The dust has barely settled on the 2023 DP World Tour season but the show rolls on to Australia as a new season begins at the Fortinet Australian PGA Championship at Royal Queensland Golf Club.
Tom McKibbin kicks off his second season at this level while Conor Purcell and Mark Power will be looking to make the most of some early opportunities before Christmas having missed out on a DP World Tour card at Q-School.
Cam Smith will have the opportunity to win on home soil for a fourth time, having carded a final round 68 last year to win the title for a third time. Smith isn’t the only LIV Golf player in the field this week with Marc Leishman and Joaquin Niemann joining him in the quest to earn valuable world ranking points before the end of the year.
A strong field is in store this week with Adam Scott, Min Woo Lee, Robert MacIntyre and Adrian Meronk also pencilled in to compete.
From an Irish point of view McKibbin will be looking to earn Race to Dubai points after finishing 44th in the Order of Merit in his maiden season on the DP World Tour.
The 20-year-old from Holywood has enjoyed a very consistent year, picking up a win at the Porsche European Open in Germany, one top-10 and seven top-20 finishes.
McKibbin looks set to be Irish golf’s sole regular DP World Tour player this season after no Irish player won a card at Q-School a fortnight ago but he will have familiar faces alongside him this week in Brisbane as Purcell and Power make the trip down under.
Australia is a regular trip for Purcell who enjoys some warm weather training in the winter and he will be looking forward to returning to a country where he has done well in the past after registering his highest DP World Tour finish of 7th at last year’s Australian Open.
Meanwhile, Power will embark on his first full season as a professional.
The Kilkenny man suffered heartbreak at Q-School after a closing three-putt bogey saw him miss the cut by a shot but a good week here can open the door for some more invites across the season.
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