PGA Tour of Australasia
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The PGA Tour of Australasia is a professional golf tour for men. Official events on the tour count for World Golf Ranking points. The tour was formed in 1973 as the PGA Tour of Australia and adopted its current name in 1991.
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 two or three events each year or even not at all. Therefore the Australasian Tour is a feeder for the larger tours. Some of the leading events are co-sanctioned by the European Tour in order 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.
The PGA Tour of Australasia's development tour is the Von Nida Tour (named after Australian golfer Norman Von Nida) which features around ten events with purses of around one hundred thousand Australian Dollars each. The main tour events take place in the Southern Hemisphere summer, that is late in the calendar year and early in the next one, while the Von Nida Tour events mainly take place in the local spring and autumn. However the money list is calculated for calendar years.
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, has been 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 tour chairman Wayne Grady, and player Mark Hensby both complained that Australia's biggest golf icon Greg Norman, who is a U.S. resident, doesn't do enough to support the tour. Norman dismissed their comments. [1]
[edit] Schedule
The table below shows the 2008 schedule. It only lists official money events on the main tour. For a complete table of events recognised by the PGA Tour of Australasia, including Von Nida Tour events and World Golf Championships see the official site. The number in brackets after each winner's name is the number of PGA Tour of Australasia events he had won up to and including that tournament. This information is only shown for PGA Tour of Australasia members.
Note that the exact schedule of events due in November and December has not yet been released.
| Dates | Tournament | State / Country | Prize fund | Winner | Winner's world ranking points |
Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 14-17 Feb | New Zealand PGA Championship | New Zealand | USD 650,000 |  Darron Stiles (N/A)* |
12 | Co-sanctioned by the Nationwide Tour |
| 21-24 Feb | Moonah Classic | Victoria | AUD 850,000 |  Ewan Porter (1) |
16 | Co-sanctioned by the Nationwide Tour |
| 28 Feb-2 Mar | Johnnie Walker Classic | India | GBP 1,250,000 |  Mark Brown (1) |
38 | Co-sanctioned by the Asian and European Tours |
| Nov | HSBC Champions Tournament | China | USD 5,000,000 | Co-sanctioned By The Asian, European and Sunshine Tours | ||
| Nov | Mastercard Masters | Australia | ||||
| Nov | New Zealand Open | New Zealand | ||||
| Dec | Australian PGA Championship | Australia | ||||
| Dec | MFS Australian Open | |||||
| Source: [2] | ||||||
(* Note: The 2008 New Zealand PGA Championship was shortened by 36 holes due to rain. Due to the event's length, this win is counted as unofficial for Stiles, although all prize money earned will count towards the Order of Merit)
[edit] Order of Merit winners
- 2007 Craig Parry
- 2006 Nick O'Hern
- 2005 Adam Scott
- 2004 Richard Green
- 2003 Peter Lonard
- 2002 Craig Parry
- 2000/01 Aaron Baddeley
- 1999/00 Michael Campbell
- 1998/99 Jarrod Moseley
- 1997/98 Andrew Coltart
- 1996/97 Peter Lonard
- 1995 Craig Parry
- 1994 Robert Allenby
- 1993 Peter Senior
- 1992 Robert Allenby
- 1991 Rodger Davis
PGA Tour of Australia
- 1990 Rodger Davis
- 1989 Peter Senior
- 1988 Greg Norman
- 1987 Peter Senior
- 1986 Greg Norman
- 1985 Ossie Moore
- 1984 Greg Norman
- 1983 Greg Norman
- 1982 Bob Shearer
- 1981 Bob Shearer
- 1980 Greg Norman
- 1979 Jack Newton
- 1978 Greg Norman
- 1977 Bob Shearer
- 1976 Mark Lye
- 1975 Bill Dunk
- 1974 Bob Shearer
- 1973 Stewart Ginn
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
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