DP World Tour players flock to Australian PGA as star-studded field grows

An already strong field for the Australian PGA Championship has become even better with the addition of more international players.

Bernd Wiesberger will be part of a strong international field at the Australian PGA Championship. Picture: AAP Image/Tracey Nearmy

The Australian PGA Championship has been further boosted by the entries of a host of international players from the DP World Tour.

The field for the November 27-30 event at Royal Queensland already boasted Australian stars including Cam Smith, Adam Scott, Min Woo Lee, Cam Davis, Marc Leishman and defending champion Elvis Smylie.
Foreign talent also previously confirmed as starters included Joaquin Niemann (Chile), Ryan Fox (New Zealand), Carlos Ortiz (Mexico), Sebastian Munoz (Colombia), Josele Ballester (Spain) and Englishman Marco Penge, the world No.29 who is the highest-ranked player in the field.

And on Friday, a host of other international players who ply their trade on the DP World Tour – which co-sanctions the Australian PGA with the PGA Tour of Australasia – were confirmed to be teeing off at RQ.

They are English trio Alex Fitzpatrick, Eddie Pepperell and Andrew “Beef” Johnston, Renato Paratore (Italy), Rasmus Neergard-Petersen (Denmark), Bernd Wiesberger (Austria), Rafa Cabrera-Bello (Spain), Kiradech Aphibarnrat (Thailand), Junghwan Lee (South Korea) and Yuto Katsuragawa (Japan) and Ding Wenyi (China).

Genesis Championship winner Junghwan Lee will tee off at Royal Queensland in the Australian PGA event. Picture: Luke Walker/Getty Images

Cabrera-Bello is a former Ryder Cup representative for Europe, while Lee won last month’s Genesis Championship, which was co-sanctioned by the DP World Tour and Korean Tour.

Wiesberger has won six times on the DP World Tour, while Fitzpatrick is the younger brother of 2022 US Open winner Matt Fitzpatrick.

PGA of Australia chief executive Gavin Kirkman said the increasing number of international stars “underscores the global appeal” of the Australian PGA event.

“We’re thrilled to welcome such a diverse and talented group of DP World Tour players to Royal Queensland,” Kirkman said.

“It’s fantastic to see emerging stars from across Europe and Asia joining established names who’ve won at the highest level.

“Fans can look forward to world-class golf and plenty of personality. The field continues to build into something very special.”

Originally published as DP World Tour players flock to Australian PGA as star-studded field grows