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PGA Tour 2022, LIV Golf, news, Australian Open, Australian PGA Championship, schedule, dates, Tour of Australasia, Cameron Smith

PGA Tour 2022, LIV Golf, news, Australian Open, Australian PGA Championship, schedule, dates, Tour of Australasia, Cameron Smith

Australia is set to stage one of its biggest ever seasons of golf, headlined by an $8 million, 16-event tour, starting in October.

PGA of Australia on Thursday confirmed the summer schedule, which has increased from 12 events in 2019-20, and will see the return of the Australian Open.

Bolstering the announcement is the likelihood of big Australian names committing to play on home soil after the pandemic crushed opportunities over the past two summers.

Scroll down for the full schedule!

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World No.2 Cameron Smith is set to return to play in the Australian Open and Australian PGA Championship, while compatriot Marc Leishman is also expected to feature.

Top-50 player Lucas Herbert has already committed to play both showpiece Australian events, while No.66 Min Woo Lee will feature at the Australian PGA Championship.

LIV Golf, meanwhile, is reportedly eyeing three Australian events as part of its expanded 2023 core schedule, and the International Series it runs with the Asian Tour.

Should those events materialize around April, as reported by Australian Golf Digestit would see the likes of Dustin Johnson, Bryson DeChambeau, Brooks Koepka and Phil Mickelson also down under this upcoming season.

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While the Greg Norman-led series has its detractors due to its Saudi Arabian funding, LIV’s reported venture into Australia will ultimately give golf fans more events, and more international stars, playing for big-money purses on these shores.

Combined with the bumper PGA Tour of Australasia schedule, golf’s Australian presence is set for a significant shot in the arm, while the groundwork has been put in place for more growth in the coming years.

PGA of Australia is committed to increasing the prize money on its tour, this year offering $2 million at the Australian PGA Championship, and $1.7 million each for the men’s and women’s fields at the Australian Open.

Combined with state Opens, state PGAs, The Players Series, and a New Zealand swing, the full season is worth more than $8 million.

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Just as significant, however, is the creation of better pathways into Europe and, in turn, the US, through a strengthened partnership with the DP World Tour.

Thursday’s announcement revealed that the top three players in the Order of Merit will earn a DP World Tour playing card for the following season, while the following 10 players gain exemption into at least the second stage of Q-School.

The Australian Open and Australian PGA Championship will both be co-sanctioned by the DP World Tour with the winner also gaining automatic entry to the circuit, while the winner of the Order of Merit earns a spot at next year’s Open Championship.

“What I love about this is the pathways that it creates for our exciting crop of future Australian stars,” PGA of Australia chief Gavin Kirkman said.

“We’ve worked hard to build the schedule back after Covid knocked everyone around in the tournament space, and having the Australian Open and the New Zealand Open back stronger than ever really makes a difference.”

Cam Smith and others set to join LIV | 01:30

Playing fields could improve again next season when the US PGA Tour reverts back to a calendar schedule, instead of the current wraparound program that conflicts with the Australasian Tour.

Furthermore, Kirkman confirmed to reporters that LIV players are allowed to feature on the tour, unlike in Europe and the US where the PGA and DP World Tours have banned dual members.

“The players coming home to play, as long as there’s no conflicting event, they will be welcome to play,” he said. “And the Australian players that come home, and wherever they’re playing at the moment, if they’re members of our organisations, they’ll be eligible to play, and that’s been discussed with the other tours.”

In theory, this would open the door for LIV Golf’s Australian contingent to play several events at home in the coming months, split between the two tours.

That ensures that any defection to LIV Golf, as widely reported, would likely see Smith play more in Australia, not less.

Kirkman, meanwhile, said he hasn’t been approached by LIV about the staging of a tournament next year in Australia.

“We’re hearing things are going on but at the end of the day … if that event comes to Australia we’ll just continue focusing on what we do best and that’s running our tour and servicing Australian golf in the way we feel it should be serviced,” he said.

“We’ll just see what happens there.

“If it comes to Australia, we’ve got to be in a position to stay focused on our strategy. If it fits in, it fits in, but we will talk closely to Golf Australia and the WPGA Tour and work on what we need to keep working on.”

PGA TOUR OF AUSTRALASIA FULL 2022-23 SCHEDULE

October 10-16 — CKB WA PGA, Kalgoorlie Golf Club — $200,000

October 17-23 — WA Open, West Australian Golf Club — $162,500

November 7-13—VIC PGA, Moonah Links Resort—$200,000

November 14-20—Queensland PGA, Nudgee Golf Club—$200,000

November 21-28 — Fortinet Australian PGA Championship, Royal Queensland Golf Club — $2,000,000

November 29-December 4 — ISPS HANDA Australian Open, Victoria Golf Club and Kingston Heath Golf Club — $1,700,000

December 5-11 — Gippsland Super 6, Warragul Country Club — $175,000

January 23-29—TPS Victoria, Rosebud Country Club—$200,000

Jan 30-Feb 5 — TPS Murray River, Cobram-Barooga Golf Club — $200,000

TBA February—VIC Open, TBA—TBA

February 13-19 — TPS Sydney, Bonnie Doon Golf Club — $200,000

February 20-26—TPS Hunter Valley, Oaks Cypress Lakes Resort—$200,000

February 27-March 5—NZ Open, Millbrook Resort—$1,400,000

March 6-12 — NZ PGA Championship Auckland — $150,000

13-19 March—Play Today NSW Open TBA—$400,000

Late March – Season Finale TBA TBA — $200,000

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Hannah Green expects strong field for home summer

Hannah Green expects strong field for home summer

Winning the Australian Open is as important as claiming another major for the showpiece event’s newest recruit, Hannah Green.

Now the race is on to have her colleagues thinking the same way as organizers tackle the remaining roadblocks in getting more big-names to sign on.

This year’s Australian Open — held on December 1-4 at Victoria Golf Club and Kingston Heath — promises to be one of the biggest in recent memory with the men’s and women’s fields now combined, and playing for $1.7 million AUD in prize money each.

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Meanwhile, the pandemic has left some of Australia’s biggest players, such as Cameron Smith, homeick and eyeing extended stays down under this summer.

That plays into the hands of the Australian Open, which, after a three-year hiatus, could see a strong local contingent play, including the returning Smith and Marc Leishman.

And yet, organizers are still faced with a number of challenges in confirming more stars alongside Green, and world No.49 Lucas Herbert.

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Herbert is the biggest star from the men’s side to officially commit, while Green is the only confirmed player in the women’s field, although Karrie Webb is expected to make her appearance official in the coming weeks.

Green told reporters on Tuesday that she’s trying to give players a nudge to make the trip to Australia, but noted late-year sponsor events, the lack of a LPGA co-sanction, and Thanksgiving in America, as potential roadblocks.

Green said she is yet to speak to world No.2 Minjee Lee about joining her in Victoria, but anticipated that sponsor events elsewhere could leave the two-time major winner’s hands tied.

Meanwhile, Green flagged that Thanksgiving on November 24 could present a challenge for American players, such as 2019 champion and world No.3, Nelly Korda.

“It’d be great if Nelly could come back down,” Green said. “It is a hard time of year because of Thanksgiving a week prior to the Open but some girls might want to go on a holiday and make a trip out of it.

“It’s a long season. You can make some good money out of it (the Australian Open) and celebrate. So it’d be nice if Nelly and her sister Ella Jess could come down.

She added: “It would obviously be great if Minjee could attend. But I think it’s just important to have all the Australian players come back.

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Green gets hot on day 2 of Women’s Open | 00:50

“It sounds like Cam (Smith) wants to come back, and hopefully Scotty (Adam Scott) and Leish (Marc Leishman) and all the boys want to come back too, so I think just getting as many Australian players in the field as possible is important.”

Green said that freshly crowned Women’s Open winner Ash Buhai “really wants to come play” and is waiting for confirmation.

Meanwhile, the 25-year-old is eyeing a real piece of history, looking to make it a hat-trick of wins in Australia having taken out the mixed gender TPS Murray River, and the Victorian Open, on her last visit.

Should the 2019 PGA Championship winner be successful, she said the victory would be as important to her as claiming another major.

“I still think getting my hand on that trophy would be very important to me,” she said.

“It definitely depends on the field and I think it would make a difference if we still had LPGA players to come, but it doesn’t mean I’m not going to work just as hard to try and win that trophy depending on who comes at the end of this year.”

The Women’s Australian Open has historically been held in February but will now shift to December to align with the men’s competition.

As such, the women’s field now faces the challenge of having a number of stars eyeing time off after a long season.

That’s a familiar issue for the men’s competition, which has traditionally been held in November and December, and has had varied success in attracting a star-studded field.

Whether top international players will commit this year remains to be seen, but some of Australia’s biggest names are expected to be involved regardless.

Open Championship winner Smith told Fox Sports Last month he will have an extended stay in Australia this summer, which could include playing both the Australian Open and the Australian PGA Championship.

“That’s better not GO IN!” | 00:21

Leishman also told foxsports.com.au before The Open that he was looking forward to returning to play in Australia, although no confirmation has yet been given for either player, who has been heavily linked to LIV Golf.

Nonetheless, Green is confident both will commit for the historic tournament, which will be the first national Open worldwide to combine both men’s and women’s fields.

“We need to elevate both championships so I hope that combining them at the same venue at the same time is going to do that,” she said. “We’ve obviously seen success with the Vic Open with the same format that we’re going to try this year.

“It’s going to be hard for us females to not have maybe as strong a field as we’ve had in previous Aus Opens, but hopefully the attraction of the event, people will want to come back to Australia and play.

“It’s a great week. The Australian Open is definitely one of my favorites to attend so it’s just really nice that after the last few years of not having one to be able to get back and play.”

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Cameron Smith LIV golf, Hannah Green to play

Cameron Smith LIV golf, Hannah Green to play

The Australian Open has added some extra star-power for its return edition this summer with major winner Hannah Green committing to play.

Green, fresh from contending at this month’s Women’s Open, was unveiled in Melbourne on Monday as the event’s latest coup.

The 25-year-old is one of only four Australian women to have won a major, after claiming the 2019 PGA Championship, and returns home after a strong year, albeit with the disappointment of a weekend fadeout at the Women’s Open.

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Green has six top-10 finishes this year, including a top-five at the women’s PGA Championship, while she was also on track for a strong result in at Muirfield until she was derailed by a seven-over final two rounds.

With the major final of the season in the books, the Australian is looking to the months ahead, which will include returning home for a historic edition of the Australian Open.

Green is fresh from contending deep at this month's Women's Open.
Green is fresh from contending deep at this month’s Women’s Open.Source: Getty Images

Having not been held in 2020 or 2021 due to the coronavirus pandemic, the showpiece event returns with the men, women, and all-abilities tournaments being held concurrently.

It is the first national Open worldwide to combine men’s and women’s fields, while the prize money for the two events is the same; $1.7 million AUD each.

“When I heard that the men’s and women’s Opens were coming together for the first time, I knew that I wanted to be there,” said Green, who won the mixed gender TPS Murray River, and the Vic Open, on her last visit.

“We’ve experienced this kind of concept with men and women playing together on the same courses at the same time … and to have it in place for the first time at a national Open is going to be something special.”

High profile Australians committing to return for the summer are increasing by the week after Lucas Herbert and Min Woo Lee recently confirmed they would also be playing.

World No.49 Herbert is down to play both the Australian Open, held at Victoria Golf Club and Kingston Heath on December 1-4, and the Australian PGA Championship at Royal Queensland the week prior.

Lee – now ranked 66th in the world and with top-30 finishes at three of this year’s majors – will play at the latter, which is co-sanctioned by the DP World Tour.

Meanwhile, Aussie golf fans are still waiting to hear if reigning Open Championship winner Cameron Smith will also return, having not played competitively in his home country since December 2019.

Aussie golf fans are still waiting to hear if reigning Open Championship winner Cameron Smith will also return.Source: Getty Images

Smith confirmed last month that he will have an extended stay in Australia this summer to spend time with his family and friends after three years of separation.

But whether that stay will include playing at either the Australian Open, or the Australian PGA Championship – he’s previously won the latter twice – is unclear.

Also unclear is his next career moves after the FedEx Cup playoffs, having been linked to Greg Norman’s Saudi-backed LIV Golf series — claims that he hasn’t denied.

smith told Fox Sports after winning the Claret Jug that his plan is to play in both Australian events, but it is not his priority.

“I think my priority during those weeks is going to be to catch up with family and friends. I’ll probably stay a little bit after into Christmas and just really have a good time,” he told Fox Sports.

“I’m looking forward to that. You really have no idea. It’s been three years since I’ve been at home and just to see some familiar faces will be so nice.”

Meanwhile, another big-name Aussie, Marc Leishman, confirmed to foxsports.com.au last month that he was also eager to return to these shores, although no deal has been confirmed.

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