The 2026 DP World Tour season gets underway with the 2025 BMW Australian PGA Championship and our betting expert has highlighted some great value outsiders.
Yes, the DP World Tour Championship only finished a week and a half ago. Yes, we’re still in November. But yes, the 2026 DP World Tour season gets underway this week at the BMW Australian PGA Championship.
It’s the first of back-to-back events down under, with the Crown Australian Open to follow next week.
The field includes the likes of Adam Scott, Joaquin Niemann, Min Woo Lee, Marco Penge, and Cam Smith.
Elvis Smylie held off Smith to win by two last year, in a tournament that was reduced from 72 to 54 holes after heavy rain washed out Friday’s play.
For 2025, Royal Queensland is hosting the Australian PGA Championship for the fifth time running – and the seventh in total.
Here’s everything you need to know about the 2025 Australian PGA Championship…
2025 Australian PGA Championship key details
Dates: November 27-30, 2025
Course: Royal Queensland GC, Brisbane, Australia
Course: Sea Island Golf Club (Par 71, 7,085 yards)
Format: 72-hole stroke play
Purse: AU$2,500,000
Race 2 Dubai Ranking points: 3,000 to the winner
Defending champion: Elvis Smyle (-14, two-shot victory)
How to watch the 2025 Australian PGA Championship
US viewers can catch all the action on the Golf Channel.
All times ET
Thursday, November 27: Golf Channel and NBC Sports app from 1am
Friday, November 28: Golf Channel and NBC Sports app from 1am
Saturday, November 29: Golf Channel and NBC Sports app from 1am
Sunday, November 30: Golf Channel and NBC Sports app from 1am
UK viewers can catch all the action on Sky Sports Golf.
All times BST
Thursday, November 27: Sky Sports Golf from 2.30am
Friday, November 28: Sky Sports Golf from 2.30am
Saturday, November 29: Sky Sports Golf from 2.30am
Sunday, November 30: Sky Sports Golf from 2.30am
2025 Australian PGA Championship tee times
Full field details and tee times for the Australian PGA Championship can be found on the DP World Tour’s official tournament page.
2025 Australian PGA Championship betting tips
The Banker: Marc Leishman 18/1 e/w (BetMGM, VirginBet 6 Places 1/5 Odds)
An Australian has won each of the four renewals held at Royal Queensland Golf Club since 2022, and that’s no surprise given the calibre of Aussie talent that returns to play this event. Jediah Morgan won in January 2022, and Elvis Smylie won in November 2024, but the two winners between that were straight out of the top drawer, with Cam Smith and Min Woo Lee winning their home championships, both as sub 10/1 selections. Morgan also won a very weak renewal that January, so the last three renewals are the best indication.
Leishman might not be at the peak of his powers, as he is now in his 40s and playing most of his golf on LIV, but he did pick up a win earlier this year, and since the LIV season ended, he’s finished 3rd back at home and 6th in the Philippines Open. This is the sort of form that suggests Leishman can return to this event and win, as he’s rocked up here the last three years and finished 12th, 3rd, and 3rd.
This is arguably the best prep Leishman has had coming into this event, suggesting he might be taking it a bit more seriously this year, as he should, with crucial world ranking points up for grabs.
It’s been a long time since Leishman won at home, having not picked up a title in Australia since 2008, and he will be keen to put that right, as he returns to a course he’s gone close at the past two years. He was right there last year, as he sat in 3rd place after two rounds and stayed there on Sunday, shooting two-under but eventually losing by three. Another round may have seen him grab the title though as the event was reduced to 54 holes due to weather conditions. That’s, of course, all ifs, buts, and maybes, but he shot a seven-under 64 on Sunday to vault into the top 3 two years ago, and last year he was much closer to the winner, so he’s making positive steps each year in this event.
The knock of the LIV players has always been their motivation, but Leishman has now played twice since the season ended, and already once back at home, so he looks raring to go, and I think that can lead to a win here.
Kiradech Aphibarnrat 50/1 e/w (BetMGM, VirginBet 6 Places 1/5 Odds)
Kiradech Aphibarnrat is so close to being back to his brilliant best, and a return to Australia, where he picked up the last of his four DP World Tour wins, might just bring the best out of him.
Aphibarnrat won the Super 6 in Perth seven years ago, and while that’s a sign of how long it’s been since this maverick graced our television screens as a winner, I am still of the belief he is one of the more talented players in this field on his day.
He’s shown that on many occasions, and he will no doubt do so again, and I am happy to back him in this level of field, especially while he’s in the form that he’s in.
The Thai superstar has now posted four straight top 30 finishes, with his 16th-place finish last week in Saudi adding to his 14th at the Genesis Championship in Korea, as the standout results. What’s important to note, though, is how much better these results have threatened to be.
When 14th in Korea, Aphibarnrat was 9th at the halfway point and 7th going into the final round. A second consecutive 71 on Sunday saw him fall seven spots. When 21st at the Hong Kong Open, he was 3rd after round 1, 2nd after round 2, and still inside the top 4 going into Sunday. That was thanks to opening rounds of 62, 65, and 66. The fact he fell away with those scores shows how hard it was to keep up with the scoring, and he was no doubt trying too hard to be aggressive on Sunday, which ultimately led to a 73 and that 21st-place finish. Even in Singapore, where he finished 30th, he was 2nd after an opening 65, and inside the top 15 going into the weekend. A tough Saturday saw him fall away, but a final round 67 saved face again.
It feels like he’s been one round away from a great finish all season, and while that’s obviously a trait he would like to shake quickly, he’s at least got some solid foundations to lean on.
With the lack of depth in this field outside of the very best players, I think Kiradech makes a fine bet this week, as he hunts for a fifth DP World Title, and his first in seven years.
The Longshot: Matias Sanchez 190/1 e/w (Bet365 8 Places 1/5 Odds)
Matias Sanchez has started the new Australian Tour season strongly, with a win and three more top 15 finishes in his last five starts.
His wire-to-wire win at the Webex Player Series was his first win on the Tour, and as a player who beat Min Woo Lee to the prestigious Australian Amateur title in 2017, he may well be threatening a coming-of-age season at 27.
Sure, we see players put form lines like this together all the time in Australia, only to falter when the biggest stars arrive, but Sanchez has previous, rubbing shoulders with these players when finishing 15th at this event last year, after sitting 2nd after round 1, and 9th after round 2. An opening 66 last year shows what he can do here at Royal Queensland, and given his recent win, he might just find the confidence he needs to contend and possibly win a title of this magnitude, just as Elvis Smylie did last year.
It was a similar run of form for Smylie as it is for Sanchez coming into this event, both having won their first title a few starts prior, and while Smylie had a couple more top finishes, Sanchez has played some underrated golf outside of his win as well.
Since his win, he has finished 26th and 8th, but when 26th he was 4th at halfway and 6th going into Sunday, and last week when 8th, he had made a really slow start but then climbed the leaderboard consistently after every round. It was a similar story of growing into an event, when 15th and 12th in the two preceding events before his win, so he’s obviously capable of taking momentum into his next start, and while this is another step up again, I am certainly intrigued by him at long odds.
Sanchez was by no means a can’t-miss kid at amateur level, but he did beat Min Woo Lee and pushed Daniel Hillier close in a big tournament as well, and we so often see that some of these promising youngsters take a while to break though. At 27, maybe his recent win is his peak, and he’s destined for a career based on the Australian Tour, but while he’s in this form, and has a chance to mix it with the big boys, I think he’s worth a shot, especially after his effort here 12 months ago in tough conditions.
The Bonus Bet: Cameron John 125/1 e/w (Bet365, Boylesports 8 Places 1/5 Odds)
Cameron John is someone I have backed before in these Aussie events, and his form figures in this tournament over the years are perhaps better than they first appear.
His finishes here read 9-28-22-72, but when he finished 9th he was in 6th place going into Sunday, and when he finished 28th he was 3rd at halfway. It was a similar story when he finished 22nd, as he was 7th at halfway and still 11th going into Sunday, and while last year he flattered to deceive, his current form warrants another shot.
John ranks 3rd in the Order of Merit early on in this young Australasia Tour season, with a win, a 2nd, a 7th, and no finish worse than 17th in his first five starts. He grew into the event all last week, sitting 3rd after round 1, 2nd after rounds 2 and 3, before finally claiming victory, and that followed a good spell, highlighted by a 2nd at the Western Australian Open, where he was also the 3rd round leader.
Given he’s put himself in contention to contend here a couple of times already, I think John is the perfect candidate to take a step forward from the regular Australasian Tour players and make a splash among some of the better players in the world.
His form is good, the odds are eye-catching, and while there is always the concern that the core group of elite players will just be too good for the Australasian Tour regulars, we have seen Elvis Smylie come out on top here and take a leap onto the DP World Tour as well. I’ll take another shot with an in-form local.
