Only an extraordinary chain of events stands between Karl Vilips and promotion to the PGA Tour in 2025, as Cassie Porter enters the Epson Tour Championship with one hand on an LPGA Tour card.
In two of the most compelling golf tournaments of the year in which storylines fluctuate based on almost every shot, the Korn Ferry Tour and Epson Tour will crown 30 and 15 graduates, respectively.
A total of 17 players have already earned enough points to guarantee their elevation from the Korn Ferry Tour to the PGA Tour, Vilips the next in line at No.18 for the 13 remaining cards to be handed out.
A winner in his fourth start on tour having graduated from Stanford College in June, it would mark a meteoric rise for a young man who has been on a trajectory to the PGA Tour from a very early age.
“Koala Karl” won two US Kids World Championship titles before the age of 10 and now, at age 22, is almost assured of joining the PGA Tour next season.
Porter, too, has been predicted to play at the highest level from a young age.
Runner-up at the Master of the Amateurs in a playoff in 2020, Porter turned professional in 2021 at the age of 18.
She edged good friend Kelsey Bennett to win the WPGA Melbourne International in January 2023 and in her second year on the Epson Tour in the US, won the FireKeepers Casino Hotel Championship this June.
That, along with three top-10 finishes throughout the season, has her placed 11th in the Race For The Card standings, the top 15 after this week’s Tour Championship to earn status on the LPGA Tour in 2025.
This week also represents a wonderful opportunity for a host of Aussies teeing it up in the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship in Scotland.
Along with Kiwi Order of Merit winner Kazuma Kobori, Daniel Gale, Brett Coletta, Matthew Griffin, David Micheluzzi, Jak Carter, Cameron John, Kade McBride, Lachlan Barker and Jordan Zunic are all playing one of the DP World Tour’s most iconic events by virtue of their performances on the 2023-2024 Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia season.
There are 13 Aussies – including 2013 champion Scott Hend – playing the Mercuries Taiwan Masters on the Asian Tour and Kirsten Rudgeley and Kelsey Bennett will be out to continue their recent good form at the Aramco Team Series event in China.
Round 1 tee-times, AEST
PGA Tour
Sanderson Farms Championship
The Country Club of Jackson, Jackson, Mississippi
11:11pm Tim Wilkinson (NZ)
2:50am Ryan Fox (NZ)
4:07am* Aaron Baddeley
Defending champion: Luke List
Past Aussie winners: Nil
Prize money: $US7.6m
TV times: Live 10pm-9am Thursday; Live 10pm-9:30am Friday; Live 7am-10am Sunday; Live 6:30am-9:30am Monday on Fox Sports 503 and Kayo.
DP World Tour
Alfred Dunhill Links Championship
Old Course St Andrews, St Andrews, Scotland
St Andrews
6:44pm Daniel Hillier (NZ), Matthew Griffin
7:06pm Sam Jones (NZ)
8:01pm Daniel Gale
Carnoustie
6:11pm Kazuma Kobori (NZ)
6:55pm Lachlan Barker
7:50pm Jak Carter
7:50pm* Matt Jones
Kingsbarns
6:55pm Kade McBridge
7:06pm Jordan Zunic
7:39pm* David Micheluzzi
7:50pm* Cameron John
8:01pm Brett Coletta
Defending champion: Matt Fitzpatrick
Past Aussie winners: Nil
Prize money: $US5m
TV times: Live 9pm-2am Thursday, Friday on Fox Sports 505; 9pm-3am Saturday; Live 9:30pm-3am Sunday on Fox Sports 503 and Kayo.
Asian Tour
Mercuries Taiwan Masters
Taiwan Golf & Country Club, Chinese Taipei
9am* Maverick Antcliff
9:10am* Sam Brazel
9:20am* Jed Morgan
9:45am Aaron Wilkin
1:25pm* Harrison Crowe
1:30pm Andrew Dodt
1:35pm* Todd Sinnott
1:45pm* Kevin Yuan
2:05pm* Zach Murray
2:15pm* Jack Thompson
2:20pm Brendan Jones
2:30pm Scott Hend
2:40pm Deyen Lawson
2:50pm Justin Warren
Defending champion: Jaco Ahlers
Past Aussie winners: Scott Hend (2013)
Prize money: $US1m
Japan Golf Tour
ACN Championship Golf Tournament
Miki Golf Club, Hyogo
9:50am* Michael Hendry (NZ)
10:20am Brad Kennedy
10:40am Anthony Quayle
Defending champion: Yuki Inamori
Past Aussie winners: Graham Marsh (1974, 1982), Brian Jones (1985, 1987, 1988)
Prize money: ¥100,000,000
Ladies European Tour
Aramco Team Series presented by PIF – Shenzhen
Mission Hills Resort (World Cup course), China
Australasians in the field: Kirsten Rudgeley, Kelsey Bennett
Defending champion: Xiyu Lin
Past Aussie winners: Nil
Prize money: $US1m
TV times: Live 3pm-7pm Friday on Fox Sports 505; Live 4pm-7pm Saturday; Live 5pm-8pm Sunday on Fox Sports 503 and Kayo.
Korn Ferry Tour
Korn Ferry Tour Championship
French Lick Golf Resort (Pete Dye Cse), French Lick, Indiana
10:52pm Karl Vilips
Defending champion: Paul Barjon
Past Aussie winners: Nil
Prize money: $US1.5m
TV times: Live 3am-6am Friday; Live 3am-7am Saturday, Sunday on Fox Sports 505; Live 3:30am-6:30am Monday on Fox Sports 503.
Epson Tour
Epson Tour Championship at Indian Wells
Indian Wells Golf Resort (Players course), Indian Wells, California
12:37am Cassie Porter
1:10am* Amelia Garvey (NZ)
5:18am* Fiona Xu (NZ)
Defending champion: Auston Kim
Past Aussie winners: Kristie Smith (2010)
Prize money: $US287,500
Challenge Tour
D+D REAL Czech Challenge
Royal Beroun Golf Club, Beroun, Czech Republic
8:45pm Hayden Hopewell
9:05pm* Connor McKinney
Defending champion: Andrea Pavan
Past Aussie winners: Nil
Prize money: €270,000
LET Access Series
Iberdrola Calatayud Ladies Open
Gambito Golf Calatayud, Spain
Australasians in the field: Laura Hoskin (NZ)
Defending champion: Hannah Screen
Past Aussie winners: Nil
Prize money: €45,000
PGA TOUR Champions
Constellation Furyk & Friends
Timuquana Country Club, Jacksonville, Florida
Australasians in the field: Steven Alker, Steve Allan, Stuart Appleby, David Bransdon, Greg Chalmers, Rod Pampling, Cameron Percy, John Senden, Michael Wright.
Defending champion: Brett Quigley
Past Aussie winners: Nil
Prize money: $US2.1m
TV times: Live 4am-6am Saturday on Fox Sports 507; Live 5am-7am Sunday, 9:30am-11am Monday on Fox Sports 503 and Kayo.
Sunshine Tour
SunBet Challenge hosted by Sun Sibaya
Umhlali Country Club, Ballito, South Africa
4:10pm Astin Arthur (a, NZ)
8:20pm* Austin Bautista
Defending champion: Martin Rohwer
Past Aussie winners: Nil
Prize money: R2m