Ryan Fox’s win in Canada sees him as Australasia’s leading world-ranked male golfer at year’s end – image Getty / PGA Tour
As the golfing season draws to a close, it is always of interest to see the progress, or in some cases, lack of, that various Australasian golfers have made in their standing in the game.
While the world ranking is not the same measure it was before the introduction of the LIV Golf League, it does provide some sort of yardstick for those not involved in the Saudi-backed tour.
New Zealand’s Ryan Fox ends the year as leading-ranked Australasian male golfer, improving from 84th twelve months ago to 38th, thanks in most part to his two wins on the PGA Tour, his first in the Myrtle Beach Classic, moving him from 119th to 71st, and his second and more significant win at the Canadian Open catapulting him from then 75th to 32nd.
While there were no top ten finishes in his 14 starts since his win in Canada, Fox will finish the year in 38th place and while not at the heights of the 24th place he held after his outstanding European Tour season in 2022, his overall standing in the game has however, been improved as a result of being well and truly established in the US.
Min Woo Lee improved six places to 43rd, his breakthrough PGA Tour victory in Houston moving him from 55th to an all time high of 22nd and although he eased out in the latter half of the year to 46th, a couple of good finishes in France and England and at events at home will see him finish the year as the leading world ranked Australian male golfer.
Jason Day only played 17 world ranking events in 2025, slipping from 38th to 54th. Day missed only three cuts in those seventeen starts, but there were only four top tens with a best of 3rd at the American Express event in January.
Adam Scott suffered a big reversal in ranking from 18th 12 months ago to 62nd at year’s end. Scott missed only three cuts in his 24 starts, but with a best of only 12th in his 18 PGA Tour starts, it was a consistent but hardly spectacular campaign in 2025.
Scott played well in his two world ranking event starts back home (The Australian PGA and Open) and, of course, won the non ranking Cathedral event in Victoria to finish off the year, and at the age of 45, remains competitive in nearly everything he tees it up in. It is, however, the worst end-of-year ranking for Scott since his first year as a professional.
Only four Australasians made the top 100 in the Official World Ranking, Elvis Smylie the next best, improving from 203rd in December 2024 to 129th. Smylie’s rookie season on the DP World Tour gives every indication that he will continue to improve his standing every year, and it may be that 129th will be one of the worst season-ending rankings he has in the years ahead.
Other movements of note by Australasians were the improvement from 363rd to 186th by DP World Tour New Zealand rookie, Kazuma Kobori whose 3rd place finish at the BMW International and a runner-up finish at the British Masters were the highlights, and the slump in rankings by Cam Davis who began the year in 48th place and sees out 2025 in 136th position.
After an impressive 5th place at Pebble Beach, Davis, a former World Amateur, Australian Amateur and Australian Open winner and two-time winner on the PGA Tour, missed his next five cuts and struggled for much of the remainder of the year.
New Zealand’s Daniel Hillier (141st) and Australian Karl Villips (145th) also improved their standing significantly during 2025.
Amongst the women, Australia’s Minjee Lee made some great progress after beginning the season in 17th place in the Rolex World Rankings for Women. Lee finished the year in 3rd place behind Jeeno Thitikul and Nelly Korda, courtesy of a win and three runner-up finishes in LPGA Tour events, including her third major title at the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship.
New Zealand’s Lydia Ko might not have had her best season, but she finishes the year in 6th place in the ranking, thanks in some measure to her victory at the HSBC World Championship event in Singapore early in the season.
Perth’s Hannah Green slipped from 6th to 16th while NSW’s Grace Kim’s win at the Evian Championship moved her from 96th to 25th before ending the season in 26th place.
Minjee Lee with her KPMG PGA Championship trophy – image PGA of America
Barbieri and Hall lead respective Vic Opens
Nathan Barbieri – in action today – image PGA of Australia
New South Wales golfer, Nathan Barbieri, has the halfway lead in the men’s division of the Vic Open at 13th Beach on the Bellarine Peninsula, his best of the day by four shots round of 65, moving him four clear of first round leader Canberra’s Brendan Jones, with another shot back to Victorian Cameron Jones and Queenslander Jack Munro.
Barbieri is chasing his first win on the PGA Tour of Australasia, although he has been runner-up or third on several occasions. His faultless round of 65, which was three strokes better than any other player on day two at 13th Beach, was a notable achievement.
Jones, who led after his opening round of 66 over the Creek Course, battled for much of the day until a final hole eagle saw him move back into contention despite being four off Barberi’s lead.
Jones has won on the PGA Tour of Australasia when he was successful at the 2023 New Zealand Open and did finish runner-up at the 2012 Australian Open and was several times inside the top ten in other lesser events but he is a prolific winner on the Japan Tour Open and after a season on the PGA Tour Champions he has started his PGA Tour of Australasian campaign well.
Barbieri has stolen a march on the field with a massive 15 shots between the leader and those who just made the cut on the number at 5 over, but getting across the line over the weekend will be a big task for the 28-year-old former leading amateur.
The Women’s Vic Open is being led by Welsh golfer, Lydia Hall, who, despite a second round of 75, was able to lead into round three.
38-year-old Hall has won events on the Ladies European Tour, but with just two top tens on the Ladies European Tour last season, this represents a significant turnaround for the lady from Bridgend in Wales.
Hall leads by one over Japan’s Aina Morohashi and NSW’s Kelsey Bennett.
Leaderboard Men
Leaderboard Women
Lydia Hall – leads the ladies’ field after a stunning second round
Professional golfing year builds momentum
New Zealand’s Josh Geary defends his Vic Open title
The world of professional golf builds momentum into 2026, when the DP World Tour and the PGA Tour begin their seasons in Dubai and Hawaii, respectively.
In Dubai, the Dubai Invitational at the Dubai Creek Resort provides a forerunner to next week’s significantly more lucrative Dubai Desert Classic at the Emirates Golf Club, but with Rory McIlroy and Tommy Fleetwood as entries into the event, the field offers plenty of star power.
Australasian entries in this week’s restricted field (60 professionals) tournament are Ryan Fox and Daniel Hillier, the event played in a pro-am format over the opening 54 holes, with the final round for professionals only.
In Honolulu, the event, which has traditionally been the second event of the season to follow the opening Sentry Championship, gets the PGA Tour underway this year, as the normal opening event, the Sentry Championship, was unfortunately cancelled due to drought conditions and associated water problems.
Australasians currently entered in this week’s field at the Waialae Country Club are Adam Scott and Cam Davis, Davis looking to reverse the form that saw him slip from inside the top 50 in the world twelve months ago to outside the top 130 at present.
In Victoria, the time-honoured Victorian Open for both men and women is played at the 13th Beach Golf Club on the Bellarine Peninsula, where New Zealand’s Josh Geary looks to defend the title he won by four shots over last week’s Webex Series Perth winner Connor McKinney.
Prize money is significantly below what it was in earlier years, when the event was played as part of the DP World Tour
Local golfer Su Oh won the women’s event.
Australians miss out on LIV Golf vacancies
Chris Wood – the NSW Open earns starts in the International Series events – image PGA of Australia
The four Australians who made it to the final rounds of qualifying for the three available places on the 2026 LIV Golf League have been unable to secure one of those coveted spots.
Matt Jones, chasing a return to LIV Golf, and Queenslanders Cory Crawford and Chris Wood tied for 8th place in the field of 22 who lined up on the final day, while Travis Smyth finished in a share of 16th.
The available spots went to Canadian Richard Lee, Swede Bjorn Hellgren, and Anthony Kim, a returnee to Liv Golf, having played there this past season.
Crawford, Wood, and Jones will, however, each earn one of the ten places in the International Series events this year, the leading ten and ties in this week’s event gaining access to the lucrative events, which are an addition to the Asian Tour schedule.
Smyth will also get to play the International events courtesy of his standing on the Asian Tour.
Final results
Former Australian Amateur Champion McKinney wins first Australasian Tour event
Connor McKinney – image PGA of Australia
Sottish born West Australian, Conner McKinney, might have stumbled over the closing stages of the Webex Player Series Perth event at Royal Fremantle today but such was the lead that he had built up in the early stages of his final round that he was still able to run out the winner by four shots over his fellow West Australian Curtis Luck, and West Australian lady professionals Abbie Teasdale and Kirsten Rudgeley.
McKinney headed into the final round with a two-shot lead over England’s Andrew Johnston, but within four holes, that lead had extended to six over Johnston and Teasdale.
By the turn, McKinney had moved seven ahead and although Luck emerged from the ruck with a final round of 67 and McKinney dropped three shots in his final five holes, the damage had already been done for his rivals, and the 23-year-old, currently ranked outside the top 1000 in the world cruised to a four-shot victory.
For McKinney, a former Australian Amateur Champion who only recently gained his DP World Tour card via the final stage of qualifying in Spain, the victory was his first on the PGA Tour of Australasia and just his second win as a professional following his win on the Scottish-based Tartan Pro Tour in 2025.
Luck is a significantly better golfer than his results in the professional ranks would suggest, the former US Amateur and Asia Pacic Champion has been plagued by mysterious injury issues in recent times, but a runner-up finish at the Australian Open in 2024, a victory on the Korn Ferry Tour and finishes like this highlight just how good he can be when right.
Teasdale and Rudgeley earn A$15,000 each as a result of their share of the runner-up finish with Luck who earned the same amount in the mixed gender event. Luck will move inside the top 20 on the PGA Tour of Australasia Order of Merit despite his limited schedule.
The round of the day came from Sydney’s Kevin Yuan, who improved from 38th to finish in a share of 9th with a round of 63.
Results
Four Australians remain alive in pursuit of LIV Golf status
Travis Smyth – one of four Australians advancing to the final 36 holes – image PGA of Australia
Australians Travis Smyth, Chris Wood, Cory Crawford, and Matt Jones remain alive in their quest for a place in the Liv Golf League in 2026 following the completion of the opening 36 holes of qualifying in Lecanto, Florida.
All four are now included amongst 22 players in the shootout over 36 holes for one of three spots available in Liv Golf this season, with ten places also available for the International Series of events, which form part of the Asian Tour.
Scores from the opening two rounds will be reset, so the competition over the final two rounds will begin anew.
Asian Tour regular, Travis Smyth, did best when he finished 5th, current NSW Open champion, Chris Wood, was 14th, while Matt Jones and Cory Crawford just made it on the number to advance.
Jones was out in 31 in today’s second round, but a homeward nine of 38 so nearly cost him the chance to return to LIV Golf, where he has played for the past three years.
PNG Open winner, Crawford, also just made it in on the number, recovering from a slow start to keep the door open.
Scores
Webex Player Series Perth reaches halfway stage
Connor McKinney – the recent recruit to the DP World Tour has made a good start to 2026
Scottish-born West Australian Connor McKinney takes a one-shot lead into tomorrow’s third round of the Webex Players Series Perth, adding a second round of 68 to his opening 63 at the Royal Fremantle Golf Club to be one ahead of West Australian Abbie Teesdale in the combined gender event.
One shot further back is England’s Andrew (Beefy) Johnston, a former winner on the DP World Tour, while at 1 under and three from the lead is yet another West Australian, Brady Watt.
McKinney, a former Australian Amateur Champion who six weeks ago earned his DP World Tour card for 2026, has only one win to his name as a professional, that win coming on the feeder Tartan Tour in his country of birth in Scotland last year, but did finish runner-up at the Vic Open last year and this start offers the chance for an Australian breakthrough over the weekend.
Teasdale who turned professional 12 months ago after a stellar amateur career, missed the cut in this event last year in her first event as a professional, but twelve months on, she is beginning to settle into the dynamics of professional golf.
The cut fell at 1 under par with 54 golfers to play the final 36 holes.
Leaderboard
Australasians battling for LIV Golf League places
Matt Jones – former Liv golfer trying to earn his way back
16 Australasian golfers are in the midst of a battle for the right to play LIV Golf in 2026, with qualifying currently underway in Lecanto in Florida for three places in the lucrative league, beginning this season on February 4th in Riyadh.
The event is played over 72 holes, although 18 of the field of 78 are exempt into round two, where they will meet the leading 20 players and ties from round one.
The leading twenty and ties from that group will then advance to the third round, where scores are reset for a 36-hole competition for three places in Liv Golf this season.
Further places are available in the International Series via this process.
Australasians entered in the field for the opening round are Cory Crawford, Mathias Sanchez, Nick Voke, Josh Geary, Harrison Crowe, Cameron John, Travis Smyth, Denzel Ieremia, Will Florimo, Jack Buchanan, Jason Scrivener and Brett Drewitt.
They will be joined by Wade Ormsby, Chris Wood, Ben Campbell and Matt Jones into round two.
Leaderboard
Webex Players Series Perth gets 2026 season underway
Can Austin Bautista add to his recent WAPGA success – image PGA of Australia
The PGA Tour of Australasia gets the 2026 professional golfing year underway this week in Perth when the second half of the 2025/2026 PGA Tour of Australasia schedule begins with the $250,000 Webex Players Series Perth hosted by Minjee and Min Woo Lee, being played at the Royal Fremantle Golf Club south of the West Australian capital.
The event begins a series of 11 events between now and the end of March, the largest of those in terms of prizemoney and significance being the New Zealand Open played in late February.
This week’s event in Perth includes one of the weaker fields of the events on the schedule in the remainder of the season, the cost of getting to the event for many a concern for many at this level.
It does however offer the chance for those involved to improve or consolidate their position on the all-important Order of Merit and to get their games in shape for the upcoming events including the New Zealand Open and the newly introduced ISPS Handa Japan Australia Championship in Auckland in early March.
Most of the remaining events carry prizemoney of $A250,000, although the New Zealand Open has a purse of NZ$2 million and the Auckland event provides a nice late season boost with prizemoney of $A1.2 million.
Despite the tyranny of distance involved in getting to the west early in January, the event has assembled a balance of both members of the PGA Tour of Australasia and the Women’s PGA of Australia, a field of 144 facing the starter tomorrow, 33 of them from the WPGA .
Current New Zealand Open Champion Ryan Peake and defending champion Jordan Doull along with yet another West Australian Curtis Luck will command much of the local attention, although recent West Australian PGA Championship winner, Austin Bautista, is currently the leading player from the world ranking in the field.
Bautista won two events in South Africa last year and currently lies in 11th place on the Sunshine Tour’s Order of Merit, so it might be that he can carry that form over to this event.
The leading-ranked player from this season’s Australasian Tour Order of Merit is Jay McKenzie, who began the season well with top tens in four events in the first half of the season.
Tee Times
Fluctuating fortunes for Australasian golfers in 2025
Ryan Fox’s win in Canada sees him as Australasia’s leading world-ranked male golfer at year’s end – image Getty / PGA Tour
As the golfing season draws to a close, it is always of interest to see the progress, or in some cases, lack of, that various Australasian golfers have made in their standing in the game.
While the world ranking is not the same measure it was before the introduction of the LIV Golf League, it does provide some sort of yardstick for those not involved in the Saudi-backed tour.
New Zealand’s Ryan Fox ends the year as leading-ranked Australasian male golfer, improving from 84th twelve months ago to 38th, thanks in most part to his two wins on the PGA Tour, his first in the Myrtle Beach Classic, moving him from 119th to 71st, and his second and more significant win at the Canadian Open catapulting him from then 75th to 32nd.
While there were no top ten finishes in his 14 starts since his win in Canada, Fox will finish the year in 38th place and while not at the heights of the 24th place he held after his outstanding European Tour season in 2022, his overall standing in the game has however, been improved as a result of being well and truly established in the US.
Min Woo Lee improved six places to 43rd, his breakthrough PGA Tour victory in Houston moving him from 55th to an all time high of 22nd and although he eased out in the latter half of the year to 46th, a couple of good finishes in France and England and at events at home will see him finish the year as the leading world ranked Australian male golfer.
Jason Day only played 17 world ranking events in 2025, slipping from 38th to 54th. Day missed only three cuts in those seventeen starts, but there were only four top tens with a best of 3rd at the American Express event in January.
Adam Scott suffered a big reversal in ranking from 18th 12 months ago to 62nd at year’s end. Scott missed only three cuts in his 24 starts, but with a best of only 12th in his 18 PGA Tour starts, it was a consistent but hardly spectacular campaign in 2025.
Scott played well in his two world ranking event starts back home (The Australian PGA and Open) and, of course, won the non ranking Cathedral event in Victoria to finish off the year, and at the age of 45, remains competitive in nearly everything he tees it up in. It is, however, the worst end-of-year ranking for Scott since his first year as a professional.
Only four Australasians made the top 100 in the Official World Ranking, Elvis Smylie the next best, improving from 203rd in December 2024 to 129th. Smylie’s rookie season on the DP World Tour gives every indication that he will continue to improve his standing every year, and it may be that 129th will be one of the worst season-ending rankings he has in the years ahead.
Other movements of note by Australasians were the improvement from 363rd to 186th by DP World Tour New Zealand rookie, Kazuma Kobori whose 3rd place finish at the BMW International and a runner-up finish at the British Masters were the highlights, and the slump in rankings by Cam Davis who began the year in 48th place and sees out 2025 in 136th position.
After an impressive 5th place at Pebble Beach, Davis, a former World Amateur, Australian Amateur and Australian Open winner and two-time winner on the PGA Tour, missed his next five cuts and struggled for much of the remainder of the year.
New Zealand’s Daniel Hillier (141st) and Australian Karl Villips (145th) also improved their standing significantly during 2025.
Amongst the women, Australia’s Minjee Lee made some great progress after beginning the season in 17th place in the Rolex World Rankings for Women. Lee finished the year in 3rd place behind Jeeno Thitikul and Nelly Korda, courtesy of a win and three runner-up finishes in LPGA Tour events, including her third major title at the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship.
New Zealand’s Lydia Ko might not have had her best season, but she finishes the year in 6th place in the ranking, thanks in some measure to her victory at the HSBC World Championship event in Singapore early in the season.
Perth’s Hannah Green slipped from 6th to 16th while NSW’s Grace Kim’s win at the Evian Championship moved her from 96th to 25th before ending the season in 26th place.
Minjee Lee with her KPMG PGA Championship trophy – image PGA of America
Three Australians earn Asian Tour playing rights
Will Florimo – led the Australians in Thailand – file image PGA of Australia
Three Australians have gained the right to play the Asian Tour in 2026 following the completion of Tour School Qualifying in Thailand today.
Queensland’s Will Forimo in 5th place, his fellow Queenslander, Brett Rankin, in 10th place and NSW’s Harrison Crowe in a share of 15th have all earned the right to play the increasingly lucrative Asian Tour by finishing inside the top 35 after 90 holes of qualifying at the Lake View Resort Golf Club in Hua Hin.
26-year-old Florimo, who is currently in 4th place on the PGA Tour of Australasian Tour’s Order of Merit, will play in Asia for the first time in 2026, but his recent form on the PGA Tour of Australasia, which includes two runner-up and one 3rd place finish, has him playing some of the best of his career.
39-year-old Rankin has been a prolific player in pro-am events throughout Australia, but his only win came six years ago at the NT PGA Championship, so this security of tenure in Asia allows him to build on his consistent performances at the pro-am level.
24-year-old Crowe was an outstanding amateur but is finding the transition to professional golf a demanding one despite a win in the National Tournament earlier this year.
A winner of the Asian Pacific Amateur Championship and a member of the Australian Eisenhower Team during his amateur days, Crowe now gets the opportunity to establish himself in the professional ranks with an Asian Tour card, and his undoubted talent should see him build a substantial career at this level.
West Australian Brady Watt, a semifinalist in the US Amateur Championship and runner-up at the 2012 WA Open, just missed out on gaining his card by one shot.
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