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They’ve slept under his Florida roof, travelled on his private jet and now Wes Hinton and Kayun Mudadana will share centre stage with Cameron Smith at this week’s Queensland PGA Championship at Nudgee Golf Club.
The first of four events that Smith will play on the Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia this summer, the Queensland PGA Championship has been elevated significantly by The Open champion’s presence.
No one will have a better view for the first two rounds, though, than Hinton and Mudadana, this year’s Cameron Smith Scholarship recipients.
As this year’s scholarship winners, Hinton and Mudadana spent a week with Smith in September, honing their games under his tutelage in Florida before watching the Queensland legend in action at LIV Golf Chicago.
The pair played three rounds with Smith while they were in the US and now get a taste of what it’s like to play inside the ropes with thousands of golf fans watching every shot they hit.
“Playing golf with Cam before this is really beneficial because we were both really nervous to play with him because Cam’s going to see every single shot we hit,” said Hinton, a Brisbane native who plays out of Keperra Country Golf Club.
“If he hits a bad shot, he’s going to see it and you don’t want to hit bad shots in front of him.
“But now that that’s happened, you’re more used to it. It’s accepting that you will hit bad shots and you’ve just got to live with it.
“There’s going to be a lot more nerves. It’s going to be about trying to accept that, turn those nerves into excitement.
“It’s a privilege to be playing under that sort of pressure.”
Estimating that the biggest crowd he has played in front of is “maybe 20 people”, Mudadana is ready to embrace any pressure that accompanies such an illustrious grouping.
“I don’t really get too distracted by it, I just try to play my best,” said Mudadana, a member at New South Wales Golf Club in Sydney. “Just to show them how good I can be.
“I don’t really get too nervous by it.”
While they now get to see Smith go to work inside the ropes, both Hinton and Mudadana said their greatest takeaway from their time with the three-time BMW Australian PGA champion was his intention during practise… and how he disconnects in his down time.
“When Cam is practising, he’s very engaged in his practise – more than anyone in the whole world I’ve heard,” said Hinton, who won the Cameron Smith Junior Classic at Wantima Country Club in 2022.
“When he’s practising , he’s fully involved in it and then he gets away from the game. But when he’s there, he’s training better than anyone.”
“Watching how he practises and uses his time and just what he does besides golf to distract him from golf,” said Mudadana of what he observed. “Not always just being a hundred per cent golf.
“It was pretty cool to watch what he does in an off week and practise even at the tournament. How he prepared for it was pretty cool.”
Both have tried to find that balance since returning to their home clubs while at the same time honing some of the short-game wizardry that Smith shared during their time together.
They’re shots that might come in handy as they seek to turn two rounds with their idol into two further bonus rounds on the weekend.
“I thought maybe he might be pretty serious when he wants to practise and we’d have to do our own thing, but he really taught us and took us on board,” said Mudadana.
“He gives back a lot to Golf Australia’s junior golfers, which is really good. Not many other guys do that.”
“He was very active in helping us learn,” added Hinton.
“When we went out to the chipping green, he would come out and check in, give us some tips.
“He helped mine and Kay’s technique a lot, how to hit certain shots, how to play out of the rough and stuff like that. Short game tips was definitely the most helpful.”
A whopping six Australians will join New Zealander Steve Alker in the finale of the PGA Champions in Phoenix next week after they played their way into the Charles Schwab Cup Championship.
The Australian contingent will be double the number who made it into the tour championship in 2023 when Steve Stricker won the 36-player final.
Australians will represent 16 percent of the field in the $US3 million climax to the seniors’ season at Phoenix Country Club from 7 November.
This year’s group is headed by lefty Richard Green (ranked No. 6 in the standings) and the big finisher was Victorian Cam Percy, who shot a closing 68 in today’s Simmons Bank Championship, at one point moving into a share of the lead.
Percy’s T5 finish lifted him from 40th in the standings and outside the qualifiers for the tour championship to No. 36, meaning that he will take the last remain spot in the Schwab Cup.
Percy, who is in his first season on the Champions tour, was 7-under for the day standing on the 15th tee but an errant tee shot took away his chance of unseating Padraig Harrington at the top. Bogeys at the 15th, 16th and 17th saw the 50-year-old tumble a few spots.
The most frustrated would be David Bransdon and Steve Allan, who finished 38th and 39th in the standings with only the top 36 graduating.
Green, Percy and No. 2 ranked Alker will be joined in the Charles Schwab Cup from November 7 by Greg Chalmers (28), Mark Hensby (29), Rod Pampling (33) and Stuart Appleby (34).
Elsewhere in the world it was another good week for the red hot Hannah Green, who finished strongly in the LPGA Tour’s Maybank Championship with a 65 to be tied-sixth behind Ruoning Yin of China.
Green has won three times on the tour this year and last week was at an equal career-high No. 5 in the world rankings.
Min Woo Lee’s T27 at the Zozo Championship on the PGA Tour did his quest for more world ranking points no harm and he is one of two Australians (with Adam Scott) to qualify for the next phase of the DP World Tour beginning in Abu Dhabi next week.
David Micheluzzi was the best placed of the other Australians to reach the playoffs and his T22 finish in South Korea over the weekend left him at No. 73 in the rankings, just outside the 70 who automatically play in Abu Dhabi next week. It leaves him waiting on any last-minute withdrawals from the DP World Tour field in Abu Dhabi to earn a spot in the playoffs.
PHOTO: Cam Percy sneaked in as 36th qualifier in the 36-player Schwab Cup field. Image: Getty
Results
PGA TOUR
Zozo Championship
Accordia Golf, Narashino Country Club, Japan
1 Nico Echavarria 64-64-65-67—260 $US1.53m
T27 Min Woo Lee 69-69-69-65—272 $57,035
T65 Ryan Fox (NZ) 72-70-68-71—281 $15,725
LPGA Tour
Maybank Championship
Kuala Lumpur Golf and Country Club
1 Ruoning Yin 67-67-66-65—265 $US450,000
T6 Hannah Green 71-69-68-65—273 $81,887
T18 Gabriela Ruffels 69-66-71-71—277 $36,661
T46 Grace Kim 67-73-73-69—282 $11,869
T51 Hira Naveed 70-75-68-70—283 $9,916
Q-Series – Qualifying Stage
Venice, Florida
T1 Mimi Rhodes 70-71-68-65—274
Failed to advance to Final Stage
T53 Caitlin Peirce (a) 71-73-72-70—286
T66 Su Oh 74-70-69-74—287
T80 Kelsey Bennett 73-73-73-69—288
T88 Amelia Garvey (NZ) 71-72-71-75—289
T111 Jess Whitting 74-74-74-70—292
T121 Lion Higo (a) 75-71-73-74—293
T128 Claire Shin (NZ) 74-70-77-73—294
T154 Maddison Hinson-Tolchard 74-78-76-69—297
T154 Jennifer Herbst 76-72-70-79—297
T166 Sarah Yamaki Branch 75-75-74-75—299
DP World Tour
Genesis Championship
Jack Nicklaus Golf Club, Incheon, South Korea
1 Byeong Hun An 67-66-71-67—271 €628,388.68
T14 Jason Scrivener 72-71-68-67—278 €49,208.38
T22 David Micheluzzi 70-68-71-70—279 €40,105.98
T22 Daniel Hillier (NZ) 68-71-68-72—279 €40,105.98
MC Haydn Barron 77-73—150
MC Sam Jones (NZ) 77-76—153
MC Tom Power Horan 79-75—154
Asian Tour
International Series Thailand
Thai Country Club, Bangkok
1 Lee Chieh-po 64-65-67-63—259 $US360,000
T7 Nick Voke (NZ) 67-66-67-64—264 $44,380
T7 Maverick Antcliff 63-64-69-68—264 $44,380
T12 Jed Morgan 63-68-67-67—265 $27,900
T19 Marcus Fraser 69-67-65-65—266 $21,800
T19 Kazuma Kobori (NZ) 67-65-67-67—266 $21,800
T19 Travis Smyth 65-67-66-68—266 $21,800
T31 Jack Thompson 69-67-66-66—268 $14,625
T39 Wade Ormsby 67-67-69-66—269 $12,060
T47 Ben Campbell (NZ) 65-70-68-68—271 $9,000
T54 Zach Murray 66-68-70-68—272 $7,300
T64 Aaron Wilkin 69-67-71-69—276 $5,400
T67 Andrew Dodt 67-69-70-73—279 $5,000
MC Todd Sinnott 69-68—137
MC Harrison Crowe 68-69—137
MC Sam Brazel 72-65—137
MC Kevin Yuan 69-68—137
MC Lachlan Barker 70-69—139
MC Scott Hend 74-66—140
MC Justin Warren 70-70—140
MC Danny Lee (NZ) 71-71—142
MC Douglas Klein 71-72—143
MC Deyen Lawson 76-71—147
Ladies European Tour
Hero Women’s Open
DLF Golf and Country Club, New Delhi
1 Liz Young 74-73-67-72—286 $US55,534.65
T2 Momoka Kobori (NZ) 72-73-72-70—287 $21,380.84
10 Kirsten Rudgeley 72-72-73-74—291 $8,515.31
PGA TOUR Champions
Simmons Bank Championship
Pleasant Valley Country Club, Massachusetts
1 Padraig Harrington 67-65-67 – 199 $US 365,000
T5 Cam Percy 69-66-68 – 203 $104,250
T12 Steve Allan 69-70-66 – 205 $45,425
T12 Steve Alker (NZ) 62-70-73 – 205 $45,425
T12 Rod Pampling 70-64-71 – 205 $45,425
T16 Richard Green 69-67-70 – 206 $37,950
T24 Michael Wright 73-66-71 – 210 $23,575
T26 Stuart Appleby 70-72-69 – 211 $18,716
T34 David Bransdon 74-69-69 – 212 $14,145
T34 Mark Hensby 70-71-71 – 212 $14,145
T50 Greg Chalmers 73-71-77 – 221 $6900
Legends Tour
Sergio Melpignano Senior Italian Open
San Domenico GC, Italy
1 Thomas Gogele 64-66-67—197
T18 Michael Long (NZ) 71-73-65—209
T40 Michael Campbell (NZ) 71-73-71—215
Five-time European Tour winner Mike Harwood and four-time PGA Legends Tour Order of Merit winner Brad Burns are among the greats of Australian golf who will play the inaugural Deniliquin Legends Pro-Am.
Presented by Edward River Council in collaboration with the Deniliquin Golf Club, Harwood and Burns will be joined on Tuesday by former PGA Tour of Australasia winners Scott Laycock and Euan Walters, 2021 Australian PGA Senior champion, Guy Wall.
It is the first in a three-year commitment with players to vie for a share of the $12,500 prize purse.
The Pro-Am format will see some 140 participants take to the Deniliquin layout with spectators encouraged to take advantage of free entry and the live onsite broadcast from 2QN Radio.
“We are thrilled to be hosting this PGA Legends Tour Pro-Am event here in Deniliquin,” said Gary Arnold, Interim Chief Executive Officer of Edward River Council.
“As a proud sporting region, what better way to promote our fantastic town, local businesses and facilities than with a premier sporting event such as this.”
Sophie Kelly, General Manager of the Deniliquin Golf Club, reiterated the importance of the event for the region.
“With the generous funding support from Edward River Council, we can attract key events such as the Pro-Am and ensure they become regular events on the golfing calendar that people return to again and again,” said Ms Kelly.
“I have no doubt that players and spectators will want to come back to Deniliquin once they experience everything that the club and the town has to offer.”
Queenslander Brad Burns defied a bad back to become the inaugural winner of the B&C Plumbing Griffith Legends Pro-Am today.
He toured the Giffith Golf Club layout in three-under-par 68 to score a three-stroke win and earn his second PGA Legends Tour title for October.
Worried about how his back was feeling, Burns was concerned about his ability to finish the 18 holes. But the worst of the pains only arrived with five holes remaining and by that time he had established a handy advantage.
WA’s Peter Mitchell and Queensland’s Peter Brown shared second spot at even-par.
HOW THE WINNER’S SCORE UNFOLDED
Burns played front nine in 3-under 33, picking up birdies at the second, eighth and ninth.
He birdied the par-3 11th before his only bogey for the day at the long par-4 12th.
WHAT THE WINNER SAID
Burns said: “It was very tricky out there. The greens are quite small and firm but absolutely pure.
“This is one of the finest courses in country New South Wales. The superintendent here does a great job.”
LEADERBOARD RUNDOWN
68: Brad Burns (Qld)
71: Peter Brown (Qld); Robert Mitchell (WA)
72: Guy Wall (NSW); Christopher Taylor (Qld); Brendan Chant (WA); Grahame Stinson (NSW); Michael Harwood (Vic)
73: Mark Boulton (Vic)
NEXT UP
The PGA Legends Tour stays in country New South Wales for the Deniliquin Legends Pro-Am presented by Edward River Council at Deniliquin Golf Club on Tuesday.
With the PGA Legends Tour’s biggest and richest tournaments looming, Peter Lonard is in ominous form.
After sharing top spot at both Shelley Beach and Sapphire Coast earlier this month, the three-time Australian PGA champion fired a 7-under-par 62 to claim today’s Blackheath Centenary Year Legends Pro-Am in the NSW Blue Mountains.
Lonard’s round included eight birdies in a warning shot to his fellow over-50s that he is ready for the $150,000 NSW Senior Open at Thurgoona, starting on November 1.
He finished two clear of Victorian David McKenzie.
HOW THE WINNER’S SCORE UNFOLDED
In the afternoon field, Lonard’s steady three-par start at Blackheath Golf Club was followed by a run of seven birdies in his next nine holes.
Four straight pars ended any chance of posting a 59 to match what the Sydneysider achieved last year at Rich River, but he did manage a closing birdie to finish off a back nine of 30.
His only bogey was thanks to a three-putt from around seven metres at the seventh.
WHAT THE WINNER SAID
“It wasn’t my greatest moment. I think my playing partners nearly fainted. I thought it was the end of my day at that stage but we got going again,” Lonard said of his sole dropped shot.
“It was a good day. The course was in magnificent condition.”
LEADERBOARD RUNDOWN
-7: Peter Lonard (NSW)
-5: David McKenzie (Vic)
-4: Anthony Summers (Vic)
-3: Nicholas Robb (NSW); Mike Harwood (Vic); John Wade (Vic), Mark Boulton (Vic)
-2: Chris Taylor (Qld); Adam Henwood (Vic)
-1: Guy Wall (NSW)
NEXT UP
The PGA Legends Tour welcomes two new events – the B&C Plumbing Griffith Legends Pro-Am at Griffith Golf Club on Sunday and Deniliquin Legends Pro-Am presented by Edward River Council at Deniliquin Golf Club on Tuesday.
Photo: Peter Lonard with club professional Darrin Walden
American Richard Gilkey and Queenslander Terry Price produced the only under-par rounds at Springwood Country Club to share top spot at the Fidelity Capital Group Charity Legends Pro-Am.
They finished on 1-under-par 68, giving Gilkey his first win since 2020 and Price his second title for 2024.
With aspirations to play PGA TOUR Champions, Gilkey is a huge fan of the PGA Legends Tour with this result helping to ensure he has playing rights again next year.
“I’d love to keep coming here until I can’t walk and play this Tour. It’s a great Tour,” he said.
The joint winner at Hurstville on Wednesday, Stuart Ford (NSW), was part of a group of four players who finished T3 at 1-over-par.
HOW THE WINNERS’ SCORES UNFOLDED
Playing in the morning wave, Gilkey tackled the back nine first and offset birdies on the 11th and 15th with bogeys on 14 and 18.
Two birdies and a bogey followed on the front nine to have him well placed in the clubhouse watching what would happen with the afternoon field.
Price made a fast start, picking up a shot on his first hole, the short par-3 sixth. However, bogeys at seven, 11 and 13 had him at 2-over-par through his first 10 holes.
The recovery started with a three on the par-4 16th and he added in birdies on the second and fourth to make his way under-par for the day.
WHAT THE WINNERS SAID
Gilkey said: “This feels great. It’s been four years I think since my last win so I was kind of wondering ‘do I still have it’. This course is really tough. There’s no gimme holes out there. You can’t get loose and I played solid.”
Price said: “It was tricky out there today but I’m a bit surprised that score has been good enough considering what Andre Stolz did here last year which was a fantastic score. I had more like 4-under or 5-under in mind.”
LEADERBOARD RUNDOWN
-1: Terry Price (Qld); Richard Gilkey (USA)
+1: Mark Gibson (NSW); Mark Boulton (Vic); Guy Wall (NSW); Stuart Ford (NSW)
+2: John Wade (Vic); David McKenzie (Vic); Brad Burns (Qld); Andre Stolz (Qld); Mark Tickle (Qld); Peter Lonard (NSW); Steven Aisbett (NSW)
NEXT UP
The PGA Legends Tour’s Blue Mountains double continues with The Blackheath Centenary Year Legends Pro-Am at Blackheath Golf Club on Friday.
Photo: Richard Gilkey, sponsor Chris Crawley and Terry Price
Coolangatta-Tweed Heads Golf Club Associate Jack Wright has a date with Cameron Smith after his two-stroke win at the Queensland PGA Associate Championship at Windaroo Lakes Golf Club.
Nursing a one-shot advantage heading into Thursday’s final round, Wright held the likes of Adam Migur (69), Damon Stephenson (73) and Joel Mitchell (71) at bay with a near faultless 3-under 70 and 12-under total.
As champion, Wright is now exempt into next week’s Queensland PGA Championship at Nudgee Golf Club where Smith will play the first of four events this summer on the Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia.
Although focused intently on closing out the win at Windaroo Lakes, Wright conceded that pre-round his thoughts turned momentarily to the possibility of sharing the stage with the 2022 Open champion.
“At the start it definitely was,” Wright admitted.
“I just was very grateful to get the job done over the good players that were chasing me today.”
Seeking to add to his win at the 2023 NSW/ACT PGA Associate Championship, Wright surged to the lead with a superb 7-under 66 in Round 3.
With his nose in front, the second year Associate knew that minimising bogeys would be just as important as plundering more birdies.
Birdies at two of his opening three holes was the ideal start, staying ahead of the field with eight straight pars.
Back-to-back birdies at 12 and 13 further extended his advantage, enough so that his bogey on 14 would be just a minor inconvenience.
The son of long-time Queensland PGA Professional John Wright, Jack said a home state title is the highlight of his time in the Membership Pathway Program to date.
“Winning your home state championship is definitely sweeter,” said Wright.
“Obviously winning New South as your first win and getting that off the board was one of the best feelings ever. But to win your home state is probably one of my biggest goals in the program.”
Recent work on their golf games paid off for Martin Peterson and Scott Ford with the NSW duo sharing top spot in the GRC Wayne Riley Legends Pro-Am at Hurstville Golf Club today
A front nine of 29 helped Ford recover from an early setback to shoot a 4-under-par 66 which was matched by Peterson, a previous winner at Hurstville in 2018 and runner-up in 2017.
They are hitting form at the right time, both sitting just inside the top 10 on the Order of Merit with some big events to come.
Part of the PGA Legends Tour since 2013, Ford now has three wins on his record for 2024, while for Peterson, who has been a member of the over-50s circuit since 2017, it was his second title of the year following on from a win in New Zealand in February.
Victorian David McKenzie repeated his third-place finish from yesterday’s NSW Senior PGA Championship at Cromer, carding a 67 alongside Richard Gilkey (USA) and David Van Raalte (Vic)
HOW THE WINNERS’ SCORES UNFOLDED
Peterson started his round on the 17th hole and was 3-under through his first nine holes thanks to four birdies offset by just the one bogey. A final birdie for the day came at the short par-4 14th.
Meanwhile, Ford got underway with a birdie on his opener, the par-5 16th only to double-bogey the par-4 18th. Five birdies followed on the front nine and then another on his final hole to match Peterson at 4-under.
WHAT THE WINNERS SAID
Ford said: “I was coming off a couple of rough days at Cromer but today was really enjoyable. Had a hole-in-one the other day, but a 66 is miles better than a hole-in-one. I’ve had a lot of help from Terry Price and done a little bit of short game work with Euan Walters and it’s all starting to come together at the right time of the year.”
Peterson said:“I’ve been working on a few things in my game and it finally started to click today. It’s always been a happy hunting ground here for me at Hurstville. The course was great today and I actually played quite well. It was just a good solid round.”
LEADERBOARD RUNDOWN
-4: Martin Peterson (NSW), Scott Ford (NSW)
-3: Richard Gilkey (USA), David van Raalte (Vic), David McKenzie (Vic)
-2: Anthony Summers (Vic), Lucien Tinkler (NSW), Guy Wall (NSW), Grahame Stinson (NSW), Michael Harwood (Vic)
NEXT UP
The PGA Legends Tour heads to the Blue Mountains for the Fidelity Capital Group Charity Legends Pro-Am at Springwood Country Club on Thursday and The Blackheath Centenary Year Legends Pro-Am at Blackheath Golf Club on Friday.
Min Woo Lee took some time out as a spectator at Mandurah last weekend but his rest time was short; the rising Australian star is back in the cauldron on Thursday as he tees it up in the PGA Tour’s Zozo Championship in Japan.
Lee has another stint at home in Australia coming up, defending his BMW Australian PGA Championship at Royal Queensland and playing the ISPS HANDA Australian Open in Melbourne, but he has some jobs to do first.
The Fall Series of the US Tour has three tournaments remaining from this week, and Lee is trying to improve his status for the 2025 season, having already secured his playing card.
Currently he is ranked 63rd on the points list and he needs to vault into the bracket between 50th and 60th to earn a spot in two signature events, worth $US 20 million, on the tour in 2025 – at Pebble Beach and the Genesis in January-February.
There’s also the matter of the Masters tournament in April and the other majors. Currently he would get into the field for Augusta and the others with his official world ranking of 42nd, but he needs to be inside the top 50 at year’s end. It is tighter than he would have liked.
Which is why the 26-year-old from Perth is in Japan this week, playing an event in which he finished tied-sixth last year with a closing 65. It was largely on the back of that performance that he earned his PGA Tour card and headed to America.
In a limited field (78 players) and on a course where he has played well before, it is a big opportunity to set himself up and return to Australia for the marquee events and the Christmas break with some security for 2025.
Meanwhile Hannah Green, another Ritchie Smith disciple, has risen back to an equal career-high No. 5 in the women’s world rankings after her third win of the LPGA Tour season, and Green is now after the No. 1 spot as she tees it up in Kuala Lumpur from Thursday.
The LPGA has four more tournaments for 2024 culminating with the tour championship in November and while Green is secure at No. 5 on the points list along with Gabriela Ruffels (25), the likes of Grace Kim (45), Minjee Lee (49) and Steph Kyriacou (52) have work to do to make sure they are playing in that $US 11 million season-ender.
Also in Asia, the DP World Tour has its final event in South Korea before the playoffs begin, while 21 Australasians are in the field for the Asian Tour’s International Series Thailand.
PHOTO: Min Woo Lee still has to secure his place in the majors for 2025. Image: Getty
Tee times
PGA TOUR
Zozo Championship
Accordia Golf, Narashino Country Club, Japan
11.40am Ryan Fox (NZ)
12.24pm Min Woo Lee
Defending champion: Collin Morikawa
Past Aussie winners: nil
Prize money: $US8.5 million
TV times: Live 2pm-6pm Thursday-Sunday on Fox Sports 503 and Kayo.
LPGA Tour
Maybank Championship
Kuala Lumpur Golf and Country Club
10.48am Gabriela Ruffels*
11.43am Grace Kim*
12.27pm Hannah Green
Defending champion: Celine Boutier
Past Aussie winners: nil
Prize money: $US 3 million
TV times: Live 12.30pm-5.30pm Thursday-Sunday on Fox Sports 503 and Kayo.
DP World Tour
Genesis Championship
Jack Nicklaus Golf Club, Incheon, South Korea
9.10 am Sam Jones (NZ)
9.50 am Daniel Hillier (NZ)*
10.40 am Jason 2crivener*
1.30 pm Haydn Barron*
2 pm Tom Power Horan*
2.20 pm David Micheluzzi
Defending champion: Sang-Hyun Park
Past Aussie winners: nil
Prize money: $US 4 million
TV times: Live 2pm-7pm Thursday-Sunday on Fox Sports 507 and Kayo.
Asian Tour
International Series Thailand
Thai Country Club, Bangkok
10.30 am Harrison Crowe
10.30 am Aaron Wilkin*
10.40 am Andrew Dodt
11 am Sam Brazel
11.10 am Danny Lee (NZ)
11.10 am Wade Ormsby*
11.20 am Kevin Yuan
11.30 am Marcus Fraser
11.50 am Deyen Lawson
12.00 Justin Warren**
12.10 pm Douglas Klein
1.10 pm Todd Sinnott*
3.30 pm Scott Hend
3.40 pm Kazuma Kobori (NZ)*, Zach Murray*
3.50 pm Ben Campbell (NZ)*
4.10 pm Travis Smyth
4.10 Jack Thompson*
4.20 pm Nick Voke (NZ)
4.30 pm Jed Morgan
4.40 pm Maverick Antcliff*
5 pm Lachlan Barker*
Defending champion: Sang-Hyun Park
Past Aussie winners: nil
Prize money: $US 4 million
TV times: Live 6pm-9pm Thursday-Sunday on Fox Sports 503 and Kayo.
LADIES EUROPEAN TOUR
Hero Women’s Open
DLF Golf and Country Club, New Delhi
Australasian entries: Momoka Kobori (NZ), Kirsten Rudgeley.
Defending champion: Aline Krauter
Past Aussie winners: nil
Prize money: $US 400,000
One of the new young stars of world golf, South African Aldrich Potgieter, and American crowd favourite Harry Higgs are locked in as two of the first overseas entrants for next month’s BMW Australian PGA Championship,
Potgieter (pictured) will play his first professional tournament in the country where he developed his game while Higgs comes to Australia for the first time on the back of two Korn Ferry Tour wins this year to regain his PGA Tour status.
They will be joined by another KFT winner this year, Chilean Cristobal Del Solar, who has been inspired to play in Australia by countryman and reigning Australian Open champion Joaquin Niemann.
Just 20-years-old, Potgieter is headed for the PGA Tour in 2025 after a huge year on the Korn Ferry Tour (KFT) in 2024, including becoming the youngest winner in the Tour’s history, beating the record held by Jason Day, when he won The Bahamas Great Abaco Classic in January.
Although he was born in Mossel Bay on South Africa’s Southern Cape, Potgieter moved to Perth with his family when he was a child, eventually becoming a member of Golf WA’s High Performance Program.
A member at the Joondalup course, he won the South Australian Junior Masters by nine shots in 2020, the 2021 WA Amateur and was second in the 2021 Australian Boys’ Amateur before, at just 17, becoming the second youngest winner in the history of the British Amateur Championship.
The two-shot win in The Bahamas, thanks to a closing 65, was followed by two other top-10 finishes to see Potgieter finish 29th in the end-of-season standings.
“Growing up in WA, I always enjoyed watching the big tournaments each summer every year in Australia,” Potgieter said.
“I can’t wait to get to Royal Queensland and experience everything about the BMW Australian PGA Championship. There’s plenty of the guys I came through the amateurs with who are now professional who I’m looking forward to catching up with.
“And then there’s the challenge of going up against players like Jason Day, Cam Smith, Min Woo Lee and Cam Davis.”
The affable Higgs, who has won twice on the KFT in 2024, has been a popular figure on the PGA Tour where his best results have included two runner-up finishes and T4 at the 2021 US PGA Championship.
“Australia has always been on the destination list for Kailee and I,” Higgs said.
“We love travelling and seeing new parts of the world.
“It’s all worked out for me to come down to play both of the Aussie majors this year which I’m sure is going to be a great experience.
“It will be a real honour to play in both the Australian Open and Australian PGA in front of the Aussie fans.”
Del Solar’s 2024 highlight was a four-shot victory in The Ascendent, his fifth worldwide success.
“Seeing my great mate Joaquin (Niemann) play so well in Australia last year and hearing from him how much he enjoyed the country, the golf courses and the atmosphere of the events, made it an easy decision to come down and experience it for myself,” he said.
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.
