PGA Tour member Victor Perez [above] heads a group of DP World Tour winners and rising stars who have been added to the fields for the Summer of Golf’s two major tournaments, the BMW Australian PGA Championship in Brisbane and ISPS Handa Australian Open in Melbourne.
The six Europeans will take on the best of Australian golf, including Jason Day, Cam Smith, Min Woo Lee, Cam Davis, Lucas Herbert and Marc Leishman across the two tournaments which are co-sanctioned by the Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia and DP World Tour.
The Australian PGA Championship at Royal Queensland Golf Club from November 21-24 will kick off the 2024/25 DP World Tour schedule and will be followed by a visit to the famous Melbourne Sandbelt for the Australian Open (November 28-December 1).
The first contingent of DP World Tour names who have booked their flights to Australia includes Perez, England’s Jordan Smith, German Yannick Paul, Spain’s Rafa Cabrera-Bello, Danish young gun Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen and former Ryder Cup player Nico Colsaerts (Belguim).
They will play in both the Open and PGA while 2024 Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship winner Wenyi Ding, from China, will make his DP World Tour debut as a professional at Royal Queensland.
“Australia is one of the best golf destinations in the world. You often hear players on both the PGA Tour and DP World Tour talking about the tournaments and courses down there and how good the golf is,” Perez said.
“I played the BMW Australian PGA Championship in 2017, but not at Royal Queensland and I am yet to play an ISPS Handa Australian Open so I can’t wait to get to Australia, enjoy the world class golf courses and see what both Brisbane and Melbourne are like away from the course.
“These two events have great histories, great lists of champions and I’d love to get my name on one of those trophies. But it’s going to be tough against the Aussies.”
Smith, who finished fourth in the Andalucia Masters at the weekend, is currently ranked 13th on the Race to Dubai standings and is a former champion at the Portugal Masters and Porsche European Open.
“With the two Australian tournaments being the start of the 2024/25 DP World Tour, I’d love to get off to a hot start by challenging at both the PGA and Open and maybe getting a win in either of them,” Smith said.
“I know the Aussie fans love their sport. I’m expecting big crowds, lots of sun and three courses that are going to provide a proper test of our games.
“Kingston Heath, Victoria and the Melbourne Sandbelt in general are world renowned so I can’t wait to tackle both courses while Royal Queensland is definitely growing in reputation and profile among the DPWT players who have played it in recent years.
“Throw in the great atmosphere the BMW Australian PGA Championship has become known for and no doubt we are in for two great weeks in Australia”
Paul’s resume includes the 2022 Mallorca Golf Open with his 2024 campaign highlighted by a runner-up finish at the French Open earlier this month.
A frequent visitor to Australia and 2016 Ryder Cup representative, Cabrera-Bello climbed to as high as 16th on the Official World Golf Ranking and has four DP World Tour victories on his record, the latest being the 2021 Open de Espana.
Neergaard-Petersen has climbed inside the world top 100 this year on the back of three wins and a runner-up placing on the Challenge Tour and a recent T-4 finish at the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship on the DP World Tour.
Ding, a professional for just a few weeks, is regarded as one of the best young prospects in world golf and will be making his first visit to Australia since finishing runner-up to Australia’s Jasper Stubbs at the 2023 Asia-Pacific Amateur at Royal Melbourne. He went on to capture the 2024 AAC title in Japan in October.
A regular visitor to Australia, Colsaerts has won three DP World Tour events and returned to prominence this year with a runner-up placing at the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship.
Nick Dastey, the PGA of Australia’s general manager of tournaments and global tour relationships, said: “The ISPS Handa Australian Open and BMW Australian PGA Championship gain huge benefits from the strong contingent of international players who come to Australia annually thanks to our partnership with the DP World Tour.
“They add to the depth of our fields, providing the best of the Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia with the chance to challenge themselves against proven tournament winners.
“And their presence helps us to gain extra exposure to international audiences for our tournaments, our Tour and our partners.”
The remaining DP World Tour players to be included in the fields for both the PGA and Open will be finalised in coming weeks.
