How does the ISPS Handa Australian Open work? Men’s and Women’s event’s format explored

The ISPS Handa Australian Open, the second event of the 2024-25 DP World Tour, will be held from Thursday, November 28 to Sunday, December 1.

The event will feature three concurrent championships: the Men's Australian Open, Women's Australian Open, and Australian All Abilities Championship (AAAC). The 2024 edition will be held across two Melbourne Sandbelt courses. Kingston Heath Golf Club will host all four rounds, while the Victoria Golf Club will be involved in hosting the first two rounds.

The format of the men's and women's events is as follows:

Round 1

• Date: November 28
• Day: Thursday

Round 2

• Date: November 29
• Day: Friday

Round 3

• Date: November 30
• Day: Saturday

Round 4

• Date: November 31
• Day: Sunday

The prize purse will be equal for both the men's and women's events i.e., AUD 1.7 million each. The men's field will have 156 players while the women will have 84. The tournament will have a cut after 36 holes where top-60 men and top-32 women will advance to the final rounds, respectively.

The tournament will be broadcast for free on Channel 9HD, 9Now and Golf Channel. The broadcast timings are as follows (all times AEDT):

• Round 1: Thursday, 12 pm – 5 pm
• Round 2: Friday, 12 pm – 5 pm
• Round 3: Saturday, 2 pm – 7 pm
• Round 4: Sunday, 2 pm – 7 pm

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Who are the notable players competing at the ISPS Handa Australian Open?

Last year, the men's tournament was won by LIV Golfer, Joaquin Niemann, who defeated Rikuya Hoshino in a playoff with an eagle on the second extra hole. This year, Niemann will return to defend his title.

The other players who will headline the men's event include Min Woo Lee, Cameron Davis, Adam Scott and Cameron Smith. Elvis Smylie who won last week's Australian PGA Championship, is also listed in the field.

Talking about the event, Davis, the 2017 Australian Open winner said (via Golf Australia):

"It's always so much fun coming back to a place where you’ve got that many good memories, defining moments in your career. I feel like it’s always really windy here. I feel like I’m a pretty good wind player in terms of shaping the ball around and judging wind conditions."

"But I think in terms of consistency, right now I’m probably in the middle of the best run of golf I think I’ve ever played in terms of week after week," he added.

The women's event will be headlined by Ashleigh Buhai, Hannah Green, Minjee Lee, Jenny Shin and Grace Kim. Here's what Lee said ahead of the tournament:

"I actually feel quite relaxed this week. I thought I would feel a bit more pressure than I usually feel coming to an Aussie open."

"The Aussie open is always a tough trophy to win, and of course we're going to add added pressure because we both want to play really well, especially in front of a home crowd in Australia. We'll see how we go," she added.

South Africa's Ashleigh Buhai won the 2023 women's event. The winner of this year's tournament will take home A$283,333.