PGA Tour of Australasia

PGA Tour of Australasia

Current season, competition or edition: 2023–24 PGA Tour of Australasia
Formerly	PGA Tour of Australia
Sport	Golf
Founded	1973 (renamed PGA Tour of Australasia in 1991)
Countries	Based in Australia and New Zealand [lower-alpha 1]
Most titles	Order of Merit titles: Greg Norman (6)
TV partner(s)	Nine Network (Australia) Fox Sports (Australia) Sky Sport (New Zealand) TV3 (New Zealand)
Related competitions	Von Nida Tour
Official website	https://www.pga.org.au/

The PGA Tour of Australasia, currently titled as the Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia for sponsorship reasons, is a professional golf tour for men, owned and operated by the PGA of Australia. ^[1] Official events on the tour count for World Golf Ranking points. The tour is recognised as being founded in 1973 when the PGA of Australia instituted an Order of Merit. ^[2] Despite always including at least one tournament in New Zealand, the tour was known as the PGA Tour of Australia until it adopted its current name in 1991 following the inclusion of three events in Asia. ^[3]

Most of the leading players on the tour are Australian, with a smaller domestic contingent from New Zealand, but players from many other countries all over the world also participate. The very best Australasian players devote most of their time to the PGA Tour or the European Tour, typically returning home for events after the European and North American seasons end in mid-November, if they choose to play tournaments at home. Therefore, the Australasian Tour is a feeder for the larger tours. Some of the leading events are co-sanctioned by the European Tour to encourage higher ranked players to enter and to attract more sponsorship. Players with a background on the tour who have reached the world top 20 since the turn of the Millennium include Steve Elkington and Adam Scott. The leading tournaments on the tour include the Australian Open, the Australian PGA Championship, the Australian Masters and the New Zealand Open.

In November 2005 it was reported by the BBC that the tour was going through difficult times, with the schedule for the 2005/06 summer season reduced to six events, three of them co-sponsored by other tours. The Heineken Classic, which was the richest event in Australasia in 2005, was cancelled in 2006 due to the withdrawal of the sponsor. One factor in the tour's problems is the rise of the nearby Asian Tour. Tour chairman Wayne Grady, and player Mark Hensby both accused Australia's biggest golf icon Greg Norman, who is a US resident, of not doing enough to support the tour. Norman dismissed their comments. ^[4]

To earn a PGA Tour of Australasia card, one must place in the top 40 of the tour's qualifying school. To retain a Tour card, a golfer must finish in the top 60 of the Order of Merit. Golfers ranked 61st–75th are given conditional status and those ranked 61st to 100th are given entry to the final stage of Q School. Those outside the top 100 lose their Tour cards unless exempt by other means, such as top twenty on the career money list.

A win earns a two-year exemption for most events. Events considered Tier 1 are given three-year exemptions. Five-year exemptions are given to Order of Merit winners and the tour's three largest events (Australian PGA Championship, Australian Open, and Australian Masters). Entry to The Open Championship is given to the Order of Merit winner and the top three non-exempt players from the Australian Open.

The top three players on the Order of Merit at the end of the season earn status to play on the European Tour for the following season. ^[5]

OneAsia Tour

Main article: OneAsia Tour

In January 2009, it was announced that there would be a new series of events across the Asia-Pacific region, to be organised by the PGA Tour of Australasia in co-operation with China Golf Association, the Japan Golf Tour, the Korean Golf Association and the Korean PGA. The aim of these events would be to raise the profile of professional golf in the region, and compete with the likes of the European Tour. The series would initially consist of six events, three in China, two in Australia and one in South Korea, with plans to expand to at least thirteen in 2010 as events in Japan were added, and over 20 by 2011. ^{[6] [7] [8]}

The introduction of the OneAsia series has not been universally welcomed, with strong opposition coming from the Asian Tour in particular, with support from its members. ^[9] All of the six events announced for 2009 were existing tournaments, including some already sanctioned by the Asian Tour. One of them, the Pine Valley Beijing Open, was called off a few weeks before it was due to be held. The organisers officially attributed this decision to the state of the course and a clash of dates with The Players Championship on the US-based PGA Tour, but some media commentators dismissed these reasons since the tournament had clashed with the Players Championship the previous year as well, and attributed the cancellation to sponsor discontent with the sanctioning changes. ^[10]

OneAsia was discussed at the annual meeting of the International Federation of PGA Tours during the 2009 Masters Tournament. The Series would need to become a member of the Federation if it wishes to be able to award Official World Golf Ranking points in its own right. Points are currently available in all events due to those conferred by the PGA Tour of Australasia and the European Tour, as the Chinese and Korean tours are not Federation members. Under present arrangements it is unlikely that any new tournaments launched by OneAsia will receive ranking points, and could prove difficult to attract top players without them. At the meeting OneAsia and the Asian Tour both claimed that the game's powerbrokers understood the strength of their case, but neither received any public endorsements from the others members. ^[11]

Schedule

Main article: 2023–24 PGA Tour of Australasia

PGA Tour of Australasia events have mainly been held in Australia and New Zealand although in past seasons, tournaments that have been co-sanctioned with other tours, such as the Johnnie Walker Classic, have been held in several other countries, including India and Thailand.

There was a significant increase in the number of regular season tournaments in 2009, following the integration of the former Von Nida Tour events. Typically, only tournaments that were on the tour schedule prior to the merger were eligible for world ranking points. Beginning in 2012, all events will carry world ranking points, with the "State Based and Regional Tournaments" receiving a minimum of 6 points, compared with 16 points for regular events. ^[12] The tour's flagship event, the Australian Open, awards a minimum of 32 points to the winner.

The tour's richest events are those that are co-sanctioned by the larger global tours, such as the European Tour. The Australian Open, Australian PGA Championship and Fiji International also featured elevated prize funds due to previously being part of the OneAsia Tour.

Australian Triple Crown

In Australia, the Triple Crown also refers to winning the three major domestic championships, the Australian Open, the Australian Masters and the Australian PGA Championship. Winning all three titles in the same season is a feat only achieved by Robert Allenby in 2005. ^{[13] [14]}

Order of Merit winners

Season	Winner	Points
2023–24	Kazuma Kobori	841
2022–23	David Micheluzzi	1,455
Season	Winner	Prize money (A$)
2021–22	Jediah Morgan	190,409
2020–21	Brad Kennedy	302,480
2019	Ryan Fox	307,925
2018	Jake McLeod	255,326
2017	Brett Rumford	313,094
2016	Matthew Griffin	239,445
2015	Nathan Holman	346,702
2014	Greg Chalmers (2)	254,525
2013	Adam Scott (2)	538,620
2012	Peter Senior (4)	268,292
2011	Greg Chalmers	554,285
2010	Geoff Ogilvy	459,900
2009	Michael Sim	315,088
2008	Mark Brown	440,027
2007	Craig Parry (3)	442,004
2006	Nick O'Hern	583,820
2005	Adam Scott	545,429
2004	Richard Green	365,017
2003	Peter Lonard (2)	604,000
2002	Craig Parry (2)	641,789
2000–01	Aaron Baddeley	662,125
1999–2000	Michael Campbell	936,810
1998–99	Jarrod Moseley	330,798
1997–98	Andrew Coltart	316,107
1996–97	Peter Lonard	484,534
1995	Craig Parry	334,804
1994	Robert Allenby (2)	199,645
1993	Peter Senior (3)	243,504
1992	Robert Allenby	309,063
1991	Rodger Davis (2)	343,277
1990	Rodger Davis	375,026
1989	Peter Senior (2)	443,196
1988	Greg Norman (6)	303,922
1987	Peter Senior	94,492
1986	Greg Norman (5)	111,211
1985	Ossie Moore	60,786
1984	Greg Norman (4)	83,190
1983	Greg Norman (3)
1982	Bob Shearer (4)	95,250
1981	Bob Shearer (3)	56,982
1980	Greg Norman (2)	57,701
1979	Jack Newton	53,203
1978	Greg Norman
1977–78	Bob Shearer (2)
1976–77	Mark Lye
1975–76	Bill Dunk
1974–75	Bob Shearer	17,257
1973–74	Stewart Ginn

Awards

Season	Player of the Year	Rookie of the Year
2023–24		Kazuma Kobori
2022–23	David Micheluzzi	Haydn Barron
2021–22	Dimitrios Papadatos (2)	No award
2020–21	Brad Kennedy
2019	Ryan Fox
2018	Matthew Millar (2)
2017	Dimitrios Papadatos
2016	Adam Blyth
2015	Matthew Millar
2002–2014: No awards
2000–01	Aaron Baddeley	Aaron Baddeley
1999–2000	Michael Campbell	Brett Rumford
1998–99	Jarrod Moseley	Geoff Ogilvy
1994–1997: No awards
1993	Peter Senior	Michael Campbell
1992	Robert Allenby	Robert Allenby

Von Nida Tour

Between 2003 and 2008, the PGA Tour of Australasia ran a second-tier tour known as the Von Nida Tour (named after Australian golfer Norman Von Nida) which featured around ten events with purses in the region of A$ 100,000 each. The main tour events took place in the Southern Hemisphere summer, that is late one calendar year and early the next, while the Von Nida Tour events mainly took place in the local spring and autumn. However the money list was calculated for calendar years. From 2009, the Von Nida Tour merged into the PGA Tour of Australasia Tour. ^[15]

Von Nida Tour Order of Merit winners

Season	Winner	Prize money (A$)
2008	Michael Long	27,651
2007	Andrew Bonhomme	41,497
2006	Marc Leishman	54,679
2005	Adam Bland	40,180
2004	Kim Felton	46,500
2003	Scott Hend	52,007

Earlier second-tier tours

Between 2000 and 2001, the PGA Tour of Australasia ran a second-tier tour known as the Development Tour. ^{[16] [17]}

Notes

1. Schedules have also included events in China, Fiji, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, New Caledonia, Papua New Guinea, Singapore, Taiwan and Thailand.

References

1. "About the Professional Golfers Association of Australia". PGA of Australia. Retrieved 18 February 2020.
2. "Tournament part of major golf circuit". The Bananacoast Opinion. New South Wales, Australia. 8 October 1974. p. 3. Retrieved 18 February 2020– via Trove.
3. Moloney, Brendan (26 September 1991). "Rich golf circuit starts an exodus to Asia". The Age. Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. p. 29 – via Newspapers.com.
4. "Norman shock at Hensby criticism". BBC Sport . 24 November 2005. Retrieved 29 October 2008.
5. "DP World Tour and ISPS Handa PGA Tour of Australasia announce extension to Strategic Alliance". European Tour. 12 January 2022. Retrieved 22 February 2023.
6. "Australia backs big-money OneAsia Super Series". Shanghai Daily . 18 March 2009. Retrieved 19 March 2009.
7. "OneAsia series to vie with US, European tours, says commissioner". The Sydney Morning Herald . 15 March 2009. Retrieved 19 March 2009.
8. Hayes, Mark (13 March 2009). "Golfers to cash in". Herald Sun . Retrieved 19 March 2009.
9. "Asian golfers reject 'super series'". Bangkok Post . 13 March 2009. Retrieved 19 March 2009.
10. "OneAsia Tour's Pine Valley Beijing Open called off". Asia One. 7 April 2009. Archived from the original on 30 October 2017. Retrieved 14 November 2021.
11. Schupak, Adam (10 April 2009). "Asian Tour loses event to new rival". golfweek. Archived from the original on 16 April 2009. Retrieved 13 April 2009.
12. "Official World Golf Ranking Board Announces Adjustments To Ranking System". 25 July 2011. Archived from the original on 25 September 2013. Retrieved 9 January 2012.
13. "Allenby wins Aussie 'triple crown'". CNN. 11 December 2005. Retrieved 17 March 2024.
14. Blake, Martin (30 June 2020). "Great Australian Moments 19: Allenby's triple crown". Golf Australia. Retrieved 17 March 2024.
15. "Secondary events absorbed into Australasian tour". PGA Tour of Australasia. 28 October 2008. Archived from the original on 26 September 2009. Retrieved 27 January 2009.
16. Morgan, Angus. "New Development Tour". PGA Tour of Australasia. Archived from the original on 1 August 2001. Retrieved 27 December 2021.
17. "New Development Tour Begins May 3 2000". Sportcal. Archived from the original on 16 February 2020. Retrieved 13 August 2023.

External links

• Official website