Out of the Rough: BMW Australian PGA Championship (2025)

Just two weeks removed from the DP World Tour Championship and the conclusion of the 2025 DP World Tour season, the 2026 season officially kicks off with this week’s BMW Australian PGA Championship!

This week also begins the Tour’s ‘Opening Swing’ that will run for five events, running from now through the AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open at the end of December.

This will serve as the first of two stops in Australia before the Tour heads to South Africa.

The BMW Australian PGA Championship first joined the schedule in December of 2015 and was first held at Royal Pines Golf Club on the Gold Coast.

It was staged there until 2019. In 2022 when the event returned to the schedule, it was held at Royal Queensland where it will once again be staged this week.

This event is co-sanctioned between the DP World Tour and the PGA Tour of Australasia.

The Field

Without much of a surprise, this week’s field is headlined by the majority of the best golfers Australia has to offer.

An Australian has won this event in all seven-of-eight editions of the event being co-sanctioned between the DP World Tour and the PGA Tour of Australasia. Harold Varner III won this event in 2016, being the only non-Australian to do so.

Leading the charge is 2022 The Open Champion Cameron Smith. Smith is a three time winner of this event, with his most recent victory coming in 2022. He also won in 2018 and 2017. 

PGA Tour regulars Min Woo Lee, Adam Scott and Cam Davis add to the strong Australian presence this week.

Marc Leishman of the LIV Golf Tour too will be teeing it up this week.

Australia’s Elvis Smylie burst onto the DP World Tour scene a year ago, claiming his maiden DPWT title at this very event. He’ll be back this week to defend his title.

Outside of the home favorites, a large LIV Golf contingent will look to upend Australia’s stronghold on this event.

Of those on the LIV Golf Tour playing this week are Abraham Ancer, Jose Luis Ballester, Nicolas Colsaerts, Sebastian Munoz, Joaquin Niemann, Daid Puig and Carlos Ortiz. 

Other notable golfers in this week’s field include Marco Penge, Ryan Fox, Kazuma Kobori, Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen, Daniel Hillier and Yuto Katsuragawa.

Other former winners of this event at Royal Queensland teeing it up this week include Lee (2023) and Jediah Morgan (2022.) 

The Course

This week’s BMW Australian PGA Championship is held at Royal Queensland Golf Club in Brisbane, Australia.

It plays as a Par 71 at 7,134 yards and is located on the north bank of the Brisbane River.

Although Royal Queensland Golf Club was opened in 1921, the course hosting this week’s tournament is only 17 years old and was designed by ex-Tour pro Mike Clayton.

This course is a more modern parkland layout that was completed in December of 2007.

Overall, it is a flat course with wide fairways and very little rough.

Despite that, there is an abundance of strategically-positioned bunkers which serves as the course’s main line of defense.

Although there is an abundance of sand, there is limited water to trouble golfers this week.

The Weather

As of the time of writing this, there is a significant chance for some heavy thunderstorms on Thursday. Forecasts are currently calling for a 55-percent chance of heavy thunderstorms on Thursday, mainly between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. local time. Friday calls for just a five-percent chance of precipitation before Saturday calls for a 40-percent chance of scattered thunderstorms. Sunday is calling for just a 15-percent chance of precipitation. Temperatures will begin at 90-degrees on Thursday before peaking at 93-degrees on Friday and settling back to 90-degrees on Saturday. Temperatures will finish the week at 86-degrees on Sunday. Winds will begin at seven miles-per-hour on Thursday before creeping to eight miles-per-hour on Friday and peaking at nine miles-per-hour on Saturday before returning to seven miles-per-hour for Sunday. 

Key Stats

• Strokes Gained: Approach (SG: APP)

• Strokes Gained: Off the Tee (SG: OTT) / Average Driving Distance

• Greens in Regulation Percentage (GIR%)

• Scrambling

• Strokes Gained: Putting (SG: PUTT)

• Bogey Avoidance

• Sand Saves Percentage

Betting Card

Ryan Fox (+2500)

Ryan Fox isn’t Australian but he is from New Zealand so in terms of ‘home games,’ this is as close as it gets for the Kiwi. On the DP World Tour this past season, he finished second in sand saves percentage, tenth in scrambling, 11th in in SG: APP, 21st in average driving distance, 44th in SG: OTT, 49th in bogey avoidance, 116th in GIR% and 159th in SG: PUTT. Although that putting number is less than desired, the two-time winner on the PGA Tour this past season finished the 2025 PGA Tour season 51st in SG: PUTT so we can ignore that DPWT figure. He last played the FedEx Open de France where he placed T14th. Prior to that he placed T46th at the BMW PGA Championship and 43rd at the BMW Championship on the PGA Tour. In this field, he’s one of the ‘cream-of-the-crop’ but comes with arguably the best number of those at the top of the board.

Daniel Hillier (+3000)

Hillier was the second name outside of the top-ten for a PGA Tour card this past season on the DP World Tour. He’ll be heading into this 2026 season motivated to crack the top-ten and find himself on the PGA Tour come this time next season. Like Fox, Hillier is from New Zealand, so again, it’s as close to a ‘home game’ as he will find at this level. He comes into this week in great form, placing 16th at the DP World Tour Championship, fifth at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship, 38th at the Genesis Championship, ninth at the DP World Tour India Championship and 23rd at the Open de Espana. He finished this past season 22nd on Tour in average driving distance, 23rd in GIR%, 34th in SG: APP, 35th in SG: PUTT, 41st in bogey avoidance, 48th in SG: OTT, 96th in sand saves percentage and 109th in scrambling. He’s also played this event each of the past three seasons, placing T43rd last year, T61st in 2023 and T70th in 2022. 

Ugo Coussaud (+7000)

Coussaud hasn’t been in amazing form coming into this week but did place 49th at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship, 42nd at the Genesis Championship, 40th at the DP World Tour India Championship, fifth at the Open de Espana and 22nd at the FedEx Open de France. He finished last season 32nd in SG: PUTT, 34th in GIR%, 37th in average driving distance, 41st in sand saves percentage, 78th in both SG: OTT and bogey avoidance, 91st in scrambling and 120th in SG: APP.  The veteran Frenchman is seeking his first DP World Tour title.

Nathan Barbieri (+30000)

The first of my Australian longshots. He’s been in some insane form across the PGA Tour of Australasia as of late. He placed T34th in his last outing at the Queensland PGA Championship but prior to that placed T10th at the NSW Open, eighth at the Webex Players Series South Australia, T3rd at the Nexus Advisernet Bowra & O’Dea WA Open, T4th at The CKB WA PGA Championship, second at the Tailor-Made Building Services NT PGA Championship and T16th at the PNG Open. He placed T53rd here a season ago, missed the cut in 2023, placed T41st in 2022 and T31st in 2021. 

Jay Mackenzie (+40000)

Mackenzie too has been in great form across the PGA Tour of Australasia as of late. He missed the cut in his last outing at the Queensland PGA Championship but prior to that placed T6th at the NSW Open, T5th at the Webex Players Series South Australia, T33rd at the Nexus Advisernet Bowra & O’Dea WA Open, second at The CKB PGA Championship, seventh at the Tailor-Made Building Services NT PGA Championship and T10th at the PNG Open. He’s played this event each of the past three seasons where he missed the cut each time. 

2024 Betting Card 

• Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen (T8th) 

• Adrien Saddier (T34th)

• Daniel Hillier (T43rd)