17 Aug 2022 | Professional golf |
Aussies on Tour: Big names chase PGA Tour cards
by Australian Golf Media
By Tony Webeck
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 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.
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
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