The PGA Tour of Australasia, currently known for sponsorship reasons as the ISPS Handa PGA Tour of Australasia, is a professional golf tour for men, owned and operated by the PGA of Australia.[1] 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.[2] 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.[3]
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 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 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.
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, 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. Tour chairman Wayne Grady, and player Mark Hensby both accused Australia's biggest golf icon Greg Norman, who is a US resident, of not doing enough to support the tour. Norman dismissed their comments.[4]
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, Australian Open, and Australian Masters). Entry to The Open Championship is given to the Order of Merit winner and the top three non-exempt players from the Australian Open.
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) 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.[5]
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 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 series would initially consist of six events, three in China, two in Australia and one in South Korea, with plans to expand to at least thirteen in 2010 as events in Japan were added, and over 20 by 2011.[6][7][8]
The introduction of the OneAsia series has not been universally welcomed, with strong opposition coming from the Asian Tour in particular, with support from its members.[9] All of the six events announced for 2009 were existing tournaments, including some already sanctioned by the Asian Tour. One of them, the Pine Valley Beijing Open, 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 on the US-based PGA Tour, 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.[10]
OneAsia was discussed at the annual meeting of the International Federation of PGA Tours 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 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.[11]
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, have been held in several other countries, including India and Thailand.
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.[12] The tour's flagship event, the Australian Open, awards a minimum of 32 points to the winner.
^"About the Professional Golfers Association of Australia". PGA of Australia. Retrieved 18 February 2020.
^"Tournament part of major golf circuit". The Bananacoast Opinion. New South Wales, Australia. 8 October 1974. p. 3. Retrieved 18 February 2020 – via Trove.
^Moloney, Brendan (26 September 1991). "Rich golf circuit starts an exodus to Asia". The Age. Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. p. 29 – via Newspapers.com.
^"Norman shock at Hensby criticism". BBC Sport. 24 November 2005. Retrieved 29 October 2008.
^. PGA Tour of Australasia. 28 October 2008. Archived from the original on 26 September 2009. Retrieved 27 January 2009.
^"Australia backs big-money OneAsia Super Series". Shanghai Daily. 18 March 2009. Retrieved 19 March 2009.
^"OneAsia series to vie with US, European tours, says commissioner". The Sydney Morning Herald. 15 March 2009. Retrieved 19 March 2009.
^Hayes, Mark (13 March 2009). "Golfers to cash in". Herald Sun. Retrieved 19 March 2009.
^"Asian golfers reject 'super series'". Bangkok Post. 13 March 2009. Retrieved 19 March 2009.
^"OneAsia Tour's Pine Valley Beijing Open called off". Asia One. 7 April 2009. from the original on 30 October 2017. Retrieved 14 November 2021.
^Schupak, Adam (10 April 2009). . golfweek. Archived from the original on 16 April 2009. Retrieved 13 April 2009.
^. 25 July 2011. Archived from the original on 25 September 2013. Retrieved 9 January 2012.
External links
Professional Golfers Association of Australia (Official site)
January 16, 2023
tour, australasia, currently, known, sponsorship, reasons, isps, handa, professional, golf, tour, owned, operated, australia, official, events, tour, count, world, golf, ranking, points, tour, recognised, being, founded, 1973, when, australia, instituted, orde. The PGA Tour of Australasia currently known for sponsorship reasons as the ISPS Handa PGA Tour of Australasia is a professional golf tour for men owned and operated by the PGA of Australia 1 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 2 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 3 PGA Tour of AustralasiaCurrent season competition or edition 2022 23 PGA Tour of AustralasiaFormerlyPGA Tour of AustraliaSportGolfFounded1973 renamed PGA Tour of Australasia in 1991 Countries Australia Fiji New Zealand Papua New GuineaMost titlesOrder of Merit titles 6 Greg NormanTV partner s Nine Network Australia Fox Sports Australia Sky Sport New Zealand TV3 New Zealand RelatedcompetitionsVon Nida TourOfficial websitehttps www pga org au 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 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 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 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 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 Tour chairman Wayne Grady and player Mark Hensby both accused Australia s biggest golf icon Greg Norman who is a US resident of not doing enough to support the tour Norman dismissed their comments 4 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 Australian Open and Australian Masters Entry to The Open Championship is given to the Order of Merit winner and the top three non exempt players from the Australian Open Contents 1 Von Nida Tour 1 1 Von Nida Tour Order of Merit winners 2 OneAsia Tour 3 Schedule 3 1 Australian Triple Crown 4 Order of Merit winners 5 References 6 External linksVon Nida Tour EditBetween 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 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 5 Von Nida Tour Order of Merit winners Edit Season Player Prize money A 2008 Michael Long 27 6502007 Andrew Bonhomme 41 4972006 Marc Leishman 54 6792005 Adam Bland 40 1792004 Kim Felton 46 5002003 Scott Hend 52 006OneAsia Tour EditMain article 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 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 series would initially consist of six events three in China two in Australia and one in South Korea with plans to expand to at least thirteen in 2010 as events in Japan were added and over 20 by 2011 6 7 8 The introduction of the OneAsia series has not been universally welcomed with strong opposition coming from the Asian Tour in particular with support from its members 9 All of the six events announced for 2009 were existing tournaments including some already sanctioned by the Asian Tour One of them the Pine Valley Beijing Open 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 on the US based PGA Tour 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 10 OneAsia was discussed at the annual meeting of the International Federation of PGA Tours 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 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 11 Schedule EditMain article 2022 23 PGA Tour of Australasia 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 have been held in several other countries including India and Thailand 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 12 The tour s flagship event the Australian Open 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 Australian Open Australian PGA Championship and Fiji International have also maintained elevated prize funds as part of the OneAsia Tour Australian Triple Crown Edit In Australia the Triple Crown also refers to winning the three major domestic championships the Australian Open the Australian Masters and the Australian PGA Championship Winning all three titles in the same season is a feat only achieved by Robert Allenby in 2005 Order of Merit winners EditSeason Player Prize money A 2021 22 Jediah Morgan 190 4092020 21 Brad Kennedy 302 4802019 Ryan Fox 307 9252018 Jake McLeod 255 3262017 Brett Rumford 313 0942016 Matthew Griffin 239 4452015 Nathan Holman 346 7022014 Greg Chalmers 2 254 5252013 Adam Scott 2 538 6202012 Peter Senior 4 268 2922011 Greg Chalmers 554 2852010 Geoff Ogilvy 459 9002009 Michael Sim 315 0882008 Mark Brown 440 0272007 Craig Parry 3 442 0042006 Nick O Hern 583 8202005 Adam Scott 545 4292004 Richard Green 365 0172003 Peter Lonard 2 604 0002002 Craig Parry 2 641 7892000 01 Aaron Baddeley 662 1251999 2000 Michael Campbell 936 8101998 99 Jarrod Moseley 330 7981997 98 Andrew Coltart 316 1071996 97 Peter Lonard 484 5341995 Craig Parry 334 8041994 Robert Allenby 2 199 6451993 Peter Senior 3 243 5041992 Robert Allenby 309 0631991 Rodger Davis 2 343 2771990 Rodger Davis1989 Peter Senior 2 443 1961988 Greg Norman 6 1987 Peter Senior1986 Greg Norman 5 1985 Ossie Moore1984 Greg Norman 4 1983 Greg Norman 3 1982 Bob Shearer 4 1981 Bob Shearer 3 1980 Greg Norman 2 1979 Jack Newton1978 Greg Norman1977 78 Bob Shearer 2 1976 77 Mark Lye1975 76 Bill Dunk1974 75 Bob Shearer1973 74 Stewart GinnReferences Edit About the Professional Golfers Association of Australia PGA of Australia Retrieved 18 February 2020 Tournament part of major golf circuit The Bananacoast Opinion New South Wales Australia 8 October 1974 p 3 Retrieved 18 February 2020 via Trove Moloney Brendan 26 September 1991 Rich golf circuit starts an exodus to Asia The Age Melbourne Victoria Australia p 29 via Newspapers com Norman shock at Hensby criticism BBC Sport 24 November 2005 Retrieved 29 October 2008 Secondary events absorbed into Australasian tour PGA Tour of Australasia 28 October 2008 Archived from the original on 26 September 2009 Retrieved 27 January 2009 Australia backs big money OneAsia Super Series Shanghai Daily 18 March 2009 Retrieved 19 March 2009 OneAsia series to vie with US European tours says commissioner The Sydney Morning Herald 15 March 2009 Retrieved 19 March 2009 Hayes Mark 13 March 2009 Golfers to cash in Herald Sun Retrieved 19 March 2009 Asian golfers reject super series Bangkok Post 13 March 2009 Retrieved 19 March 2009 OneAsia Tour s Pine Valley Beijing Open called off Asia One 7 April 2009 Archived from the original on 30 October 2017 Retrieved 14 November 2021 Schupak Adam 10 April 2009 Asian Tour loses event to new rival golfweek Archived from the original on 16 April 2009 Retrieved 13 April 2009 Official World Golf Ranking Board Announces Adjustments To Ranking System 25 July 2011 Archived from the original on 25 September 2013 Retrieved 9 January 2012 External links EditProfessional Golfers Association of Australia Official site ISPS HANDA PGA Tour of Australasia Official site Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title PGA Tour of Australasia amp oldid 1122607013, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
