The Nexus Risk TSA Group WA Open tees off this week just six
months after Daniel Fox claimed the title in 2015.

Being played at the Western Australian Golf Club, the course
will present players with a challenge this week. Not an overly long course, the
rough has been grown in extremely thick and it’s renowned for its fast greens.

The tournament tees off tomorrow morning at 6:50am and here
are five players we will be watching.

Daniel Fox: As the
defending champion, Fox is aiming to become the first player to successfully
defend the WA Open title since Terry Gale won back-to-back in 1982 and 1983.
The win was a huge turning point in Fox’s career, it has given him the self
belief that he can close out a title when he is in contention. This confidence
boost is integral in golf and now the monkey is off his back it is conceivable
that Fox will continue to collect titles on the PGA Tour of Australasia. Fox
comes into his title defence fresh from a tied 7^th finish in Papua
New Guinea last week.

Curtis Luck
(amateur): An immensely talented amateur, Luck is the future face of West
Australian and indeed Australian golf. Playing in his home state Open, Luck is
aiming to finish one better than last year where he finished runner-up. A
proven performer at Yokine, Luck won the Western Australian Golf Club Men’s
Open this month with rounds of 64 and 66. A further motivating factor for Luck is
the quality of the other elite amateurs in the field this week. A number of
Golf Australia’s National Squad have made the trip across and Luck would like
to defend his Terry Gale Cup (low amateur) title.

Matt Millar: It’s
hard to go past Matt Millar as the tournament favourite this week. The highest
ranked player in the field plus the leading player from the PGA Tour of
Australasia Order of Merit, Millar is one of the most consistent players on
Tour at the moment. He teed off his season with a runner-up finish at the Oates
Vic Open followed up by a T3 finish the following week, this continued on from
his standout season in 2015 where he was named the PGA Tour of Australasia
Player of the Year. If his form isn’t enough to convince you of his selection
in this week’s top-5 then the Yokine course layout will. Never has a course
been more suited to Millar; not an overly long layout it requires a player with
a brilliant short game of which Millar has one of the best.    

Todd Sinnott: As
one of the most promising up and coming Australian Professionals, Sinnott has
been putting in impressive performances on Tour so far this year. Already he
has recorded two top-10 finishes and a further two top-20 finishes in five
starts. It’s only a matter of time until Sinnott breaks through for his first
victory however if it’s to be this week, Sinnott will have to be careful not to
overpower the course. Known as one of the longest hitters on Tour, the WA Golf
Club is a short layout with thick rough that will harshly penalise any player
not on the fairway.

Michael Wright:
With the course providing a tough test we are expecting to see some of the wise
heads on Tour to be up around the top of the leaderboard. An experienced player,
Wright has already won three times on Tour. Wright comes into this week having
already recorded two tied 5^th finishes in 2016, one in his most
recent tournament, the PNG Open and one in his first
tournament of the year the Vic Open.