The players at the Australian PGA are chasing the Kirkwood Cup and so are our so-called experts. Here are their PGA winner and outsider, plus Joburg and Bangladesh Open tips.
PGA TOUR OF AUSTRALASIA – AUSTRALIAN PGA WINNER
Brendan James – Golf Australia Editor
ADAM SCOTT can make a little history with a win at Royal Queensland this week.
A victory will place him alongside Peter Senior, Peter Lonard and Ossie Pickworth as a three-time winner of the PGA and just three behind the championship’s greatest ever winner Kel Nagle.
While the course is very different to when he was a member there in his teens, he will have a good vibe about being ‘home’, which might just be enough to get his nose in front of this quality field.
Sportsbet odds: $10
JIMMY EMANUEL – Golf Australia Deputy & Digital Editor
As much as I would love the Aussies to take this home, and I now fear for some retribution on site at 'RQ' for publicly going in another direction ala Aaron Pike earlier this year, it is a European for me.
RASMUS HOJGAARD played well in Dubai last week and isn't here for just a holiday with his twin brother.
Enjoying the challenge of Royal Queensland and a win here would be the start to a Ryder Cup run for late next year.
Sportsbet odds: $17
Rod Morri – Golf Australia magazine contributor and The Thing About Golf podcast host
Loads of talent in this field but the veterans will find the course to their liking this week and could surprise a few with more than just long hitting required to succeed.
Don’t be surprised to see the likes of Andre Stolz and Greg Chalmers higher up the leaderboard than you might expect and don’t be at all surprised if BRAD KENNEDY walks away with the trophy.
Sportsbet odds: $41
Mark Hayes – Man About Golf
When your mum looks at your tips and tells you that you’ve “started to gibber”, you know you need the finish line.
But I promise a spark this week with not only the blessed finish of the US Tour, but the arrival of one of the deepest and most fun fields we’ve seen at home – outside Presidents Cup visits – in years rolling in under the Gateway Bridge.
What a treat to see a series of TOP-END young talent coming from Europe, all our well-documented guns and EVERY one of our talented next wave who said they’d support home when they got the chance doing exactly that. PLUS a special mention to the bloody legend that is Ryan Fox for supporting his home tour after an extremely long season in which he’s been on the rivets for the past few weeks.
So, my main fear is that because of the possibility of Toowoomba curtains fading or dairy cattle being upset in Roma in what SHOULD be daylight savings time, many of the big guns will miss 6am tee times at Royal Queensland. SIX A. M.??!!!?? In Bob Shearer’s era, they would have pulled an all-nighter to make that tee slot!!!
So on the proviso that CAM SMITH can trick his body into thinking it’s going fishing and thereby setting a successful 3.30am alarm on Thursday morning, he’s my man.
He ALWAYS plays well at home and he’s way too slick to not back up the praise that’s rightfully been heaped upon him this week.
Sportsbet odds: $4
PGA TOUR OF AUSTRALASIA – AUSTRALIAN PGA OUTSIDERBrendan James – Golf Australia Editor
There are nearly 30 DP World Tour regulars teeing up in this co-sanctioned event and one player I’d like to see turn his career around with a good performance is Englishman TOM LEWIS.
Lewis is a quality ball-striker but he hasn’t had a victory for four years but I feel RQ might be the kind of course where he could achieve a high result. He’s no stranger to our shores either, having been beaten in a play-off for the NSW Open by Peter O’Malley back in 2010 before finishing 12th at the Aussie Open the following week.
Sportsbet odds: $81
JIMMY EMANUEL – Golf Australia Deputy & Digital Editor
Sure there are plenty of big names here, but there is no way ANTHONY QUAYLE should be paying $91!
The Queenslander has been playing some good golf this year and has big event winner written all over him.
Little bit of good juju his way too after playing the pro-am with Ian Baker-Finch. And a win for the moustaches is a win for everyone.
Sportsbet odds: $91
RELATED: Scott's major mission
Rod Morri – Golf Australia magazine contributor and The Thing About Golf podcast host
My main pick can probably qualify as an outsider as well but instead I’m going to stick with last week’s selection, JACK THOMPSON.
Got off to a less than ideal start at Nudgee and fought back bravely on a course that didn’t make that easy so he will find the going more to his liking this week and will be thereabouts at the end.
Sportsbet odds: $101
Mark Hayes – Man About Golf
There are 100 legit pretenders to this throne this week, depending on your definition. But I’m going to steer clear of the semi-obvious Europeans, the obvious rising Aussies and those “domestic” players with axes to grind and go for someone completely different.
TAKUMI KANAYA’s bona fides are well known as a former World No.1 amateur for more than a year, plus stellar results in multiple Japan Opens.
But this charming young man is a truly global player who, albeit with mixed results, has happily taken his game to the world at every opportunity since turning pro in 2020.
Importantly, with Adelaide’s Gareth Jones as his coach, Kanaya knows the vagaries of our golf, including winning the Australian Amateur in Perth and finishing third against a great field in the 2019 Aussie Open.
Unfazed by the pressures of weekend golf, he’ll be a contender if he can get away nicely on Thursday.
Sportsbet odds: $41
DP WORLD TOUR – JOBURG OPENBrendan James – Golf Australia Editor
Coming off a top-five at the Nedbank a fortnight ago, CHRISTIAAN BEZUIDENHOUT is in pretty good form and playing an event where he contended in his last appearance in 2017 before fading to a T30.
The 28-year-old is always a factor on home soil and this week will be no different.
Sportsbet odds: $8
JIMMY EMANUEL – Golf Australia Deputy & Digital Editor
Pick a South African, any South African here.
Going with WILCO NIENABER because watching him smash drivers is great fun, even though he barely needs to take the headcover off around here to have short clubs into the green.
Sportsbet odds: $34
Rod Morri – Golf Australia magazine contributor and The Thing About Golf podcast host
The local long drive king WILCO NIENABER will eat this week’s host course for lunch and if he putts just half decently should have enough to get the job done.
He likely won’t even need to hit driver on many holes to leave wedges into the greens and that is a huge advantage at this level.
Sportsbet odds: $34
Mark Hayes – Man About Golf
Not wasting words on a low-care-factor event that shouldn’t be running against the Aussie PGA on the DP World Tour, but that’s another story …
THRISTON LAWRENCE has grown in confidence since winning the European Masters this year and wasn’t far off the pace in the Nedbank a couple of weeks ago.
Sportsbet odds: $14
ASIAN TOUR – BANGLADESH OPEN
Brendan James – Golf Australia Editor
It is not a particularly strong field that will assemble at Kurmitola GC in Dhaka and, for mine, one name sticks out from all the rest.
Thailand’s SADOM KAEWKANJANA, who is currently fifth on the Asian Tour OOM after winning the Singapore Open earlier this year, won this event straight out of Q-School back in 2019. Might be a case of how many strokes he wins by this week.
JIMMY EMANUEL – Golf Australia Deputy & Digital Editor
My man Rod Morri is a HUGE Bangladesh Open guy. Loves the tournament so much he wanted the preview writing duties immediately.
So I am following his lead here and going with local lad SIDDIKHUR RAHMAN.
RELATED: Bangladesh Open preview
Rod Morri – Golf Australia magazine contributor and The Thing About Golf podcast host
This tournament flies a little under the radar but is a very big deal for one local in particular - SIDDIKHUR RAHMAN.
Already a winner once he was also runner-up in 2017 and as the nations’ golfing hero will give a good account of himself again this week.
Mark Hayes – Man About Golf
Sydney’s KEVIN YUAN has run perilously close to a breakout performance for much of the past year with a series of top-20 finishes in multiple countries.
This represents a great chance to take the next step.
So far, our so-called experts have combined to tip 38 winners in 2022, with 224 of their picks recording top-10 finishes that week and a best return of $29 for Joohyung Kim to win the Wyndham Championship (tipped by Rod Morri).
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