Two of the world’s top amateur players have been added to the stellar field for the Emirates Australian Open in November.
United States amateur champion Gunn Yang and the world’s No. 1 ranked amateur, American Ollie Schniederjans, will tee it up at The Australian Golf Club in Sydney from November 27-30 after accepting invitations.
They will join world No 1 Rory McIlroy, world No. 2 Adam Scott and world No. 8 Jason Day in the field for Australia’s most prestigious tournament.
South Korean Yang, 20, who defeated Canadian Corey Conners in the 36-hole US amateur recently, has strong ties to Australia, having played golf on Melbourne’s pennant circuit for five years as a junior. The San Diego State University student played for Kingswood Golf Club and was the Riversdale Golf Club champion as a teenager.
Schniederjans, 21, has had an outstanding amateur career with Georgia Tech in the US, finishing runner-up in the individual section of the NCAA championship, becoming the first Georgia Tech player to win five events and winning first-team all-American honours as a junior.
As the Mark McCormack Medal winner for 2014, he has exemptions to play in next year’s US Open and Open Championship.
Emirates Australian Open tournament director Trevor Herden said the presence of top quality amateurs was part of the tradition of the Open. “These guys are the stars of the future,’’ said Herden. “We’re delighted to have world class amateurs in the field to complement the terrific field of professionals that we’ve been able to put together.’’
McIlroy is the defending Emirates Australian Open champion, having won the title for the first time at Royal Sydney last year.
The Emirates Australian Open will be broadcast live on the Seven Network across all four days and the championship will again be sanctioned by the PGA Tour of Australasia and OneAsia.
The Championship is owned by Golf Australia and is managed by World Sport Group with the assistance of TRP Sports.
Tickets are on sale now via Ticketek at www.ticketek.comor by calling 132 849.