Australian PGA Championship is now part of European Tour

Australia’s oldest and most prestigious golf tournament today announce a historic co-sanctioning agreement with the European Tour.

There have been rumours for some time that the European Tour was looking to connect more closely with some of the more well established Australian golf tournaments and today those rumours have proven to be true with the announcement they will be co-sanctioning the Australian PGA Championship.

PGA of Australia Chief Executive Brian Thorburn with the Kirkwood Cup, Source: PGA of Australia.

The Australian PGA Championship will be held at the newly redesigned Royal Pines Resort from December 3 – 6, 2015 and will become Australia’s richest golf tournament thanks to the co-sanctioning with the European Tour.

The prize fund will increase to a purse of $1.75 million and because of the link with the European Tour, and as the PGA of Australia reported, it will reach a far greater audience with a new broadcast agreement through Asia, Europe and the USA.

“This is a huge step forward for the tournament to rank alongside many of the great tournaments in Europe and Asia. The partnership will also provide the opportunity to improve the strength of the field through the greater depth of international players currently playing on the European Tour,” he said.

2014 Australian PGA Championship winner Greg Chalmers with the Kirkwood Cup.

In addition to being a big boost for Australian golf, the European Tour deal is a great thing for the golfers. Not only will they have their eyes on a more lucrative winner’s cheque but a spot in a couple of the European Tour’s biggest events beckons if they should raise the trophy on Sunday.

In addition to the 1st place cheque of A$315,000 from RACV Royal Pines, the winner of the 2015 Australian PGA Championship will be granted exemption into the 2016 WGC-Bridgestone Invitational and the 2016 BMW PGA Championship at The Wentworth Club in the UK, and compete for the A$19.5M in prize money at those events.

The 2015 Australian PGA Championship will be officially launched on August 12, 2015 with Channel 7 already confirmed as the live broadcaster.

No word on who will be playing this year but as Australia’s oldest golf tournament, this news will only enhance the tournament’s reputation that will attract some of the world’s best players.

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