Ian Baker-Finch’s return to Royal Birkdale has doubled as a recruitment mission, with the Australian PGA chair talking to Scottie Scheffler and Jon Rahm about playing big-money golf in Australia.
Future locations for the Australian PGA Championship are uncertain, with Royal Queensland set to relinquish hosting rights for at least the next few years.
Tour pro Daniel Gale predicted he would make a hole-in-one the night before bagging a spectacular ace that came with a $286,000 BMW during the opening round of the DP World Tour’s Australian PGA Championship.
Among the latest starters are Denmark’s Rasmus Neergard-Petersen, Korea’s Jungwhan Lee, Japan’s Yuto Katsuragawa, English trio Alex Fitzpatrick, Eddie Pepperell and Andrew “Beef” Johnston, Italy’s Renato Paratore, Austria’s Bernd Wiesberger, Spaniard Rafa Cabrera-Bello, Thailand’s Kiradech Aphibarnrat and China’s Wenyi Ding.
Lucas Herbert believes there are enough similarities between the 54-hole tournaments he plays on LIV Golf and the aggressive mentality needed for this week’s shortened Australian PGA Championship to be in with a chance on Sunday’s final round.
When the Australian PGA Championship’s second round was delayed for more than five hours, Min Woo Lee, the defending champion, was clever in staying dry and hitting balls on a simulator.
Former world No.1 Jason Day has welcomed a Sunday showdown with Cameron Smith at the Australian PGA Championship after the tournament drawcards put themselves on a collision course for a battle in Brisbane.
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.
Min Woo Lee has ridden a wave of crowd support that included T-shirts dedicated to the Perth golf star during a blistering first round, upstaging big names Adam Scott and Cameron Smith to sit near the clubhouse lead on day one at the Australian PGA Championship.
Cam Davis is coming in hot after a stellar season on the PGA Tour, and he’s determined to add the Joe Kirkwood Cup to a trophy cabinet already boasting his national open.
Buoyed by winning hosting rights for the 2032 Olympics, Brisbane has reinvented itself as a vibrant tourist destination with waterfront dining, microbreweries and chic rooftop bars to complement an ever-improving golf line-up.
Australia’s top-ranked golfer, Cam Smith, will return home for the country’s two majors – the Fortinet Australian PGA Championship and the ISPS HANDA Australian Open – in the upcoming Summer of Golf.
Michael Block, professional golf’s feel-good story of the year, could be headed Down Under later in 2023 to tee up in the Australian PGA Championship in Brisbane.
Australian Golf Digest
