The PGA Tour, DP World Tour and Golf Australia on Wednesday announced a new partnership to work together to elevate the Australian Open as a premier event on the global golf calendar.
As part of the partnership, which runs from 2027 to 2029, the Australian Open will be jointly sanctioned by the DP World Tour and the Australian Challenger PGA Tour of Australia, with further involvement from the PGA Tour increasing prize money and placing the tournament in a “clear place” on the global golf calendar, attracting more top players to the event.
“We are excited about this agreement between our strategic alliance partners, DP World Tour and Capital.com Australian Open,” Christian Hardy, PGA Tour’s senior vice president of international operations, said in a release. “The Capital.com Australian Open remains one of the most prestigious events in world golf, and our members have valued the opportunity to compete in Australia for many years, and we look forward to continuing to build on this relationship.”
This is the first time the PGA Tour has officially partnered with Golf Australia, and is particularly noteworthy as the PGA Tour enters a new era under CEO Brian Rolup. Mr. Rolup spent more than a decade with the NFL and saw firsthand that one of the major growth opportunities for established American sports leagues is to export their products to international audiences. The NFL’s global changes have exploded in recent years, and given that golf is already a global game, it makes sense for the PGA Tour, led by Lollup, to expand its international approach.
A strategic partnership with the DP World Tour is part of this, but it is worth noting that the PGA Tour is given particular attention as part of the partnership with Golf Australia. The PGA Tour is rebuilding its schedule for 2027 and beyond, with minor changes expected next year. Further major reforms are planned for 2028..
Australia is a market that has produced many PGA Tour stars over the years, but it is not where the Tour is working on its events. This is largely due to the logistics of Australia’s location in the southern hemisphere, meaning Australia’s golf season falls in the middle of the PGA Tour’s off-season, with the 2026 tournament to be held from December 3 to December 6. But after LIV Golf’s huge success in Australia (and South Africa, another golfing powerhouse), Rolup can’t help but wonder why the PGA Tour has ignored such a golf-mad market.
Business-wise, this new partnership seems like a dip in the water for the PGA Tour, but targeting one of its most successful markets seems like a smart move for the Tour as LIV Golf languishes after losing PIF funding. By helping to raise the prize pool and eliminating calendar conflicts, we’ll see what kind of desire Tour stars have to play in this event. After making his debut in 2025, completing T14 and speaking glowingly about the experience, Rory McIlroy is already committed to playing again this year, and perhaps others will follow his example.
One of the challenges the PGA Tour faces as it expands its global reach is the desire of most American stars to be home as often as possible. That was one reason LIV Golf struggled to poach as many American stars as it wanted, despite once-limitless financial support. Flying to Australia for an event is no small undertaking, but this sandy patch is one of the most fertile golf courses on the planet, and anyone who travels will rave about it after their trip.
Tour teams will know that selling players on experience alone won’t move many players out of their comfort zone. Not only does the partnership have bigger prize money at stake, but it also allows players who love the game of golf to sell what they can get for their personal brand by playing in a place where top stars from outside Australia rarely play. On top of that, players may find it easier to get into offseason golf if the PGA Tour season itself becomes lighter once 2028 is reached and a completely revamped schedule is announced.
Now that players have more capital for the PGA Tour’s business, explaining that the biggest and most immediate growth opportunity lies overseas is more impactful, and will likely seek to further expand the prize pool and improve the status of these events. The partnership with the Australian Open will likely be a one-off, but given Rolup’s history, it wouldn’t be surprising if this was the beginning of an expanded global approach from the tour.
