Australia’s two-week ‘major’ season kicks off this week in Brisbane with a crack field lining up at Royal Queensland for the Australian PGA Championship with the likes of Joaquin Niemann, Marco Penge, Cameron Smith, Min Woo Lee and Adam Scott all in attendance.
Key Stats/Skill Set Required
- Putting Average
- Strokes Gained: Putting
- Scrambling
- Driving Distance
- Strokes Gained: Approach
- GIR
Royal Queensland is an open course that favours distance and does not penalise inaccuracy. Finding greens and scrambling are important but a hot putter will be key.
Key Correlation Courses/Tournaments
- Nudgee
- Royal Pines
BEST BET
RYAN FOX
Absolutely in love with New Zealander Ryan Fox this week, who gets a setup to suit. Fox won twice on the PGA Tour last season and did it on the back of ranking 16th with the flat stick. He also ranks 10th in Scrambling, 11th in Strokes Gained: Approach and 20th in Driving Distance on the DP World Tour. The only concern is that he may be underdone having not played since September.
BEST VALUE
JOAQUIN NIEMANN
Chilean Joaquin Niemann is a prolific winner with six wins in the last 12 months including five on the LIV Tour. He has also shown a love for Australia with a win and two more Top 5s in three tournaments the last two years. He leads the LIV circuit in Driving Distance while he ranks 2nd in GIR. All class.
DAVID PUIG
Spaniard David Puig is highly underrated who has an outstanding profile for this week that will put him right in the mix. He ranks 4th in LIV in Driving Distance, 5th in Putting Average, 7th in GIR an 9th in Scrambling. He is flying with Top 15 finishes in three of his last four starts.
BEST ROUGHIES
WADE ORMSBY
Don’t underrate Wade Ormsby this week with the veteran posting a win on the Asian Tour in October. Ormsby was excellent winning the Jakarta International Championship. He has won five pro tournaments since 2011 and he ranks 2nd in LIV as a substitute for GIR.
GREG CHALMERS
The best years are behind the veteran known as Snake but Greg Chalmers looks a great bet to make a run this week at big odds. He has been playing well on the Champions Tour with Top 25 finishes in five of his last six. He loves this event with Top 15 finishes in three of his last four having won the event in 2011 and 2014. Excellent Top 20 bet.