BMW Australian PGA Championship 2025 preview, picks & analysis

Less than two weeks after Matt Fitzpatrick brought the curtain down on the 2025 season by winning the DP World Tour Championship in Dubai, we move to a new continent and it all kicks off once again.

In the 12 months that lie ahead we will see more first-time winners, dreams will be fulfilled and, for some, hopes will be shattered. 

But for those teeing it up at the BMW Australian PGA Championship at Royal Queensland this week hope springs eternal. And they should all take hope from what happened here in 2024 when an unknown called Elvis Smylie broke through.

Australia's Smylie was one of two players to receive the Cameron Smith Scholarship in 2019 and the pair shared the second-round lead at the 54-hole tournament heading into the final day.

Smylie, the son of former four-time grand slam tennis doubles champion Liz Smylie, only secured his first professional win on the PGA Tour of Australasia the previous month and was ranked 736th in the world, but he showed nerves of steel to overcome a tricky back nine.

Smylie carded four birdies to reach the turn with a three-shot lead, but needed several par saves to keep his nose ahead before Smith mounted late pressure. The 150th Open champion birdied the 15th and holed out for another at the 17th to trim the lead to two, but Smylie salvaged another par at the last to seal a two-shot triumph at 14 under.

"It's a dream come true," Smylie said. "I just said to Matt [Clayton, his caddie] that I won't forget this day, you know, playing with Cam and Leish [Marc Leishman] there.

"I looked up to these guys since I was a kid and just being in their presence and to compete against them for the title, I've learnt so much and just so grateful and so honoured right now.

"My short game was great, I definitely saved myself in that department. I was pretty average off the tee, but golf is a game of imperfection and today that was a sign of that.

"I just told myself to find a way of getting it around and doing my best, executing every shot as well as I can and my short game was great, so I gave that the full credit that it deserves.

"My mum and dad have been with me every step of the way. I saw my mum in the corner there, tearing up before I holed that last putt so everyone who has been on this journey with me, they know how hard I've worked to be here and hopefully this is just the start of good things to come."

He also finished second to Michael Kim at the French Open and only narrowly missed out on securing a PGA Tour card for the 2026 season - something he will be looking to put right this season.

One man who will be spending much of the coming year on the PGA Tour is Marco Penge and he is in the field this week, looking to add to the three titles he secured in 2025. Penge has been tipped by many, myself included, to be a sensation in America and will start this week as one of the favourites.

He will be joined by Denmark’s Rasmus Neergard-Petersen, Japan’s Yuto Katsuragawa, English trio Alex Fitzpatrick, Eddie Pepperell and Andrew "Beef" Johnston, Italy’s Renato Paratore, Austria’s Bernd Wiesberger, Spaniard Rafa Cabrera-Bello, Thailand’s Kiradech Aphibarnrat and China’s Wenyi Ding.

Former Masters champion Adam Scott and Cam Smith are among the past winners of this event competing.

Neergard-Petersen, one of Europe’s most promising young players, finished second behind Australia’s Karl Vilips in this year’s Puerto Rico Open on the PGA Tour and was runner-up in the Qatar Masters.

Fitzpatrick, the younger brother of Matt, has carved out his own successful path with several strong results, including  a tie for third in this year’s DP World India Championship.

There are a couple of comeback stories. Andrew Johnston, better known as Beef", returns to Australian shores in his comeback to professional golf after spending the past year living in Perth. Johnston has suffered with well-documented mental health issues and has also struggled with injuries in recent times. He is a hugely popular with fans and fellow players alike.

Two-time DP World Tour winner Paratore lost his card but regained it in spectacular fashion, winning three times on the HotelPlanner Tour this year and will be desperate to re-establish himself at this level, while six-time winner Wiesberger and former Ryder Cup star Cabrera-Bello are also looking to recapture past glories.

There will also be a lot of attention on Pepperell, who regained his DP World Tour card with a sensational finish at Qualifying School in Spain while Aphibarnrat returns to the country where he claimed the ISPS HANDA World Super 6 title in 2018.

Wenyi Ding, the Chinese prodigy who made history as the first player from China to win the US Junior Amateur, was beaten in a playoff by Australia’s Jasper Stubbs at the 2023 Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship at Royal Melbourne. He would go one better a year later in Japan.

Tournament Winners:

It was won in 2015 by Nathan Holman, in 2016 by Harold Varner III, in 2017 and 2018 by Cameron Smith, in 2019 by Adam Scott, in January 2022 by Jediah Morgan, in November 2022 by Cameron Smith, in 2023 by Min Woo Lee and last year by Elvis Smylie. There was no tournament in 2020 and 2021.

The Course:

Royal Queensland is a par 71 measuring 7.135 yards. It opened in 1920 and was radically redesigned in 2007 by Mike Clayton.The fairways are wide and generous, the rough is short but the large greens are well-protected by bunkers.

Form Guide:

Marco Penge has taken his game to a different level in 2025, winning three times and claiming a PGA Tour card. He had a poor week in Dubai but I expect him.

Prize Money:

Total prize money is A$2m, with 3,000 Race to Dubai points on offer.

How to Watch:

Thursday, November 27-Sunday, November 30, Sky Sports Golf, 2.30am.

To Win:

Marco Penge. Big hitter.

Each Way:

Rasmus Neergard-Petersen. Hugely gifted.

Each Way:

Cameron Smith. Has a great record here.

Five to Follow:

Marco Penge. Walking on air.

Rasmus Neergard-Petersen. Underrated.

Cameron Smith. Home favourite.

Elvis Smylie. Looking to draw on positive memories.

Min Woo Lee. World class.

Five Outsiders to Watch:

Andrew Johnston. Crowd favourite.

Kiradech Aphibarnrat. Always popular.

Eddie Pepperell. Has rededicated himself to the game.

Rafa Cabrera Bello. Has shown flashes of his best.

Bernd Wiesberger. Struggled in 2025 - can he turn it around?