By kevin Rademeyer, Sports Journalist.
Photo Credit: PGA Tour.
The PGA Tour has strengthened its ties with the Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia and the DP World Tour, extending their partnership through to the end of 2027 as the organisations seek to expand international playing opportunities and reinforce pathways for emerging professionals.
The agreement also secures the BMW Australian PGA Championship as a co sanctioned event on the Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia and DP World Tour schedules for a further three years, through to at least 2029.
The championship will be played at The Lakes Golf Club in Sydney from November 26 to 29, continuing its role alongside the Capital.com Australian Open as a major opportunity for Australasian golfers to compete against international fields on home soil.
The expanded agreement builds on a relationship between the Australasian and DP World Tours that began in 2017 and was renewed in 2022. The PGA Tour has supported the partnership through its Strategic Alliance with the DP World Tour.
The three organisations will continue working together on player pathways, tournament development, player services and commercial opportunities. The announcement follows a separate partnership involving the PGA Tour, DP World Tour and Golf Australia, reflecting a broader effort to connect professional golf across international markets.
The existing pathway has already helped players from Australia and New Zealand gain access to elite international competition. At the recent Alfred Dunhill Links Championship on the DP World Tour, 22 Australasian players competed, including 19 who had won on the Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia.
Ten earned their places through their performances on the previous season’s Australasian Tour Order of Merit. The partnership also provides a full playing card on the DP World Tour, two cards for the HotelPlanner Tour and exemptions into qualifying schools for the DP World Tour and Korn Ferry Tour.
PGA of Australia and Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia chief executive Gavin Kirkman said the extension represented a significant step forward for the tour and its members.
He said the partnership had contributed to growth in prize money and tournament opportunities, improved access to international competition, stronger exemptions into major championships and the continued development of the tour’s broadcast and commercial platform.
“Our role is to provide our players with a great Tour to compete on at home, while creating the clearest possible pathways for those who want to take their careers onto the world stage,” Kirkman said.
He pointed to Min Woo Lee as an example of how those opportunities can shape a career. Lee won the co sanctioned Vic Open in 2020, before claiming the Scottish Open in 2021 and the Australian PGA Championship in 2023.
Kirkman added that Australasian players had recorded 27 victories across the PGA Tour and DP World Tour since 2020, highlighting the region’s growing influence in international golf.
PGA of Australia chair Ian Baker Finch said stronger international relationships were essential to maintaining Australasia’s place in the professional game.
He described a strong domestic tour as fundamental to giving the next generation of Australian and New Zealand golfers the chance to follow those who had succeeded internationally.
The extension of the BMW Australian PGA Championship’s co sanctioned status, he said, would give players further opportunities to test themselves against world class opposition without travelling overseas.
PGA Tour senior vice president of international Christian Hardy said the agreement would improve connectivity across the sport and create more meaningful opportunities for players.
DP World Tour chief tournament and operations officer Ben Cowen said the expanded partnership built on almost a decade of cooperation.
He described the Australian PGA Championship as an important starting point for the Race to Dubai and welcomed its continued place on the global schedule.
The three tours will now look to build on the existing pathways and tournament arrangements, with the longer term aim of strengthening professional golf in Australasia while giving its players greater access to the international stage.