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The PGA Tour of Australasia, currently known for sponsorship reasons as the ISPS Handa PGA Tour of Australasia, is a professional
golf
Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible.
Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standardized playing area, and coping wi ...
tour for men, owned and operated by the PGA of Australia. 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. 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.
Most of the leading players on the tour are Australian, with a smaller domestic contingent from
New Zealand
New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...
, 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
The PGA Tour (stylized in all capital letters as PGA TOUR by its officials) is the organizer of professional golf tours in the United States and North America. It organizes most of the events on the flagship annual series of tournaments also k ...
or the
European Tour
The European Tour (currently known as the DP World Tour for sponsorship reasons), legally the PGA European Tour is the leading men's professional golf tour in Europe. The organisation also operates the European Senior Tour (for players aged fift ...
, 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
A ranking is a relationship between a set of items such that, for any two items, the first is either "ranked higher than", "ranked lower than" or "ranked equal to" the second.
In mathematics, this is known as a weak order or total preorder of ...
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
Stephen John Elkington (born 8 December 1962) is an Australian professional golfer on the PGA Tour Champions. Formerly on the PGA Tour, he spent more than fifty weeks in the top-10 of the Official World Golf Ranking from 1995 to 1998.
Elkington ...
and
Adam Scott. The leading tournaments on the tour include the
Australian Open
The Australian Open is a tennis tournament held annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Australia. The tournament is the first of the four Grand Slam tennis events held each year, preceding the French Open, Wimbledon, and the US Open. Th ...
, the
Australian PGA Championship
The Australian PGA Championship is a golf tournament on the PGA Tour of Australasia. It is the home tournament of the Australian PGA. Since 2000 it has been held in the South East Queensland region. The tournament was part of the OneAsia Tour fro ...
, the
Australian Masters
The Australian Masters was an annual golf tournament on the PGA Tour of Australasia held in Victoria, Australia from 1979 to 2015.
History
In 1989 the International Management Group took control of the management of the tournament.
Though the ...
and the
New Zealand Open
The New Zealand Open is the premier men's golf tournament in New Zealand. It has been a regular fixture on the PGA Tour of Australasia tournament schedule since the 1970s. The 2019 event was the 100th edition of the tournament. Since 2014 it has ...
.
In November 2005 it was reported by the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
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...
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
The Heineken Classic was a men's professional golf tournament played in Australia from 1990 to 2005 as part of the PGA Tour of Australasia. From 1990 to 1992 it was called the Vines Classic.
It was held at the Vines Resort in Western Australia f ...
, 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
The Asian Tour is the principal men's professional golf tour in Asia except for Japan, which has its own Japan Golf Tour, which is also a full member of the International Federation of PGA Tours. Official money events on the tour count for Wor ...
. Tour chairman
Wayne Grady
Wayne Desmond Grady (born 26 July 1957) is an Australian professional golfer.
Early life
Born in Brisbane, Grady turned professional in 1978.
Professional career
Grady began his career on the PGA Tour of Australia. He had much early suc ...
, and player
Mark Hensby
Mark Adam Hensby (born 29 June 1971) is an Australian professional golfer.
Hensby was born in Melbourne, Victoria. He grew up in Tamworth, New South Wales and attended Tamworth High School, leaving at the age of 16 to work as a postie while sp ...
both accused Australia's biggest golf icon
Greg Norman
Gregory John Norman AO (born 10 February 1955) is an Australian entrepreneur and retired professional golfer who spent 331 weeks as world number one in the 1980s and 1990s. He won 89 professional tournaments, including 20 PGA Tour tournament ...
, who is a US resident, of not doing enough to support the tour. Norman dismissed their comments.
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
The Australian PGA Championship is a golf tournament on the PGA Tour of Australasia. It is the home tournament of the Australian PGA. Since 2000 it has been held in the South East Queensland region. The tournament was part of the OneAsia Tour fro ...
,
Australian Open
The Australian Open is a tennis tournament held annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Australia. The tournament is the first of the four Grand Slam tennis events held each year, preceding the French Open, Wimbledon, and the US Open. Th ...
, and
Australian Masters
The Australian Masters was an annual golf tournament on the PGA Tour of Australasia held in Victoria, Australia from 1979 to 2015.
History
In 1989 the International Management Group took control of the management of the tournament.
Though the ...
). Entry to
The Open Championship
The Open Championship, often referred to as The Open or the British Open, is the oldest golf tournament in the world, and one of the most prestigious. Founded in 1860, it was originally held annually at Prestwick Golf Club in Scotland. Later th ...
is given to the Order of Merit winner and the top three non-exempt players from the Australian Open.
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
Norman Guy Von Nida (14 February 1914 – 20 May 2007) was an Australian professional golfer.
Von Nida was born in Strathfield and grew up in Brisbane. He turned professional in 1933, after attracting attention by winning the 1932 Queensland ...
) 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 has been merged into the PGA Tour of Australasia Tour.
Von Nida Tour Order of Merit winners
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 Japan Golf Tour ( ja, 日本ゴルフツアー機構) is a prominent golf tour. It was founded in 1973 and as of 2006 it offers the third-highest annual prize fund out of the regular (that is not for seniors) men's professional tours after th ...
, 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 European Tour (currently known as the DP World Tour for sponsorship reasons), legally the PGA European Tour is the leading men's professional golf tour in Europe. The organisation also operates the European Senior Tour (for players aged fift ...
. The series would initially consist of six events, three in China, two in Australia and one in
South Korea
South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...
, with plans to expand to at least thirteen in 2010 as events in Japan were added, and over 20 by 2011.
The introduction of the OneAsia series has not been universally welcomed, with strong opposition coming from the
Asian Tour
The Asian Tour is the principal men's professional golf tour in Asia except for Japan, which has its own Japan Golf Tour, which is also a full member of the International Federation of PGA Tours. Official money events on the tour count for Wor ...
in particular, with support from its members. All of the six events announced for 2009 were existing tournaments, including some already sanctioned by the
Asian Tour
The Asian Tour is the principal men's professional golf tour in Asia except for Japan, which has its own Japan Golf Tour, which is also a full member of the International Federation of PGA Tours. Official money events on the tour count for Wor ...
. One of them, the
Pine Valley Beijing Open
The Pine Valley Beijing Open was a men's professional golf tournament, played in 2007 and 2008. It was held at Pine Valley Golf Club in Beijing, China.
Originally an event on the Asian Tour, and co-sanctioned by the Japan Golf Tour in 2008, it bec ...
, 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
The Players Championship (commonly known as simply The Players, stylized by the PGA Tour as The PLAYERS Championship) is an annual golf tournament on the PGA Tour. Originally known as the Tournament Players Championship, it began in 1974. The P ...
on the US-based
PGA Tour
The PGA Tour (stylized in all capital letters as PGA TOUR by its officials) is the organizer of professional golf tours in the United States and North America. It organizes most of the events on the flagship annual series of tournaments also k ...
, 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.
OneAsia was discussed at the annual meeting of the
International Federation of PGA Tours
Professional golf tours are the means by which otherwise unconnected professional golf tournaments are organised into a regular schedule. There are separate tours for men and women; most are based in a specific geographical region, although some to ...
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
The Official World Golf Ranking is a system for rating the performance level of professional golfers. It was started in 1986.
The rankings are based on a player's position in individual tournaments (i.e. not pairs or team events) over a "rolli ...
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.
Schedule
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
The Johnnie Walker Classic was a European Tour golf tournament which was played in the Asia-Pacific region. Johnnie Walker is a brand name and the owners have a long history of tournament sponsorship. They also sponsored the Johnnie Walker Champ ...
, have been held in several other countries, including
India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
and
Thailand
Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is bo ...
.
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.
The tour's flagship event, the
Australian Open
The Australian Open is a tennis tournament held annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Australia. The tournament is the first of the four Grand Slam tennis events held each year, preceding the French Open, Wimbledon, and the US Open. Th ...
, 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 European Tour (currently known as the DP World Tour for sponsorship reasons), legally the PGA European Tour is the leading men's professional golf tour in Europe. The organisation also operates the European Senior Tour (for players aged fift ...
. The
Australian Open
The Australian Open is a tennis tournament held annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Australia. The tournament is the first of the four Grand Slam tennis events held each year, preceding the French Open, Wimbledon, and the US Open. Th ...
,
Australian PGA Championship
The Australian PGA Championship is a golf tournament on the PGA Tour of Australasia. It is the home tournament of the Australian PGA. Since 2000 it has been held in the South East Queensland region. The tournament was part of the OneAsia Tour fro ...
and
Fiji International
The Fiji International was a men's golf tournament in Fiji, sanctioned by the PGA Tour of Australasia. The Fiji International was Fiji's first internationally broadcast golf tournament to a worldwide audience across more than 30 countries in over ...
have also maintained elevated prize funds as part of the
OneAsia Tour
The OneAsia Tour was a men's professional golf tour based in the Asia-Pacific region. The tour was founded in 2009 as a joint venture between the PGA Tour of Australasia, the China Golf Association, the Korean Golf Association and the Korean PGA. T ...
.
Australian Triple Crown
In Australia, the Triple Crown also refers to winning the three major domestic championships, the
Australian Open
The Australian Open is a tennis tournament held annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Australia. The tournament is the first of the four Grand Slam tennis events held each year, preceding the French Open, Wimbledon, and the US Open. Th ...
, the
Australian Masters
The Australian Masters was an annual golf tournament on the PGA Tour of Australasia held in Victoria, Australia from 1979 to 2015.
History
In 1989 the International Management Group took control of the management of the tournament.
Though the ...
and the
Australian PGA Championship
The Australian PGA Championship is a golf tournament on the PGA Tour of Australasia. It is the home tournament of the Australian PGA. Since 2000 it has been held in the South East Queensland region. The tournament was part of the OneAsia Tour fro ...
. Winning all three titles in the same season is a feat only achieved by
Robert Allenby
Robert Allenby (born 12 July 1971) is an Australian professional golfer.
Early years
Allenby was born on 12 July 1971 in Melbourne, Victoria. His father had emigrated to Australia from Leeds, UK as a young man.
Professional career
He turned p ...
in 2005.
Order of Merit winners
References
External links
Professional Golfers Association of Australia (Official site) ISPS HANDA PGA Tour of Australasia (Official site)
{{Men's Professional Golf Tours
Australasia
Australasia is a region that comprises Australia, New Zealand and some neighbouring islands in the Pacific Ocean. The term is used in a number of different contexts, including geopolitically, physiogeographically, philologically, and ecologica ...
Golf in Australia
Golf in New Zealand
1973 establishments in Australia
International Sports Promotion Society