Joaquin Niemann has arrived in Melbourne’s famous Sandbelt relaxed and ready to defend his ISPS HANDA Australian Open title.
Related: Elvis Smylie trumps idol Cam Smith for first DP World Tour title
The Chilean triumphed in a play-off over Japan’s Rikuya Hoshino in Sydney last season and is looking forward to the challenge of Kingston Heath and Victoria Golf Clubs as he aims to get his 2025 Race to Dubai campaign off to a fast start.
Niemann enjoyed some time off for his honeymoon after ending the 2024 season with a tied seventh place finish in Dubai two weeks ago and believes that taking time away from his usual routine has left him full of energy for the week – and new season – ahead.
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The ISPS HANDA Australian Open once again incorporates three tournaments across two golf courses – the men’s and women’s events and the Australian All Abilities Championship – and last week’s winner Elvis Smylie is relishing the challenge of teeing it up in an entirely different set-up to his maiden DP World Tour victory in Brisbane.
The 22-year-old is fully focused on the task at hand in the second event in as many weeks to be co-sanctioned with the Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia, but admits he is excited to continue his DP World Tour adventure this season – in the company of some friendly faces – after taking an early lead in the Opening Swing Rankings.
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This week’s men’s event and women’s event (sanctioned by the WPGA Tour of Australasia) are played concurrently across Kingston Heath and Victoria on Thursday and Friday, and Kingston Heath over the weekend. The Australian All Abilities Championship is played from Thursday to Saturday (54 holes with a 36 hole cut) at Kingston Heath only.
In addition, the leading three players not already exempt who make the cut in the men’s event will earn places in The 153rd Open at Royal Portrush. Players already exempt in the field this week are Niemann, Cam Smith and Jordan Smith.
Player Quotes
Joaquin Niemann: It’s been a busy season and yeah it was nice to go and do something else, travelling around the world and not playing golf for a couple of days. It felt weird not doing my entire routine every day, it was a little bit more laid back.
So yeah, I had a great time. It’s a good way to have my mind on another thing, not just golf. So now that I’m here I feel more fresh and have more energy to have a good week here. It’s going to be a little tricky with the wind and all the conditions that we have today too.
I’m a big fan of golf here in Australia they know how to do the sport. They got the best courses in my opinion. They got really good crowds, good energy outside the golf course and for us, for the players, playing in front of those crowds, it’s always a lot of fun. It was my first time last year for the Australian Open and the Australian PGA and I really loved it.
I played my first time here in Melbourne five years ago for the Presidents Cup and it is one of my favourite courses. The way that you got to play, the way that you got to think off the tee for how you want to hit the second shot. It’s not just get on the tee and hit it. You got to think a little bit about every shot here. You got to think about the strategy, where the wind is going to be. The wind is always switching.
Elvis Smylie: Playing alongside the women this week will be a great change. Min Woo and Minjee Lee, Hannah Green, Cam Smith – very rarely you get a chance to play alongside all of those players on the same course in the same week. Excited for that and it’s going to be a great week. I will sit down with my team and discuss some goals, but for now my main focus is competing here and playing as well as I can at the Australian Open this year.
It meant the world to win at home last week in front of an Australian crowd and a home crowd in Queensland. Competing alongside Cam and Leish in that final round, they were such nice guys to compete against and they were egging me on along the way, as much as they were trying to chase me down. It was just a special week, a special day, and something I will never forget.
It means everything to be able to take up membership to compete on the DP World Tour. Plans have definitely changed since the start of last week, I’m excited to get going over in Europe, and it will all start next week at the Nedbank Golf Challenge in South Africa.
I’ve been good mates with Micha (David Micheluzzi) for quite some time now. Being able to talk to Micha and see what life is like on the DP World Tour, and all the success he had here in Australia really helped to propel him for a great first season. He’ll be one of the guys I’ll be travelling with next year, so I’m looking forward to that.
