BMW Australian PGA Championship 2024: Course and current form stats

• Flat parkland course with plenty of sand

• PGA Tour champ Davis 20/1 can win on home soil

• Robin 45/1 a reasonable each-way contender

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Tournament and Course Notes

• The DP World Tour heads Down Under for back-to-back tournaments in Australia. First stop is Queensland and the Australian PGA Championship in Brisbane. This week's event is also the first tournament on the Tour's 2024-25 calendar, and it arrives less than 100 hours after the old season had reached its conclusion in Dubai;

• This will be the eighth occasion in which the Australian PGA Championship has been part of the DP World Tour schedule. The first five co-sanctioned tournaments were staged at Royal Pines on the Gold Coast, while the last two have been at Royal Queensland Golf Club. Although the club was opened in 1921, this week's course is barely 17 years old;

• The current layout was completed in 2007, having been designed by former Tour pro Mike Clayton. It is a largely flat course, with wide fairways, little rough and located on the north bank of the Brisbane River;

• However, there is an abundance of strategically-positioned bunkers which have been described as being 'a significant part of its defence'. Although this parkland course has plenty of sand, water should only be a concern on five holes;

• The key to shooting low at Royal Queensland is good course management. By locating the ideal position on the fairway, golfers will have the best angle to approach the green and attack the pin.

Good Current Form

The 2022 champion at Royal Queensland, Cameron Smith 9/1, is the poster-boy for this week's tournament. The former Open champion will be playing in his third Australian event during the past four weeks.

So far he's carded a brace of podium finishes and it would be surprising if he failed to contend again this coming weekend. That said, Smith will be annoyed that he let slip a 54-hole lead at last week's New South Wales Open where victory went to another LIV Tour player Lucas Herbert 14/1.

And if you are seeking a less well-known Aussie to contend this weekend then what about Elvis Smylie 80/1? The 22-year-old from Queensland has performed well on home soil in recent weeks, which included a maiden Tour title in Western Australia. He's definitely a decent each-way shout in Brisbane.

Many of the leading non-Australians taking part this week are recent graduates from Europe's Challenge Tour, all hoping to start the new season with a bang. One of these is Finland's Oliver Lindell 50/1 who closed his Challenge Tour account with eight straight T10s, albeit no title.

Although a number of these players could easily enjoy a top-five finish, it is highly unlikely that any of them will hold aloft the winner's trophy.

One of this year's busiest players has been South African Robin Williams 45/1. In addition to a recent victory on his own Sunshine Tour, Williams lost a play-off on the DP World Tour back in March, as well as posting a handful of other top-six finishes across numerous tours.

Once again, more of a top-five contender than outright winner.

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Good Course Form

Defending champion Min Woo Lee 8/1 returns to Royal Queensland where all three of his previous visits have yielded top-five finishes. And the 26-year-old Aussie will more than likely contend once again.

Two other Australians with strong course histories are Marc Leishman 11/1 and Cameron Davis 20/1. Leishman is one of a handful of LIV Tour pros taking part, while Davis has spent most of 2024 on the PGA Tour, where the highlight of his season was a victory in Detroit during mid-summer.

David Micheluzzi 40/1, yet another Aussie, also enjoys solid Royal Queensland form and he arrives back home following a busy year on the DP World Tour.

Note: List Contains Leading Reserves Course Form Guide: 22.1 (Australasian Tour); 22.2 & 23 (Australasian & DP World tours).

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