Aussies take PGA Tour by storm
2006-11-13 11:03
Sydney - Australia will have a total of 19 golfers playing on next year's US PGA Tour after five Australians earned their Tour cards from the US Nationwide Tour, the PGA Tour of Australasia said on Monday.
Andrew Buckle, Gavin Coles, Jarrod Lyle, Michael Sim and Paul Sheehan earned their right to play on the lucrative PGA Tour after finishing in the Top 20 of the second-tier tour.
They join Adam Scott, Geoff Ogilvy, Stuart Appleby, Rod Pampling, Nathan Green, John Senden, Aaron Baddeley, Robert Allenby, Mathew Goggin, Nick O'Hern, Peter Lonard, Stephen Leaney, Mark Hensby and Steve Elkington on the main tour next year.
Three Australians finished in the 2006 PGA Tour's top 10 on the money list - world No 4 Scott, Ogilvy and Appleby.
"They're pretty keen to get rid of us, that's for sure," Allenby told reporters on Monday.
"It's like we're taking over. I believe next year we'll have close to 30 players playing full-time on the US Tour, plus the Nationwide Tour as well.
"(American players) can see that we're going to win every year, a bunch of us.
"They're definitely keeping a closer eye on us."
Allenby is preparing to defend his title at this week's Australian Open at Royal Sydney, which has also drawn Ogilvy, Appleby, Scott, two-time Open winner Baddeley and former world No 1 Greg Norman.
- AFP