Three of Australia’s brightest talents and one of our most accomplished stars will fight for the right to play on the PGA Tour next year when the Korn Ferry Tour Finals commence late on Thursday.
Just days after countryman Harrison Endycott secured his PGA Tour promotion by finishing the regular season in the top 25 on the points list, 25 more cards will be distributed following the three-event Korn Ferry Tour Finals.
It begins this week with the Albertsons Boise Open in Idaho where Lucas Herbert all but wrapped up a PGA Tour card by earning a share of fourth 12 months ago.
Now Min Woo Lee, Jason Scrivener, Anthony Quayle and Aaron Baddeley take their shot, but coming at it from very different directions.
Lee, currently ranked 68th in the world and a confirmed starter at the Fortinet Australian PGA Championship in November, and Scrivener, ranked 178th, qualified for the Finals as non-members to have equalled or surpassed No.200 on the FedEx Cup Playoffs and Eligibility Points List.
Lee’s best PGA Tour finish in 2022 is a tie for 14th at the Masters in April, while Scrivener’s points came largely from his top-20 result at the co-sanctioned Genesis Scottish Open.
Quayle, the Queensland PGA champion in January, endured a roller-coaster week before it was confirmed last Friday that his top-15 finish at The Open Championship would be enough to earn the equivalent points to finish between 126-200 on the points list for both members and non-members.
It is a somewhat different scenario for Baddeley but with the same prize to play for.
A four-time winner on the PGA Tour, the 41-year-old finished 196th in the FedEx Cup standings to sneak into the category who qualify for the Korn Ferry Tour Finals, a return to the stage where he finished 61st a year ago.
Like Endycott, it presents a pathway to the PGA Tour that started for all on the ISPS Handa PGA Tour of Australasia.
“Harrison was a 21-year-old rookie on the ISPS Handa PGA Tour of Australasia when he lost to Simon Hawkes in a playoff at the 2018 Vic Open at Thirteenth Beach,” said PGA of Australia CEO Gavin Kirkman.
“He has been on the path to a PGA Tour card ever since, going on to spend two years on the PGA Tour Latinoamerica circuit before advancing to the Korn Ferry Tour.
“The ISPS Handa PGA Tour of Australasia is here to provide our young players the pathway to realise their dreams. It’s why we do what we do, so I can’t wait to watch Harrison, with his wonderful Dad by his side, live out his dream as a member of the PGA Tour for many years to come.”
Currently third in the FedEx Cup standings, a hip injury has forced the withdrawal of Cameron Smith from the BMW Championship, opening the door for fellow Aussies to play their way into the Tour Championship at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta.
Adam Scott (46th), Cam Davis (52nd), Lucas Herbert (56th) and Marc Leishman (70th) all require a high finish to move inside the top 30 and qualify for the Tour Championship.
Meanwhile, Vic Open champion Dimitrios Papadatos and NT PGA winner Austin Bautista headline the Aussie contingent at the DP World Tour’s D+D Real Czech Masters and Queenslanders Karis Davidson and Cassie Porter will represent Australia at the Simone Asia Pacific Cup in Indonesia.
There are 13 Australians teeing it up at the International Series Korea on the Asian Tour and six Aussie legends are in action at the Dick’s Sporting Goods Open on the Champions Tour.
Round 1 tee times AEST
Korn Ferry Tour
Albertsons Boise Open
Hillcrest Country Club, Boise, Idaho
11.52pm Harrison Endycott, Kevin Yu, Ben Martin
12.03am Min Woo Lee, Patrick Flavin, Michael Kim
12.36am* Jason Scrivener, Jimmy Stanger, Seung-Yul Noh
12.58am* Aaron Baddeley, José de Jesús Rodríguez, David Skinns
1.20am Anthony Quayle, Jacob Bergeron, Tom Whitney
Defending champion: Greyson Sigg (2020)
Past Aussie winners: Greg Chalmers (2005)
Top Aussie prediction: Min Woo Lee
PGA TOUR
BMW Championship
Wilmington Country Club, Wilmington, Delaware
12am Adam Scott, Keegan Bradley
2am Marc Leishman, Taylor Pendrith
2.30am Lucas Herbert, Emiliano Grillo
2.40am Cam Davis, Tyrrell Hatton
Defending champion: Patrick Cantlay
Past Aussie winners: Bruce Crampton (1971), Robert Allenby (2000), Jason Day (2015), Marc Leishman (2017)
Top Aussie prediction: Adam Scott
TV schedule: Live 5am-9am Friday, Saturday; Live 2am-8am Sunday, Monday on Fox Sports 503.
DP World Tour
D+D Real Czech Masters
Albatross Golf Resort, Prague, Czech Republic
5.36pm* Maverick Antcliff, Steven Brown, Sebastian Garcia Rodriguez
5.47pm Jordan Zunic, Laird Shepherd, Lindsay Renolds
5.58pm Jake McLeod, Grégory Havret, Angel Hidalgo
9.53pm* Elvis Smylie, Hugo Leon, Dominik Pavoucek
10.04pm* Austin Bautista, Benjamin Hebert, Oliver Fisher
10.15pm* Zach Murray, Grégory Bourdy, Matyas Zapletal
11.10pm Dimitrios Papadatos, Jens Dantorp, Julian Suri
Defending champion: Johannes Veerman
Past Aussie winners: Nil
Top Aussie prediction: Zach Murray
TV schedule: Live 9pm-2am Thursday, Friday; Live 9.30pm-10.45pm Saturday on Fox Sports +; Live 10.45pm-2am Saturday; Live 9pm-1.30am Sunday on Fox Sports 503.
Asian Tour
International Series Korea
Lotte Skyhill Country Club, Jeju, Korea
7.50am* Junseok Lee, Neil Schietekat, Poom Saksansin
8.30am Brett Rumford, Veer Ahlawat, Itthipat Buranatanyarat
8.30am* Travis Smyth, Paul Peterson, Minchel Choi
8.40am Sam Brazel, Settee Prakongvech, Ajeetesh Sandhu
8.40am* Todd Sinnott, Doyeob Mun, Chase Koepka
8.50am Blake Windred, Jarin Todd, Angelo Que
9am Ben Campbell (NZ), Turk Pettit, Hanbyeol Kim
9.10am Ben Eccles, Hyungjoon Lee, Dongeun Kim
9.10am* Jake Higginbottom, Danthai Boonma, Kyungnam Kang
9.20am* Scott Strange, Mardan Mamat, Guntaek Koh
9.30am* Cory Crawford, Sanghun Shin, Hyungsung Kim
12.50pm Wade Ormsby, Minkyu Kim, Richard T Lee
1.40pm* Kevin Yuan, Tanapat Pichaikool, Bjorn Hellgren
1.50pm* Daniel Fox, Panuphol Pittayarat, Jiho Yang
Defending champion: Inaugural event
Past Aussie winners: Nil
Top Aussie prediction: Todd Sinnott
TV schedule: Live 2pm-6am Thursday, Friday on Fox Sports 503; Live from 1pm Saturday on Fox Sports +; Live 1pm-5pm Sunday on Fox Sports 505.
Japan Golf Tour
Shigeo Nagashima Invitational Sega Sammy Cup
The North Country Golf Club, Hokkaido
8.10am Michael Hendry, Yudai Furukawa, Ren Kurosaki
8.15am* Adam Bland, HW Liu, Takashi Iwamoto
8.40am Brendan Jones, Tomoyasu Sugiyama, Shingo Katayama
8.50am Brad Kennedy, Tadahiro Takayama, Ohira Sato
9.05am Matthew Griffin, Hirohiro Nishiyama, Tomohiro Kondo
12.30pm Dylan Perry, Toru Nakajima, Takanori Konishi
12.40pm Andrew Evans, Zhang Dongkyu, Daijiro Izumita
Defending champion: Kazuki Higa
Past Aussie winners: Brad Kennedy (2018)
Top Aussie prediction: Brad Kennedy
Ladies European Tour
Aramco Team Series – Sotogrande
La Reserva Club De Sotogrande, Spain
Aussies in the field: Stephanie Kyriacou, Whitney Hillier
Defending champion: Alison Lee
Past Aussie winners: Nil
Top Aussie prediction: Stephanie Kyriacoou
TV schedule: Live 2am-5am Friday, Saturday on Fox Sports 503; Live from 11pm Saturday on Fox Sports +; 10.30pm-12am Sunday on Fox Sports 505.
Ladies Asian Tour
Simone Asia Pacific Cup
Pondok Indah Golf Course, Jakarta, Indonesia
Aussies in the field: Karis Davidson, Cassie Porter
Defending champion: Inaugural event
Past Aussie winners: Nil
Top Aussie prediction: Karis Davidson
TV schedule: Live 1pm-5pm Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday on Fox Sports 505.
PGA TOUR Canada
CentrePort Canada Rail Park Manitoba Open
Southwood Golf and Country Club, Winnipeg, Manitoba
11pm Cameron John, Charles Huntzinger, Jake Vincent
3.40am Danny List, Thomas Walsh, Benjamin Shipp
5.20am* Will Barnett, Van Holmgren, Austin Squires
Defending champion: Derek Barron (2019)
Past Aussie winners: Nil
Top Aussie prediction: Cameron John
Champions Tour
DICK’S Sporting Goods Open
En-Joie Golf Club, Endicott, New York
Australasians in the field: Steven Alker, Robert Allenby, Stuart Appleby, Stephen Leaney, David McKenzie, Rod Pampling, John Senden
Defending champion: Cameron Beckman (2020)
Past Aussie winners: Nil
Top Aussie prediction: Rod Pampling
TV schedule: 9.30am-11am Saturday; 8.30am-10am Sunday; 8am-9.30am Monday on Fox Sports 503.
Legends Tour
Irish Legends presented by McGinley Foundation
Rosapenna Hotel and Golf Resort, Ireland
6.50pm Peter O’Malley, Steven Richardson
8.40pm Peter Fowler, Thomas Gogele
9.40pm Michael Long, Nick Job
Defending champion: Thomas Bjorn
Past Aussie winners: Nil
Top Aussie prediction: Peter Fowler
