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The ISPS Handa Australian Open 2022 is all set to take place at the Victoria Golf Club & Kingston Heath Golf Club in Melbourne between December 1 and 4.
In a historic run, the event will host men's and women's events concurrently for the first time, with both playing for an equal prize money purse of $1.7 million.
The tournament will also host the Australian All Abilities Championship, which will be contested by 12 of the best golfers with a disability. All in one, the three fields will compete in separate groups for separate trophies.
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Both the Victoria Golf Club & Kingston Heath Golf Club in Melbourne will host play on Thursday and Friday, while the final two rounds on the weekend will be played solely at the Victoria Golf Club.
Inbee Park of Korea and Matt Jones of the United States are the defending champions in the women's and men's events, respectively. Due to COVID-19, the event didn't take place in 2020 and 2021.
This will be the third event on the 2022-23 DP World Tour schedule, which will feature some of the top golfers from Australia. Following the conclusion of the recent Australian PGA Championship, all eyes will be on the Australian Open taking place this week.
This will be the first time that the men's event will be co-sanctioned by the PGA Tour of Australia and the DP World Tour.
However, the Australian Open is an unofficial event on the LPGA Tour schedule. While both the men's and women's events were originally planned to be a 144-player field, a few changes have now taken place.
The women's field is reduced to 108 players and the men's field is enlarged to 156 players.
Players to watch at the ISPS Handa Australian Open 2022
The 156 men's field will be headlined by Cameron Smith, Ryan Fox, and Adam Scott. World no. 3, and the 150th Open Championship winner, Smith comes fresh from winning the Australian PGA Championship last weekend and will look forward to continuing the same form in the event as well.
He will face competition from World no. 24, Ryan Fox, and World No. 33, Adam Scott for the big prize. Cameron Davis, John Parry, and Min Woo Lee would be other golfers to watch out for.
World No. 5, Minjee Lee, World No. 20, Hannah Green, World No. 15, Lin Xiyu, and five-time winner Karrie Webb will headline the 108 women's field at the Australian Open. Other LPGA marquee players include 2022 Major winners, Jennifer Kupcho (Chevron) and Ashleigh Buhai (AIG Women's British Open).
Interestingly, it will be a family affair for Minjee Lee as she will be joined by her brother, Min Woo in the men’s Open field along with Hannah Green’s fiancé Jarryd Felton.
There will be two cuts for both the men's and women's field. The first will come after 36 holes to the top 60 professionals and ties and the second after 54 holes to the top 30 and ties.
Rounds 1 and 2 of the ISPS Handa Australian Open will take place on Thursday and Friday respectively. The final two rounds will take place over the weekend starting at 6:45 pm.
