The US PGA Tour and ISPS Handa PGA Tour of Australasia have signed a co-operation and golf development agreement, with the two organisations collaborating to strengthen professional tournament golf in both the Australasian region as well as globally.
The organisations have long enjoyed a strong and healthy working relationship as members of the International Federation of PGA Tours, jointly sanctioning, with other governing bodies, the four World Golf Championships events and the World Cup of Golf.
The new agreement will further strengthen the tours’ affiliation, formalising their efforts to work together in a closer, more collaborative manner to support each tour’s development.
With that in mind, the tours have helped bring the World Cup of Golf to The Metropolitan Golf Club in Melbourne, from 21-25 November.
It's our sixth time as World Cup host, moving Australia ahead of China and Spain and behind only the United States, with 11, has having hosted the tournament more often.
“We have always valued our association with the ISPS HANDA PGA Tour of Australasia, as numerous significant events in our history have occurred in Australia,” US PGA Tour executive vice president and chief global officer Ty Votaw said.
“Australian players have also been pivotal in the history of the tour, whether it has been World Golf Hall of Famers David Graham, Kel Nagle, Greg Norman or Peter Thomson, or Players Championship winners such as, again, Greg Norman, Jason Day, Adam Scott and Steve Elkington — and so many others.”
Gavin Kirkman, CEO of the PGA of Australia, which owns and oversees the ISPS Handa PGA Tour of Australasia, was equally supportive.
“The ISPS Handa PGA Tour of Australasia and the (US) PGA Tour have always shared a productive relationship, and this agreement is a great fit for us as we look to grow and enhance golf in the Australasian region,” Kirkman said.
“This agreement will provide assistance in the development of opportunities that grow the game of golf in Australia and also an ability to further the profile of Australia’s golfing talent.”
The American body took the Presidents Cup outside the United States for the first time in 1998. After contesting the first two editions of the tournament in the United States, the tournament was hosted by the Royal Melbourne Golf Club, with the International team winning its only title. The Presidents Cup returned to Royal Melbourne in 2011 and the club will host again the biennial event in 2019.
“The Presidents Cup is such an important tournament and we recognise all that the Australian golf industry and fans have done to ensure the success of this competition,” Votaw said.
“We anticipate that the 2019 Presidents Cup will be every bit as successful as its two predecessors.”