Three of New Zealand’s leading players have confirmed they will return to play the 103rd edition of the New Zealand Open at Millbrook Resort in Queenstown.
It is no surprise, as the DP World Tour resumes this week in Dubai, to see the 10 players who qualified for their PGA Tour cards last season planning the months ahead in their own individual ways.
The men who have gained their PGA Tour cards through season-long play on the DP World Tour in 2023 – a Pole, a New Zealander, two Frenchmen, a Dane, a Swede, a Scotsman, a Spaniard, a Japanese and a Finn – are definitely the first of their kind.
At the end of a week in which just about every conversation and scrap of speculation revolved around the upcoming Ryder Cup, the winner of the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth turned out to be someone who will never play for either side in the biennial trans-Atlantic tussle.
Links golf is a multi-faceted affair, one that asks an often-dizzying array of questions all the way from driver to putter. That is why so many believe golf in the land where the game began is the ultimate test, both mentally and physically.
One of seven players in the 50-strong field with a chance to finish top of the DP World Tour rankings, Fitzpatrick has already opened up a sizeable lead over his two main challengers, Rory McIlroy and Ryan Fox.
The Kiwi’s second DP World Tour victory of the season surely sent a message to the captain of the International team at last week’s Presidents Cup, Trevor Immelman.
Meronk’s victory is no real surprise. In 12 previous starts on the Old World circuit in 2022, Poland’s greatest-ever golfer had already had six top-six finishes.
Before travelling to the US for this week’s PGA Championship, in-form New Zealander Ryan Fox emailed Tiger Woods’ former caddie Steve Williams looking for any advice on Oklahoma’s Southern Hills.
Australian Golf Digest
