It’s the tour he’s had his eye on for more than two years but Richard Green probably didn’t expect to make his Champions Tour debut in Morocco.
The exotic locale in North Africa hosts not only the Champions Tour’s second event of the year this week but also the Ladies European Tour’s Lalla Meryem Cup will be played on the Blue Course at Royal Golf Dar Es Salam.
A long-time member of the DP World Tour, Green is no stranger to playing in foreign countries and will have the familiar face of countryman Rod Pampling for the first two rounds to assist in his transition to the US senior ranks.
Medalist at qualifying school in December and 10 days out from his 52nd birthday, Green told PGATOUR.com’s Bob McLellan that it marks the realisation of a career-long dream.
“Throughout my whole career on the European Tour my goals in my life were always to come and play in the US at some point,” said Green, who at his peak was ranked as high as 29th in the world.
“I had opportunities through the mid-2000s through having a top 50 world ranking and playing eligible events through that criteria but never got a PGA TOUR card. I left that goal on the table if you like.
“Wanting to fulfill that goal, the opportunity when I turned 50 presented itself to come play on PGA TOUR Champions.
“I was full steam ahead for that. I think that drive to get that position is what helped me be successful in the qualifying.”
Of the past 10 medalists at PGA TOUR Champions Q-School, four have gone on to win on the Champions Tour. Green is looking forward to testing his game against the best competition the world has to offer.
“I don’t relate to the guys on the PGA TOUR or European Tour anymore,” said Green, who won the 1997 Dubai Desert Classic in a playoff over Greg Norman and Ian Woosnam.
“I relate to the guys on the Champions Tour. Over the course of my career, I was playing against some of the guys, like Padraig Harrington, or when I played in the majors in the US against all the guys on the Champions Tour now.
“For me, I’m playing with the best in the world. To be in contention with all of these guys and compete on the same level, it’s going to be a real test. I’ll get a lot out of performing well in that arena.”
It is another jam-packed week for Aussies abroad with 12 to contest the Asian Tour’s International Series Oman and Anthony Quayle, Aaron Pike, Louis Dobbelaar and Dimi Papadatos taking the opportunity to join Blake Windred at the Singapore Classic on the DP World Tour.
On the back of consecutive top-three finishes in Dubai and Saudi Arabia Lucas Herbert returns to the PGA TOUR for the first time in 2023 to tee it up at the $US20 million WM Phoenix Open.
It is the 27-year-old’s second visit to TPC Scottsdale having missed the cut last year.
Round 1 tee times AEDT
Asian Tour
International Series Oman
Al Mouj Golf, Oman
2.10pm* Wade Ormsby, Ian Snyman, Steve Lewton
2.20pm* Marcus Fraser, Scott Hend, Hideto Tanihara
3.10pm Terry Pilkadaris, Prom Meesawat, Shiv Kapur
3.20pm* Zach Murray, Faisal Salhab, Taehee Lee
3.30pm* Ben Campbell (NZ), Hung Chien-yao, SSP Chawrasia
6.30pm* Kevin Yuan, Veer Ahlawat, Poom Saksansin
6.40pm Jediah Morgan, Pavit Tangkamolprasert, James Piot
7pm* Todd Sinnott, Ajeetesh Sandhu, Rattanon Wannasrichan
7.10pm Travis Smyth, Nitithorn Thippong, Kazuki Higa
7.10pm* Andrew Dodt, Jarin Todd, Takumi Kanaya
7.30pm Matt Jones, Sihwan Kim, Charl Schwartzel
8pm* Jack Thompson, Issa Abouelela, Saud Alsharif
Defending champion: Inaugural event
Past Aussie winners: Nil
TV times: Live 8.30pm-12.30am Thursday, Friday; Live 7pm-11pm Saturday, Sunday on Fox Sports 503 and Kayo Sports.
DP World Tour
Singapore Classic
Laguna National Golf Resort Club, Singapore
11.15am Louis Dobbelaar, Mikko Korhonen, Justin Walters
11.35am Anthony Quayle, Jeunghun Wang, James Morrison
12.15pm Aaron Pike, Albert Venter, Gary Stal
11.40am* Ryan Fox (NZ), Haotong Li, Robert MacIntyre
3.15pm Daniel Hillier (NZ), Zander Lombard, Rikuya Hoshino
4.55pm Dimitrios Papadatos, Amarin Kraivixien, Alexander Levy
5pm* Blake Windred, Santiago Tarrio, Chase Hanna
Defending champion: Inaugural event
Past Aussie winners: Nil
TV times: Live 4.30pm-9.30pm Thursday, Friday; Live 4pm-8.30pm Saturday, Sunday on Fox Sports 505 and Kayo Sports.
PGA TOUR
WM Phoenix Open
TPC Scottsdale, Scottsdale, Arizona
2.32am Lucas Herbert, Lucas Glover, Gary Woodland
7.17am Jason Day, Billy Horschel, Michael Thompson
7.28am Danny Lee (NZ), Dylan Frittelli, Andrew Putnam
Defending champion: Scottie Scheffler
Past Aussie winners: Bruce Crampton (1973), Aaron Baddeley (2007)
TV times: Live 3am-11.30am Friday, Saturday; Live 5am-10.30am Sunday; Live 5am-10am Monday on Fox Sports 503.
Ladies European Tour
Lalla Meryem Cup
Royal Golf Dar Es Salam (Blue Cse), Rabat, Morocco
10.05am Gabriela Ruffels, Fatima Gonzalez Carriles, Charlotte Liautier
11.05pm Whitney Hillier, Morgane Metraux, Leonie Harm
12.05am Momoka Kobori (NZ), Sara Brentchenef, Sophie Witt
Defending champion: Nuria Iturrioz (2019)
Past Aussie winners: Karen Lunn (2012)
Korn Ferry Tour
Astara Golf Championship
Country Club de Bogota, Bogota, Colombia
12.05am* Brett Drewitt, Rhein Gibson, Andrew Yun
12.15am Curtis Luck, Joey Garber, Tom Whitney
Defending champion: Brandon Matthews
Past Aussie winners: Nil
Champions Tour
Trophy Hassan II
Royal Golf Dar Es Salam, Rabat, Morocco
9.36pm Richard Green, Rod Pampling, Billy Andrade
10.09pm* John Senden, Wes Short Jr, Billy Mayfair
10.20pm* Robert Allenby, Duffy Waldorf, Tim Herron
10.42pm* David McKenzie, Rob Labritz, Timothy O’Neal
10.53pm* Mark Hensby, Scott Dunlap, Paul Stankowski
Defending champion: Brett Quigley (2020)
Past Aussie winners: Nil
TV times: Live 12am-3am Friday, Saturday on Fox Sports 505; Live 12am-3am Sunday on Fox Sports 503.
Aussies on Tour: This edition written by Tony Webeck| Australian Golf Media