Australian Open to feature men's and women's competition for same prize money

Published Nov. 26, 2024 10:36 a.m. ET

Associated Press

European tour and PGA Tour of Australasia

ISPS HANDA AUSTRALIAN OPEN

Site: Melbourne, Australia.

Courses: Kingston Heath (Yardage: 7,259. Par: 72.) and Victoria GC (Yardage: 6,887. Par: 71.)

Prize money: A$1.7 million. Winner's share: A$283,333.

Television: Wednesday-Thursday, 8 p.m. to 1 a.m. (Golf Channel); Friday, 10 p.m. to 3 a.m. (Golf Channel); Saturday, 9 p.m. to 2 a.m. (Golf Channel).

Defending champion: Joaquin Niemann and Ashleigh Buhai.

Race to Dubai leader: Elvis Smylie.

Last week: Elvis Smylie won the Australian PGA Championship.

Notes: For the second straight year, the Australian Open and Women's Australian Open will compete at the same time on the same courses for the same level of prize money. ... Australian siblings Minjee Lee from the LPGA and Min Woo Lee will be competing in their respective fields. ... Tiger Woods won the 2009 Australian Masters at Kingston Heath, one of the more famous courses on the Melbourne sandbelt. ... Kingston Heath will host the Presidents Cup in 2028. ... Geoff Ogilvy is in the field. He grew up at Victoria Golf Club. ... Cameron Smith is playing for the fourth straight week, including two PGA Tour of Australasia events that were not co-sanctioned with the European tour. ... Joaquin Niemann of LIV Golf won last year and it was key for him receiving an invitation to the Masters. ... Wenyi Ding, who gave up his spot in the Masters from winning the Asia-Pacific Amateur, is playing as a European tour rookie.

Next week: Nedbank Golf Challenge.

Online: https://www.europeantour.com/dpworld-tour/ and https://pga.org.au/

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Asian Tour

INTERNATIONAL SERIES QATAR

Site: Doha, Qatar.

Course: Doha GC. Yardage: 7,437. Par: 72.

Prize money: $2.5 million. Winner's share: $450,000.

Television: Wednesday-Thursday, 4-8 a.m. (Golf Channel); Friday-Saturday, 3:30-7:30 a.m. (Golf Channel).

Previous money winner: Andy Ogletree.

Money leader: John Catlin.

Last week: Patrick Reed won the Hong Kong Open.

Notes: This is the ninth out of 10 events in the International Series on the Asian Tour schedule. The final event is the Saudi International. ... The winner of the points list gets a spot in the LIV Golf League next year. ... The 120-man field features 20 players who played in LIV Golf this year. ... John Catlin leads the International Series points list ahead of Canadian Richard Lee and Peter Uihlein. ... Andy Ogletree won last year. He is not returning to defend his title. He has won three International Series events since they began in 2022. ... LIV Golf financially supports the Asian Tour, leading to a boost in prize money. ... The field includes Anthony Kim in his second tournament with a cut. He missed the cut in Macau earlier this year. ... Other LIV players in the field during Thanksgiving week include Patrick Reed and Brendan Steele. ... Qatar used to be part of the European tour schedule.

Next week: PIF Saudi International.

Online: https://asiantour.com/

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PGA Tour

Last week: Maverick McNealy won the RSM Classic.

Next week: Hero World Challenge.

FedEx Cup champion: Scottie Scheffler.

Online: https://www.pgatour.com/

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LPGA Tour

Last week: Jeeno Thitikul won the CME Group Tour Championship.

Next tournament: Grant Thornton Invitational on Dec. 13-15.

Race to CME Globe winner: Jeeno Thitikul.

Online: https://www.lpga.com/

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Other tours

Japan Golf Tour: Golf Nippon Series JT Cup, Tokyo Yomiui CC, Tokyo. Defending champion: Taiga Semikawa. Online: https://www.jgto.org/en/

Ladies European Tour: Andalucia Costa Del Sol Open de Espana, Real Club Guadalhorce, Malaga, Spain. Defending champion: Aditi Ashok. Television: Thursday-Saturday, 8 -11 a.m. (Golf Channel); Sunday, 7-10 a.m. (Golf Channel). Online: https://ladieseuropeantour.com/

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AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf