Day is the highest-ranked player in the field but knows he may not be No.1 amongst Queensland golf fans when the tournament begins.

“Obviously Cammy is a very big favourite being here and obviously got a lot of fans here,” Day said of the three-time Australian PGA champion.

“Even though I’m from here, it’s kind of hard to get the fan base when I haven’t been here as much.

“I’m looking forward to playing with Min, looking forward to playing with Cam.

“I’m really interested to see the crowds out there, seeing how many people will come out. Fingers crossed we have good weather. I know that rain is not ideal, but we’re going to have really good weather on the weekend and that should be fun. That should bring out a lot of people.”

With five children and a base in Ohio that he has held for more than 15 years, playing in his home country while competing on the PGA TOUR has been a constant to-and-fro.

He was close to returning 12 months ago but chose to stay in the US after wife Ellie gave birth to their fifth child, Winnie, in September.

Already on this trip he has spent time with his sisters for the first time since the passing of his mother, Dening, in March 2022 and reacquainted himself with meat pies from a bakery in Forest Lake west of Brisbane.

It is a taste of home that he intends to sample more regularly.

“Me being healthy and being able to bring my family down, that’s something that I want to do. To be able to come back a little bit more,” said Day.

“I would love to do that. My family has never been to Australia. I’d love to bring them down.

“The last time I played Royal Queensland was when we had I think one bridge and we literally had the golf course on the other side of the bridge, so it has been a while.

“What Cam Smith has done so well, he’s supported Australian golf since he’s turned professional, especially here in Brisbane and he’s done a wonderful job. Same with Adam Scott.

“It’s nice to see the guys come back.”

While this visit has been seven years in the making, it is something of a hit-and-run mission for the 2015 US PGA champion.

He was one of the first on course on Monday to kick-start his preparations, meticulously plotting a first major Australian victory that would allow him to join some of golf’s global stars to have had success in Australia.

“I know that I’ve always wanted to win in Australia,” he added.

“I’ve seen Jordan Spieth come down here, Rory (McIlroy) come down here and obviously they’re playing the Australian Open and winning the Australian Open. They’ve accomplished that and it’d be nice for me to be able to do that, especially here in Brisbane where part of my life I grew up, and especially at a place like Royal Queensland, very iconic.

“I grew up playing some tournaments here. It’s always nice to be able to win a tournament regardless of where you go, but to be able to win one on home soil and to know that you can come back and win one, that would be special.”


A determined Lucas Herbert has revealed how he intends to use the Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia to propel himself towards more majors in 2024.

Fresh if not slightly sore from Sunday night’s celebrations in Bendigo after his NSW Open triumph at Murray Downs Golf and Country Club, Herbert arrives at Royal Queensland Golf Club second on the Order of Merit.

The 28-year-old will play this week, next week’s ISPS HANDA Australian Open and the Webex Players Series Murray River event early in the new year.

Four events will qualify Herbert for the Order of Merit and all the trappings that come with a top-three finish, not least of which is an exemption into The Open Championship for the Order of Merit winner.

The past two Order of Merit winners – David Micheluzzi and Kazuma Kobori – have also received exemptions into the US PGA Championship, going halfway towards Herbert’s goal of playing more major championships.

Now an integral member of Cameron Smith’s Ripper GC team on LIV Golf, Herbert played just one major in 2024 – the US PGA – and sees his home tour as a legitimate pathway to playing more of the game’s showpiece events.

“I think I’ve got a really good opportunity to finish a long way up in that Order of Merit and reap the benefits that come from that,” said Herbert, who has been grouped with French star Victor Perez and fellow PGA TOUR winner Cam Davis for rounds one and two at RQ.

“It’s just a long way to go, only one event in. Just got to focus on my stuff and playing well, and I think the rest will probably take care of itself.

“That is the advantage of coming back and playing in Australia. We have some good pathways through the Australian tour to get to some of these bigger events, bigger tours.

“Hopefully it all goes well and it’s something that I can use.”

Fuelled by the response from the response that Adam Scott, Jason Day and Smith have received from Australian fans after major championship success, Herbert knows the impact playing well in majors has on the game at home.

He emerged as the emotional lightning rod in Ripper GC’s team championship win this year, his love of the arena encapsulated with a new nickname of ‘Gladiator’.

The Victorian took the bit between the teeth in difficult conditions to run down Smith a week ago and wants to influence the game in the way other Australian major champions have done.

“The impact of playing in those major championships – winning them, playing well – ultimately had a big impact on Australian golf,” said Herbert.

“I look at the impact Cam’s had from winning The Open Championship in 2022. It feels like golf has not been in a position this good in a long time.

“We’ve got so many people playing the game. You look at events like LIV Adelaide last year with how many people are there. You look at the buzz around these two weeks, how much it means in Australia.

“I look at driving ranges around the country, they’re all packed at various random times throughout the day. It seems like golf is thriving incredibly in Australia and us playing well in those major championships ultimately has that impact on Australia.”


Defending champion Min Woo Lee will have to fend off a field full of Australia’s best talent and an array of international raiders when the BMW Australian PGA Championship tees off at Royal Queensland Golf Club on Thursday.

Co-sanctioned between the Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia and the DP World Tour, the first of Australia’s two majors marks the start of the 2025 DP World Tour season and a crucial week for those with local Order of Merit aspirations.

Among those returning to Royal Queensland are three-time champion Cameron Smith, who, off the back of an uncharacteristic missed cut in 2023 will be out for redemption, while Jason Day will be teeing it up in Australia for the first time since 2017. 

Smith’s Ripper GC teammates Marc Leishman and Lucas Herbert are also among the headliners, Herbert hot off his recent Ford NSW Open win, his first on home soil. While Cam Davis rounds out the contingent of returning international playing stars, the 2024 Rocket Mortgage Classic winner keen to add a Kirkwood Cup to go alongside his Stonehaven Cup.

Twelve months ago, it was Lee who broke through and hoisted the Joe Kirkwood Cup, cruising to a three-stroke victory over Japan’s Rikuya Hoshino, and he is back and ready to defend.

The young West Australian comes in at the tail-end of an exciting year that includes selection in the Australian Olympic and Presidents Cup teams and two runner-up finishes on the PGA TOUR.

“Obviously amazing memories,” Lee said of his 2023 win. “It seems like it was only a few months ago. The year’s gone really quick. I can’t believe it’s been a whole year but amazing feelings coming back.”

Despite a solid year on the PGA TOUR and DP World Tour, Lee is yet to notch a win this season and would love for one – or two – to come in the next two weeks.

“I know there’s a lot of skill and a little bit of luck that goes on during a tournament, but it seems like a couple of times it’s gone the other way,” he said of his near misses.

“Just being in a tournament that you are coming back to defend is a special feeling and especially being here on the grounds now, it’s cool.

“I’m going to go and try play as good as I can and hopefully get another trophy.”

DEFENDING CHAMPION: Min Woo Lee (WA)

PRIZEMONEY: $2,000,000

LIVE SCORES: www.pga.org.au

TV COVERAGE: The BMW Australian PGA Championship is available live on Channel 9 and 9Now, as well as Fox Sports, available on Foxtel and Kayo.

*All times AEDT.

Round 1: Thursday, 12pm-5pm

Round 2: Friday, 12pm-5pm

Round 3: Saturday, 12pm-5pm

Final Round: Sunday, 12pm-5pm

THE COURSE

Home to this tournament for the last three years, Royal Queensland Golf Club was originally designed by three-time Australian Open champion, Carnegie Clark in 1920 with several modifications including advice from Dr Alistair Mckenzie on his visit in 1926.

More extreme changes to the course were required in 2007 when the construction of a new Gateway Bridge over the river meant Royal Queensland lost a large part of its original layout, with Mike Clayton the designer charged with the task of delivering a new and very different course in the banks of the Brisbane River.

A relatively flat piece of land, players are afforded width off the tee at ‘RQ’ and the opportunity to decide for themselves the best way to play each hole, which all feature sloping greens and tightly mown surrounds. Large bunkering a consistent feature throughout the par-71.

Measuring 6,479 metres, the short par-3 17th “Party Hole” will certainly deliver drama and excitement over the weekend.

HEADLINERS

Min Woo Lee — Defending champion and multiple DP World Tour winner

Cam Smith — 2022 Open Champion, captain of the 2024 season winning Ripper GC team on the LIV Golf League

Lucas Herbert — 2024 NSW Open champion, PGA TOUR and DP World Tour winner, member of the 2024 season winning Ripper GC team on the LIV Golf League

Jason Day — Former World no.1, 2015 US PGA Championship winner and 13-time PGA TOUR winner

Cam Davis — 2017 Australian Open champion and multiple PGA TOUR winner

Victor Perez — Three-time DP World Tour winner

David Micheluzzi — 2022/23 Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia Order of Merit winner

Harry Higgs — Three-time Korn Ferry Tour winner and 2024 graduate to the PGA TOUR

Marc Leishman — Six-time PGA TOUR winner and member of the 2024 season winning Ripper GC team on the LIV Golf League

Kazuma Kobori — 2023/24 Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia Order of Merit winner

Daniel Hillier — DP World Tour winner

Geoff Ogilvy — 2006 US Open champion, 2008 Australian PGA champion and 2010 Australian Open champion

Jack Buchanan — 2024 WA PGA and Webex Players Series South Australia champion

Phoenix Campbell — 2023 and 2024 Queensland PGA champion

Elvis Smylie — 2024 WA Open champion


He was handed a golf club after being plucked from the surf on the New South Wales South Coast and now Wil Daibarra will join a line-up of some of the world’s best golfers at the BMW Australian PGA Championship.

Daibarra arrived at Royal Queensland Golf Club on Monday still in something of a daze, granted a place in the field courtesy of his come-from-behind victory at last week’s PGA Associate National Championship at Cobram Barooga Golf Club.

It’s not unlike his introduction to the sport, invited to give it a go by then Kiama Golf Club Professional Shaun O’Toole as he walked through the golf course surfboard tucked under his arm.

So taken was O’Toole by this surfer kid with a natural swing that he had him playing junior pennants in a matter of weeks.

That season, Daibarra went through undefeated.

“He was walking past the tee with the surfboard under his arm,” O’Toole recalled.

“Two of his mates were playing and I said, ‘You going to have a hit?’ He said, ‘I haven’t had a hit.’

“He had a go and I thought he had a good swing without even ever being shown.”

Under the guidance of first O’Toole and Elle Sandak and, most recently, Toby McGeachie at Links Shell Cove, Daibarra’s game flourished.

In a region that has produced the likes of Jordan Zunic and Travis Smyth in recent years, Daibarra was projected to follow a similar path.

Recruited to play pennants at Bonnie Doon Golf Club in Sydney, COVID stalled his playing opportunities, the now 22-year-old option to begin the PGA’s Membership Pathway Program.

He is now in his final year as an Associate and has a renewed belief that his game could be good enough to mix it with the best in the game.

“I felt like my first couple of years I wasn’t kind of maximising what I thought I was capable of,” said Daibarra, who was unable to opt into the Playing stream of the Membership Pathway Program at the start of the year but will play with Kiwi Sam Jones and fellow Aussie James Conran in rounds one and two.

“I kind of just always found myself feeling a bit bummed-out at the end of tournaments.

“Last week was really good, to finally play one that I felt like that’s how I should be playing.

“I’ve still got enough time to try practise and really try to push the playing stuff now. And then if it doesn’t work out, I’ve got coaching or something to fall back on.”

Having seen the raw talent and freedom with which he played as a junior, O’Toole’s only advice is for Daibarra to tap into the laidback attitude that made him such a prolific winner.

“I had kids in state teams and Australian teams and whatever – I worked a lot with good kids – and he just had something in the swing that looked good to me,” said O’Toole.

“It was like there was no pressure on him at all because he had no expectations.

“He just went out and played and he just kept winning. And he thought it was the easiest game in the world.

“He can hit every shot they can hit. If he can go in and play like he used to play, like a big kid with no pressure, that would be great to see.”


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