Australia will host an event on the European Tour for the first time in three years after the inaugural Perth International Golf Championship was named on the calendar for the 2012 season.
The $2 million tournament, which will be co-sanctioned by the PGA Tour of Australasia, will be played at Lake Karrinyup Country Club from Oct. 18-21.
The last European Tour event in Australia was the 2009 Australian Masters in Melbourne, which was won by Tiger Woods - the former top-ranked player's last victory before capturing the Chevron World Challenge last weekend.
''Returning to Australia, and the city of Perth in particular, will further enhance the global nature of the European Tour,'' said Keith Waters, the tour's chief operating officer.
Other previous tournaments to have been staged in Western Australia include the Heineken Classic, Johnnie Walker Classic and the Lexus Cup.
Kim Hames, tourism minister for Western Australia, said organizers had agreed on a three-year deal to stage the tournament, which will be sponsored by the state government.
The European Tour has so far released tournament dates for only the first six months of the 2012 calendar. Dates for the second half of the year will be released in the coming weeks.
