Australian PGA Championship

At the annual meeting of the Australian Golf Union, held during the 1928 championship meeting, it was decided to hold a professional championship, starting at Royal Adelaide in 1929, to add to the Australian Open Championship and the Australian Amateur Championship, which were already held during the meeting.[1] Professional competitions had been held at the championship meeting since 1904 but had never been given the title of "championship". Winners of the Sun-Herald Tournament, held from 1924 to 1926, and which had a similar format to the new championship, had been reported as being the "professional championship of Australia" and the winners called the "professional champion of Australia", although these were not necessarily official titles.[2] Joe Kirkwood, Sr., during a visit to Australia in late 1928, donated a trophy for the new championship.[3][4] The Australian Professional Championship followed the format of the amateur event, with the leading 16 professionals in the open championship qualifying for the match play event. Matches were over 36 holes.[5] There was tie for 16th place which was resolved by the first round scores in a professional "purse" at Kooyonga, played on the Saturday between the end of the open on Friday and the start of the professional championship on Monday.[6] Rufus Stewart beat Ernie Bissett 8&7 in the final.[7][8]

The same format was used throughout the 1930s, the only variation being the day of the final. In 1929 the final was played on a Saturday, three days after the semi-finals. From 1930 to 1932 and in 1938 and 1939 the four rounds were played from Monday to Thursday, while from 1933 to 1937 the final was delayed until Friday to avoid clashing with the amateur final which was played on a Thursday. Rufus Stewart reached the final again 1930 but lost a close match to Jock Robertson.[9] Sam Richardson won the championship twice, in 1933 and 1935.[10][11] He reached the final again in 1937 but lost to Eric Cremin, who also won in 1938.[12][13] Two cousins, Ted and George Naismith, reached the 1939 final, Ted winning 7&5.[14]

The first championship organised by the PGA of Australia was in 1946. It retained the previous format with 16 players competing over four days of 36-hole match-play. The qualifying system was similar to that used in for the earlier Sun-Herald Tournament with each state having a fixed number of qualifying places, determined by the number of members. New South Wales was allocated six places, Victoria five, Queensland two with South Australia, Tasmania and Western Australia having one each. The states organised their own qualifying events.[15] The championship was played at Manly from 11 to 14 December. The New South Wales qualifying event was a 36-hole stroke play event and was played immediately before the championship, at Manly on 9 December.[16] The final was between two of the New South Wales players, with Norman Von Nida beating Eric Cremin by one hole.[17] Cremin was to reached the final five times between 1946 and 1952, losing them all. In 1947 he lost to Ossie Pickworth and in 1948 he lost to Von Nida again.[18][19] With only 16 competitors it became practical to play the event in different locations, the 1948 championship being played in Tasmania while it moved to Western Australia in 1949. The 1949 championship was won by Kel Nagle, the first of six wins in the event.[20] The 1950 final was a repeat of the 1946 and 1948 finals and saw Von Nida beat Cremin for the third time.[21]

In 1951 the schedule of events was revised, with the PGA Championship being played immediately after the Open. The leading 16 professionals in the Open qualified.[22] Norman Von Nida won the championship, his fourth in six years.[23] Qualification in 1952 was based on the leading professionals in the Sydney Ampol Tournament.[24] Bill Holder beat Eric Cremin in the final.[25] In 1953 the PGA Championship immediately followed the Open, with the Open acting as the qualifying event, as in 1951.[26] Ossie Pickworth won his second championship, beating Peter Thomson in a close final.[27] The Open again acted as the qualifying event in 1954, although the PGA Championship was not played until 6 weeks later, Kel Nagle winning his second title.[28][29] From 1955 to 1961 the PGA Championship was played the week after the Open, which acted as the qualifying event. It was played in the same area as the Open, but not generally at the same club. In 1955 it was played in Queensland for the first time, Pickworth winning his third title.[30] Les Wilson won in 1956, followed by Gary Player in 1957.[31][32] Nagle won his third and fourth titles in 1958 and 1959, followed by John Sullivan in 1960 and Alan Murray in 1961.[33][34][35][36] For scheduling reasons, only three days were allocated in 1961, with the first two rounds played over 18 holes on the first day.[37][38]

In 1962, a 36-hole qualifying event was introduced. As in 1961, there were two rounds on the match-play first day, with 36-hole semi-finals and final.[39] The final was one-sided, with Bill Dunk beating Eric Cremin 8&7. Cremin was playing in his seventh final since WWII, but lost them all.[40] A similar format was used in 1963, except that all match-play matches were over 36 holes.[41] Col Johnston beat the American Ron Howell in the final, which was played on a Sunday for the first time.[42]

In 1964 the tournament changed its format to 72-hole stroke-play. It has been played in that format to the current day, with the exception of 1973 when it reverted to match-play for a single season. Initially it was played over three day, with the leading 40 and ties playing 36 hole on the final day.[43] Col Johnston won for the second year in succession, a stroke ahead of Bruce Devlin.[44] Kel Nagle won for the fifth time in 1964, a shot ahead of Frank Phillips.[45] In 1966 Bill Dunk led by 9 strokes after two rounds. Peter Thomson had a third round 69, to reduce Dunk's lead to two but had a final round 73 to Dunk's 68. Dunk won by 7 from Thomson with Bob Stanton third, a further 6 strokes behind.[46] Thomson had his only win in 1966, having been runner-up four times. Johnston and Phillips tied for second place, a shot behind, with Peter Townsend fourth. Townsend dropped shots at the 14th and 15th holes to fall behind, while Phillips missed a short putt at the final hole.[47]

Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus competed in the 1968 championship, which was extended to four days with a Sunday finish. However, 47-year-old Kel Nagle won the title for the sixth time, 6 ahead of Nicklaus and Bruce Devlin third, a further 5 strokes behind.[48] Bruce Devlin won for the first time in 1969, played in Canberra for the first time, and won again in 1970, when it was played at Surfers Paradise on the Gold Coast.[49][50] It was played at Surfers Paradise again in 1971, Bill Dunk winning by 3 shots.[51] Dunk came close to winning again in 1972 but was eventually runner-up, two strokes behind Randall Vines.[52] In 1973 the event returned to a match play format. There was a single stroke-play round with the leading 64 qualifying for six 18-hole rounds of match-play over the following three days. Vines repeated his 1972 success beating Stewart Ginn in the final.[53] Dunk won again in 1974,after an 18-hole playoff, and won again in 1976, his fifth and final win, also after a playoff.[54][55]

The 1977 event was sponsored by Telecom Australia and saw an increase in prize money from A$20,000 to A$100,000. Mike Cahill won by 4 strokes.[56] Telecom Australia dropped their sponsorship after a single event and Mayne Nickless became the sponsor from 1978 to 1982, all five tournaments being played at Royal Melbourne. Prize money rose to A$175,000 in 1982. There were three overseas winner in this period, Hale Irwin in 1978, Sam Torrance in 1980 and Seve Ballesteros in 1981.[57][58][59] Australians Stewart Ginn and Graham Marsh won in 1979 and 1982.[60][61] Prize money dropped to A$40,000 in 1983 but rose to A$150,000 in 1984 under new sponsors Toshiba. Greg Norman won in 1984 and 1985, both times by 8 strokes, and was runner-up in 1986.[62][63][64]

The following venues have been used since the founding of the Australian Professional Championship in 1929.

Source:[65]

Year	Tour(s)	Winner	Score	To par	Margin of victory	Runner(s)-up	Venue	Ref
Australian PGA Championship
2020	Tournament cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic						Royal Queensland	[66]
2019	ANZ, EUR	Adam Scott (2)	275	−13	2 strokes	Michael Hendry	Royal Pines
2018	ANZ, EUR	Cameron Smith (2)	272	−16	2 strokes	Marc Leishman	Royal Pines
2017	ANZ, EUR	Cameron Smith	270	−18	Playoff[lower-alpha 1]	Jordan Zunic	Royal Pines
2016	ANZ, EUR	Harold Varner III	269	−19	2 strokes	Andrew Dodt	Royal Pines
2015	ANZ, EUR	Nathan Holman	288	E	Playoff[lower-alpha 2]	Dylan Frittelli Harold Varner III	Royal Pines
2014	ANZ, ONE	Greg Chalmers (2)	277	−11	Playoff[lower-alpha 3]	Wade Ormsby Adam Scott	Royal Pines
Australian PGA Championship presented by Coca-Cola
2013	ANZ, ONE	Adam Scott	270	−14	4 strokes	Rickie Fowler	Royal Pines
2012	ANZ, ONE	Daniel Popovic	272	−16	4 strokes	Anthony Brown Rod Pampling	Palmer Coolum
Australian PGA Championship
2011	ANZ, ONE	Greg Chalmers	276	−12	Playoff[lower-alpha 4]	Robert Allenby Marcus Fraser	Hyatt Coolum
Australian PGA Championship presented by Coca-Cola
2010	ANZ, ONE	Peter Senior (3)	276	−12	Playoff[lower-alpha 5]	Geoff Ogilvy	Hyatt Coolum
2009	ANZ, ONE	Robert Allenby (4)	270	−14	4 strokes	John Senden Scott Strange	Hyatt Coolum
Cadbury Schweppes Australian PGA Championship
2008	ANZ	Geoff Ogilvy	274	−14	2 strokes	Mathew Goggin	Hyatt Coolum
2007	ANZ	Peter Lonard (3)	268	−20	3 strokes	David Smail	Hyatt Coolum
2006	ANZ	Nick O'Hern	266	−22	Playoff[lower-alpha 6]	Peter Lonard	Hyatt Coolum
Cadbury Schweppes Centenary Australian PGA Championship
2005	ANZ	Robert Allenby (3)	270	−18	1 stroke	Mathew Goggin	Hyatt Coolum
Cadbury Schweppes Australian PGA Championship
2004	ANZ	Peter Lonard (2)	270	−18	2 strokes	James Nitties	Hyatt Coolum
Australian PGA Championship
2003	ANZ	Peter Senior (2)	271	−17	1 stroke	Rod Pampling	Hyatt Coolum
2002	ANZ	Peter Lonard Jarrod Moseley	271	−17	Playoff (Tie)	Title shared.[lower-alpha 7]	Hyatt Coolum
2001	ANZ	Robert Allenby (2)	273	−15	1 stroke	Geoff Ogilvy	Royal Queensland
2000	ANZ	Robert Allenby	275	−13	1 stroke	Steven Conran	Royal Queensland
1999	ANZ	Greg Turner	278	−10	2 strokes	Shane Tait	Victoria
MasterCard Australian PGA Championship
1998	ANZ	David Howell	275	−13	7 strokes	Stephen Ames Terry Price	New South Wales
1997	ANZ	Andrew Coltart (2)	285	−3	4 strokes	Stephen Allan Stuart Appleby	New South Wales
1996	ANZ	Phil Tataurangi	279	−9	1 stroke	Rodger Davis Peter Lonard	New South Wales
1995		Cancelled due to lack of sponsorship					New South Wales	[67]
Reebok Australian PGA Championship
1994	ANZ	Andrew Coltart	281	−7	2 strokes	Terry Price	New South Wales	[68]
Ford Australian PGA Championship
1993	ANZ	Ian Baker-Finch	275	−9	Playoff[lower-alpha 8]	Peter Fowler Grant Waite	Concord	[69]
1992	ANZ	Craig Parry	269	−15	3 strokes	Peter McWhinney	Concord	[70]
1991	ANZ	Wayne Grady (2)	271	−13	3 strokes	Brett Ogle	Concord	[71]
Australian PGA Championship
1990	ANZ	Brett Ogle	273	−11	5 strokes	Rodger Davis Wayne Grady	Riverside Oaks	[72]
1989	ANZ	Peter Senior	274	−14	1 stroke	Jim Benepe	Riverside Oaks	[73]
1988	ANZ	Wayne Grady	275	−13	Playoff[lower-alpha 9]	Greg Norman	Riverside Oaks	[74]
ESP Australian PGA Championship
1987	ANZ	Roger Mackay	284	−8	1 stroke	Mike Colandro	The Lakes	[75]
Toshiba Australian PGA Championship
1986	ANZ	Mike Harwood	275	−13	2 strokes	Greg Norman	Castle Hill	[64]
1985	ANZ	Greg Norman (2)	273	−15	8 strokes	Magnus Persson	Castle Hill	[63]
1984	ANZ	Greg Norman	277	−11	8 strokes	Rodger Davis	Monash	[62]
Yakka Australian PGA Championship
1983	ANZ	Bob Shearer	288	E	2 strokes	Ossie Moore	Royal Melbourne	[76]
Mayne Nickless Australian PGA Championship
1982	ANZ	Graham Marsh	282	−6	3 strokes	John Clifford Ben Crenshaw Bob Shearer	Royal Melbourne	[61]
1981	ANZ	Seve Ballesteros	282	−6	3 strokes	Bill Dunk	Royal Melbourne	[59]
1980	ANZ	Sam Torrance	282	−6	2 strokes	Seve Ballesteros	Royal Melbourne	[58]
1979	ANZ	Stewart Ginn	284	E	3 strokes	Bob Charles Bob Shearer	Royal Melbourne	[60]
1978	ANZ	Hale Irwin	278	−6	8 strokes	Graham Marsh	Royal Melbourne	[57]
Telecom Australia PGA Championship
1977	ANZ	Mike Cahill	278	−10	4 strokes	Mike Ferguson	Yarra Yarra	[56]
Australian PGA Championship
1976	ANZ	Bill Dunk (5)	281	−7	Playoff[lower-alpha 10]	Peter Croker	Rosebud	[77][55]
1975	ANZ	Vic Bennetts	287	+3	3 strokes	Brian Moran Kel Nagle Robert Taylor	Burleigh Heads	[78]
1974	ANZ	Bill Dunk (4)	279	−9	Playoff[lower-alpha 11]	Ian Stanley	Liverpool	[79][54]
1973	ANZ	Randall Vines (2)	2 & 1			Stewart Ginn	Bonnie Doon	[53]
1972		Randall Vines	290	−2	2 strokes	Bill Dunk	The Lakes	[52]
1971		Bill Dunk (3)	273	−7	3 strokes	Graham Marsh Bob Shaw	Surfers Paradise	[51]
1970		Bruce Devlin (2)	275	−5	3 strokes	John Dyer Peter Harvey Tim Woolbank	Surfers Paradise	[50]
1969		Bruce Devlin	277	−11	3 strokes	Takashi Murakami	Royal Canberra	[49]
1968		Kel Nagle (6)	276	−20	6 strokes	Jack Nicklaus	Metropolitan	[48]
1967		Peter Thomson	282	−14	1 stroke	Col Johnston Frank Phillips	Metropolitan	[47]
1966		Bill Dunk (2)	279	−9	7 strokes	Peter Thomson	Royal Sydney	[46]
Guinness Australian PGA Championship
1965		Kel Nagle (5)	276	−16	1 stroke	Frank Phillips	Riversdale	[45]
Australian PGA Championship
1964		Col Johnston (2)	275	−13	1 stroke	Bruce Devlin	Monash	[44]

Match play era winners

Year	Winner	Margin	Runner-up	Venue	Ref
Australian PGA Championship
1963	Col Johnston	3 & 2	Ron Howell	Oatlands	[42]
1962	Bill Dunk	8 & 7	Eric Cremin	Rossdale	[40]
1961	Alan Murray	2 & 1	Frank Phillips	Rossdale	[36]
1960	John Sullivan	2 up	Norman Von Nida	Royal Fremantle	[35]
1959	Kel Nagle (4)	5 & 3	Peter Thomson	New South Wales	[34]
1958	Kel Nagle (3)	6 & 5	Eric Cremin	Kooyonga	[33]
1957	Gary Player	2 up	Peter Thomson	Huntingdale	[32]
1956	Les Wilson	4 & 2	Len Woodward	St Michael's	[31]
1955	Ossie Pickworth (3)	8 & 7	Frank Phillips	Indooroopilly	[30]
1954	Kel Nagle (2)	1 up	Jim McInnes	Royal Sydney	[29]
1953	Ossie Pickworth (2)	1 up	Peter Thomson	Royal Melbourne	[27]
1952	Bill Holder	2 & 1	Eric Cremin	Roseville	[25]
1951	Norman Von Nida (4)	6 & 5	Ossie Pickworth	Metropolitan	[23]
1950	Norman Von Nida (3)	6 & 5	Eric Cremin	The Lakes	[21]
1949	Kel Nagle	7 & 5	Ted Naismith	Royal Perth	[20]
1948	Norman Von Nida (2)	2 & 1	Eric Cremin	Kingston Beach	[19]
1947	Ossie Pickworth	2 & 1	Eric Cremin	Royal Melbourne	[18]
1946	Norman Von Nida	1 up	Eric Cremin	Manly	[17]
1940–45: No tournament due to World War II
Australian Professional Championship
1939	Ted Naismith	7 & 5	George Naismith	Royal Melbourne	[14]
1938	Eric Cremin (2)	2 & 1	Charlie Booth	Royal Adelaide	[13]
1937	Eric Cremin	4 & 2	Sam Richardson	The Australian	[12]
1936	Bill Clifford	4 & 2	Ron Harris	Metropolitan	[80]
1935	Sam Richardson (2)	2 & 1	Horace Boorer	Royal Adelaide	[11]
1934	Lou Kelly	2 & 1	Billy Bolger	Royal Sydney	[81]
1933	Sam Richardson	9 & 7	Arthur Spence	Royal Melbourne	[10]
1932	Fergus McMahon	7 & 6	George Naismith	Royal Adelaide	[82]
1931	Don Spence	2 & 1	Billy Bolger	The Australian	[83]
1930	Jock Robertson	2 & 1	Rufus Stewart	Metropolitan	[9]
1929	Rufus Stewart	8 & 7	Ernie Bissett	Royal Adelaide	[7]

Earlier competitions

Between the foundation of the Australian Open in 1904 and the formal creation of the Australian Professional Championship in 1929, the leading professionals attended the championship meeting and a number of professional competitions were held at this time. Each year there was a professional competition organised by the club hosting the championship meeting and, in addition, other nearby clubs organised professional events.

From 1904 to 1908 a two-day match-play event was organised. The first Australian Open finished on Saturday 3 September 1904, and the leading 8 professionals in it played a knock-out competition on the following Monday and Tuesday. The first two rounds were played on the Monday, followed by a 36-hole final.[84] Carnegie Clark beat Alex McLaren 5&4 in the final.[85] In 1905 the professional event was played on the two days before the open championship. After 36 holes of stroke-play, the leading 4 played match-play on the following day, matches being over 18 holes.[86] Dan Soutar beat Gilbert Martin in the final.[87] The 1906 tournament was played using the same format as in 1904 and resulted in another win for Soutar.[88][89] Soutar won again in 1907, in a tournament with four rounds of match-play played over two days, with no qualification.[90][91] The 1908 event was also match-play only, the first round on Monday, two rounds on Tuesday and the final played on the Saturday.[92] Carnegie Clark repeated his success of 1904.[93]

From 1909 to 1913 no match-play event was organised for the professionals, although a one-day 36-hole stroke-play event was organised each year on the championship course. In 1909 and 1910 it was played the day before the Australian Open. In 1909 there was a tie between Fred Popplewell and Willie Thomson, while Dan Soutar won by 8 strokes in 1910.[94][95] From 1911 to 1913 the professional events were played after the Open. Charlie Campbell won in 1911, while Soutar won again in 1912.[96][97] In 1913 the professionals had two events at the Royal Melbourne. The first, with prize money of £25, was played on the Monday following the Open and was won by Soutar, with Popplewell and Rufus Stewart runners-up.[98] The professionals played at the Metropolitan Golf Club on the Wednesday and then another event at Royal Melbourne on the Thursday, again with prize money of £25. The result was similar to the Monday event with Soutar winning, Stewart second and Popplewell third. Soutar set a new course record of 70 in his morning round.[99] The second event was sponsored by Watson's No. 10 Whisky with the intention that it would be an annual event.[100]

From 1920 to 1928, a match-play competition was arranged for the professionals after the Open. A 36 hole stroke-play qualifying stage was held on the Monday with the leading four playing match-play on the Tuesday. In 1928 the event was held a day later, on the Tuesday and Wednesday. The 1920 and 1921 events were handicapped. In 1920, Joe Kirkwood Sr., the open champion, was handicapped at plus-6 and failed to qualify.[101] Walter Clark, receiving 3 strokes, beat Dan Soutar 2&1 in the final.[102] In 1921, Billy Iles, receiving 2 strokes, beat Arthur Le Fevre by 2 holes in the final.[103] The handicap element was dropped in 1922, Charlie Campbell winning.[104][105] Fred Popplewell won in 1923 while Tom Howard won in 1924 and 1925 followed by Arthur Le Fevre in 1926.[106][107][108][109][110] Harry Sinclair repeated Howard's achievement, winning in 1927 and 1928.[111][112][113][114]

The following competitions were played on the championship course during this period.

Year	Winner	Score	Margin of victory	Runner-up	Venue	Ref
1928	Harry Sinclair	1 up		Vic James	Royal Sydney	[114]
1927	Harry Sinclair	4 & 3		Alf Toogood	Royal Melbourne	[112]
1926	Arthur Le Fevre	4 & 3		Ted Smith	Royal Adelaide	[110]
1925	Tom Howard	3 & 1		Fred Popplewell	The Australian	[108]
1924	Tom Howard	4 & 2		Arthur Le Fevre	Royal Melbourne	[107]
1923	Fred Popplewell	2 & 1		Rufus Stewart	Royal Adelaide	[106]
1922	Charlie Campbell	1 up		Tom Howard	Royal Sydney	[105]
1921	Billy Iles	2 up[lower-alpha 12]		Arthur Le Fevre	Royal Melbourne	[103]
1920	Walter Clark	2 & 1[lower-alpha 13]		Dan Soutar	The Australian	[102]
1914–19: No tournament due to World War I
1913	Dan Soutar	145	6 strokes	Rufus Stewart	Royal Melbourne	[99]
	Dan Soutar	154	2 strokes	Fred Popplewell Rufus Stewart		[98]
1912	Dan Soutar	163	4 strokes	Rowley Banks	Royal Melbourne	[97]
1911	Charlie Campbell	154	3 strokes	Carnegie Clark Reg Clark Dan Soutar Willie Thomson	Royal Sydney	[96]
1910	Dan Soutar	153	8 strokes	Rufus Stewart	Royal Adelaide	[95]
1909	Fred Popplewell Willie Thomson	163	Tied		Royal Melbourne	[94]
1908	Carnegie Clark	4 & 3		Victor East	The Australian	[93]
1907	Dan Soutar	4 & 3		Alex McLaren	Royal Melbourne	[91]
1906	Dan Soutar	5 & 3		Fred Hood	Royal Sydney	[89]
1905	Dan Soutar	4 & 3		Gilbert Martin	Royal Melbourne	[87]
1904	Carnegie Clark	5 & 4		Alex McLaren	The Australian	[85]

1. Smith won with a par at the second playoff hole.
2. Holman won with a par on the first playoff hole.
3. Chalmers won with a par at the seventh extra hole. Ormsby was eliminated by birdies on the third extra hole.
4. Chalmers won with a par at the first extra hole.
5. Senior won with a par at the second extra hole.
6. O'Hern won with a birdie at the fourth extra hole.
7. Lonard and Moseley remained tied after one hole of a sudden-death playoff before darkness fell.
8. Baker-Finch won at the second extra hole.
9. Grady won with a par at the fourth extra hole.
10. Dunk beat Croker 71 to 75 in the 18-hole playoff.
11. Dunk beat Stanley 71 to 72 in the 18-hole playoff.
12. Iles received 2 strokes
13. Clark received 3 strokes

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