It is full steam ahead for the mixed-gender Webex Players Series as the $1 million series heads to Cobram Barooga Golf Club in southern New South Wales with a stellar field confirmed for TPS Murray River in honour of Jarrod Lyle.
After becoming the third woman anywhere in the world to win a 72-hole professional mixed-gender event with her triumph at TPS Victoria on Sunday, South Korean Min A Yoon will be in action for this week’s event on both the ISPS Handa PGA Tour of Australasia and the WPGA Tour of Australasia schedules with $250,000 in prizemoney up for grabs.
A host of Australian golf’s rising stars are teeing it up including Cassie Porter – who already has a win on the WPGA Tour of Australasia this season – and rookie professionals Kirsten Rudgeley and Kelsey Bennett, who produced brilliant amateur careers and are determined to register a maiden victory as a professional.
Likewise rookie professionals Connor McKinney and Hayden Hopewell will also be out to make a statement with a first win as a professional, but the younger brigade will face stiff competition from their more experienced rivals.
A regular on the LPGA Tour since 2006, Sarah Jane Smith will be a formidable force as will David Micheluzzi (WA PGA Championship), Deyen Lawson (WA Open), Andrew Martin (Victorian PGA Championship), Aaron Wilkin (QLD PGA Championship) and Tom Power Horan (Gippsland Super 6) who all tasted victory in the first half of the season.
That quintet along with 151st Open Championship-bound Haydn Barron sit inside the top 10 on the PGA Tour of Australasia Order of Merit as they seek to earn the DP World Tour pathway opportunities available to the top finishers at the end of the 16-event season.
All Abilities golfers made their TPS debut last week and inaugural champion, and Australia’s top ranked golfer with disability, Cam Pollard will lead the charge once again.
Top junior golfers will also be in action among the professionals and amateurs across the weekend as they play for the junior title.
To begin the week, Wednesday’s pro-am will feature England cricket legend Sir Ian Botham, AFL legend Dermott Brereton, radio broadcaster and The Project regular Steve Price, and The Block’s Keith Schleiger.
Off the course, TPS Murray River is in memory of Jarrod Lyle who passed away in August 2018, weeks away from his 37th birthday. Entry to TPS Murray River is via gold coin donation to Challenge, supporting kids with cancer, along with various fund-raising initiatives for Challenge.
