European Tour: Australian PGA Championship top 10 power rankings

The Aussie swing continues this week with the Australian PGA Championship

The first of two European Tour events on the calendar in Australia comes this week at the Australian PGA Championship. Last week’s Australian Open was a PGA Tour of Australasia tournament, and several players are sticking around for the PGA.

The Aussie PGA is in its third year as an official European Tour event (co-sanctioned with the PGA Tour of Australasia), its fifth year at RVAC Royal Pines Resort in Queensland, Australia, and has surpassed 100 editions since its debut in 1905.

The purse checks in at $1.5 million AUD ($~1.146 USD). Top 65 and ties make the cut. Royal Pines’ Championship course is a Graham Marsh redesign that plays to a par 72 at 7,364 yards. The course features tight fairways, undulating, but large greens and plenty of water and bunkers. There is some tree line and the rough is not a big factor. The greens are Tifeagle Bermuda and fairways are Wintergreen.

Early weather forecasts project a chance for rain and winds over 10 miles per hour on all four tournament days with temperatures in the 70s and 80s Fahrenheit.

Per usual, some big hometown names are in the field, along with other European Tour stars. The Australian PGA trumps the alternate field event on the European Tour, the Mauritius Open, but the chance to net more top-25 players in the world is thwarted by the 18-player Hero World Challenge in the Bahamas featuring Tiger Woods’ return.

The likes of Seve Ballesteros, Greg Norman, Ian Baker-Finch and Geoff Ogilvy have lifted the Kirkwood Cup in Australia. Will another big name claim it this year?

Here’s a breakdown of who could go well under par in the land Down Under.