Australian PGA sticking with Gold Coast success formula

The Australian Open is on the move but the Australian PGA is going nowhere.

Harold Varner III is planning to return to Australia and play in the Open as well as the PGA next year.

The Australian Open is on the move but the Australian PGA is going nowhere as officials prepare to announce plans to keep the tournament in southeast Queensland for the foreseeable future.

It is understood an announcement could be made today confirming the tournament will continue to be played at Royal Pines on Queensland’s Gold Coast, which has hosted the event for the past five years.

The Queensland government has given significant backing to make the tournament a success, helping fund a move to bring US Masters champion Sergio Garcia to this year’s event.

Garcia contended early but struggled over the weekend. It is understood the green jacket winner was battling with health issues including headaches, hence his poor display in yesterday’s final round.

Golf Australia has already announced the Open will be played in Melbourne in 2020 and 2022, ending the stranglehold the NSW government had on the national championship.

It means under the current calendar, Sydney will be without a major golfing tournament in those two years. Queenslanders can take solace in the fact the PGA will remain their window to the golfing world, particularly with the promise of more big names in the lead-up to the 2019 Presidents Cup.

The PGA and Open are likely to engage in a dogfight for the cream of the US and International team talent, setting up a bidding war for the likes of Jason Day, Adam Scott, Dustin Johnson, Jordan Spieth, Justin Thomas, Rickie Fowler and potentially Tiger Woods, who was an assistant captain on the US team at this year’s Ryder Cup.

One player who will be delighted to hear that the tournament is staying put is American Harold Varner III. Varner lost the Joe Kirkwood Cup yesterday but not his love for Australia as he outlined plans to extend his tournament play to include the Open and the PGA next year.

Varner closed his PGA defence with a six-under par 66, good enough to grab outright sixth behind winner Cameron Smith but not enough to retain the title he won 12 months ago.

The result failed to sour the popular American’s love of Australia. If anything, it has whetted his appetite to spend more time in the country.

He certainly won’t be turning his back on Queensland, no matter how his year on the US PGA Tour plays out. Varner plans to return next year and is open to also playing the Australian Open, which will be hosted in Sydney.

With a better finish to his third round — he had three bogeys and a triple bogey in his closing nine holes — he would have been in contention to join Smith and Jordan Zunic in a playoff yesterday.

In the end he had to be content with another top-10 finish. The plan is to parlay his form here into more success in the US. He failed to do so last year but will return home intent on maintaining the momentum he picked up this week. “That is the beautiful thing about golf,” he said. “You can learn something from it. Hopefully I can build on it this year.”