The two circuits will once again join forces for the first Webex Players Series event of 2023, where men and women compete against one another from scaled tees, while juniors are added to the fray over the weekend.

Hosted by Geoff Ogilvy and played at Rosebud, this week is the first of the The Players Series tournaments to be contested since a boost in prize money was announced that will see the four event series offer a combined $1 million in prize money this summer.

Ogilvy and his fellow major winner Karrie Webb headline the field, while many of the standout performers on the local stage are teeing it up, including some with some very recent success to their name.

DEFENDING CHAMPION: After a horror run with injury, Todd Sinnott claimed his first home Tour win at this event last year.

Going head-to-head with Daniel Gale and great mate Anthony Quayle, Sinnott managed a final round 66 to secure the victory by a shot at 20-under-par.

His relief clearly on display after holing a testing par putt at the 72nd hole to avoid extra holes.

COURSE: Rosebud Country Club once again plays host to this Ogilvy hosted event and continues to rise in the estimations of the professionals and visitors to the 36-hole layout.

For this event a composite of the North and South courses will test the skills of the best men and women in the country, with the North contributing 16 of the the holes while the South’s 1st and 18th holes replace the traditional 6th and 7th.

RIGHT: Todd Sinnott emerged victorious here last year after weekend rounds of 66-66. PHOTO: Australian Golf Media.

Ranked 56th (South) and 27th (North) in the recently released Top-100 Public Access Courses list for 2023, Rosebud is always in exceptional condition when it comes time to host a tournament.

The North Course was originally designed by Jack Watson in 1964 with OCM (Ogilvy, Cocking, Mead) the current consulting architects, and this week marks the third staging of the TPS Victoria here, while the 1976 Australian PGA Championship was played at Rosebud and won by Billy Dunk.

PRIZEMONEY: $250,000

RELATED: So-called expert golf tips for this week

PLAYERS TO WATCH: The starting point for this list is the tournament host Geoff Ogilvy.

The 2006 US Open champion hasn’t really contended for a while, but he has been working at his game and has a desire to play more golf at the highest level.

His last start came at another event he hosts, the Sandbelt Invitational, and there were plenty of positive signs at the end of a busy run that winning more trophies isn’t out of the realm of possibilities for Ogilvy, who will play more competitive golf this year and has no desire to be a ceremonial golfer.

Karrie Webb makes her TPS debut this week at Rosebud. PHOTO: Australian Golf Media.

Neither does Karrie Webb who makes her TPS debut this week.

There are no doubts that the seven-time major winner will like her chances of emulating Hannah Green at TPS Murray River last year in beating the boys, and Webb showed her skills are still there on the way to a top-30 at the Australian Open late last year.

At the other end of the career spectrum, Cassie Porter won her maiden pro title last week at the Drummond Golf Melbourne International, so form suggests she won’t be far off the mark this week if the course setup allows for a level playing field.

Porter won in a play-off over Kelsey Bennett the recent WPGA Tour Q School winner who should find Rosebud to her liking.

Some other players taking some confidence from qualifying schools played recently will be Tom Power Horan and John Lyras who were among five Aussies to secure playing rights in Asia last week.

Power Horan is a multiple time Tour winner at home, and through his work with Brad Hughes has become one of the more consistent performers on the Aussie Tour.

Lyras has developed a reputation for going low, and although he hasn’t quite gotten over the line as yet, it feels a matter of when not if for him to win on the local circuit.

Sarah Jane Smith and Steph Kyriacou add some LPGA Tour power here and wouldn’t surprise if they found themselves in contention come the weekend, with Kyriacou’s first TPS round in Sydney a number of years ago suggesting this format has her name all over it.

There are plenty of others with claims to being a potential winner here, not the least defending champion Todd Sinnott and Anthony Quayle who plays well here and has become a star at home. But no one will be more at home than Rosebud boy James Marchesani who won the first stage of DP World Tour Q School here a few months back.

72-HOLE RECORD: 265, (-20, Todd Sinnott, 2022).

18-HOLE RECORD: 62, (Brad Kennedy, 2021).

TV TIMES*
Round 1: Not televised.
Round 2: Not televised.
Round 3: Saturday (Fox Sports 505 LIVE 2:30pm – 5:30pm)
Round 4: Sunday (Fox Sports 505 LIVE 12:30pm – 5:30pm)
*AEDT, check local guides