Schedule draws stars to Aussie golf season

SATURDAY, MARCH 23, 2019 themercury.com.au SUBSCRIPTIONS 1300 696 397 A MASSIVE summer of golf will have a season-ending Christmas party after the Australian PGA was moved to the second last week in December for this year.

The PGA, won last year for the second time in a row by Australia’s world No.25 Cam- eron Smith, will be played from December 19 to 22 on the Gold Coast.

It will come a week after the Presidents Cup, at Royal Melbourne, which will be played a week after the Australian Open at The Australian Golf Club in Sydney.

The presence of a bulk of the world’s best players in Aus- tralia for the Presidents Cup, including US captain Tiger Woods, could prove a major boost for one or both of the events around it.

Australia’s only Masters winner Adam Scott, an eighttime member of the International team in the Presidents Cup, said playing in the Open the week before could help players acclimatise to the summer conditions.

“I think they will get some of [the US team] … the prospect of playing in Australia the week before the Presidents Cup is appealing,” Scott said.

Despite moving the tournament so close to Christmas, PGA chief executive Gavin Kirkman said it could help cre- ate a great atmosphere at the event.

“The Australian PGA Championship has been embraced by the players and sports fans for its fun atmosphere and we feel that it is important for it to be the final tournament of the year for us to deliver that experience expectation,” he said.