What's on This Week - Week 6

Image courtesy of LIV Golf

WEEK 6 – WHAT’S ON THIS WEEK

Week 6 – LIV Golf kicks of for 2026 and the PGA, Korn Ferry and DP World Tours roll on. The only women’s tour playing this week is the WPGA in the final Webex Player Series event of the season at Castle Hill GC in Sydney.

LIV Golf

Tournament: LIV Golf Riyad

Dates: 4 – 7 February

Course: Riyadh Golf Club, Saudi Arabia

Purse: Total: USD $30M – Individual $20M, Team $10M

Ozzies in the field: Ripper GC – Cam Smith, Marc Leishman, Lucas Herbert & Elvis Smylie

LIV Golf kicks off in the dark – not really – but all four rounds of LIV Riyad take place at night under the lights.

Elvis Smylie makes his LIV golf debut ion Riyad. His addition to Ripper Gc is a fantastic one and should strengthen the teams’ prospects of more victory in 2026.

Plenty of other debutants to watch for this week and it will be interesting to see how the newcomers impact their teams. Legion XIII look hard to beat again but the addition of Abe Ancer to Torque GC should make them super competitive. If you are an Ozzie then it must be Ripper GC all the way.

WPGA & PGA Tour of Australasia

Tournament: Webex Player Series Sydney hosted by Peter O’Malley

Dates: 4 – 8 February

Course: Castle Hill Country Club, Sydney

Purse: AUD $250,000

Ozzies in the field: Lots

The fantastic Webex Player Series culminates in Sydney this week. The headline attraction is LPGA star Steph Kyriacou. The world no. 45 should be near the top of the leader board come Sunday afternoon. Hopefully Nathan Barbieri will come back into form in his hometown as he chases one of those coveted top 3 spots on the OOM.

Recently there has been some public comment about reducing the number of women playing in these events. Statistics just do not back up that opinion as the women do not even come close to 50% of the field over the course of the Series. Even when the set field is close to 50/50 the vast majority of the 16 invites always goes to the men. Those voicing such opinions are apparently also great supporters of the women’s game. Can’t have it both ways guys.

My pick this week is Kyriacou, or the other Steph (Bunque), to win and put an end to the any debate about the format of this great series.

PGA Tour

Tournament: WM Phoenix Open

Dates: 5 – 8 February

Course: TPC Scottsdale (Stadium Course)

Purse: USD $9.6M

Ozzies in the field: Min Woo Lee, Cam Davis, Karl Vilips, Ryan Fox (NZ)

Let’s get crazy!! Home to the famous par three 16th hole where there is no shortage of fans, fun and occasionally some beer on the green. Apart from the 16th it is a really great golf course that often produces excellent outcomes.

Scottie Scheffler is back this week so let’s talk about who might run second. Not sure anyone can really get excited about JJ Spaun, Xander Schauffele, Ben Griffin or Harris English who are the next best ranked players in the field. Marco Penge will be looking to bounce back from his poor start to his PGA Tour career so look for a good showing from him this week. Of the Ozzies Jason Day is in hot form so hopefully that continues. Cam Davis desperately needs to find some form soon to get his season under control. My pick for the week is Kiwi Ryan Fox.

Korn Ferry Tour

Tournament: Astara Golf Championship

Dates: 5 – 8 February

Course: Fundadores Course, Bogota Colombia

Purse: USD $1.0M

Ozzies in the field: Rhein Gibson, Harry Hillier (NZ)

The Korn Ferry Tour stays in South America for another week. Can Ian Holt make it a threepeat? Interesting to watch Adam Hedwin's progression on the secondary tour. A solid second place last week sees him sitting 5th on the OOM after three events. He will need to quadruple his current points over the remaining 22 tournaments to get back on the PGA Tour.

DP World Tour

Tournament: Qatar Masters

Dates: 5 – 8 February

Course: Doha Golf Club

Purse: USD $2.75M

Ozzies in the field: Jason Scrivener, David Micheluzzie, Ryan Peake, Anthony Quayle, Connor McKinney, Dan Hillier (NZ), Kazuma Kobori (NZ), Andrew Ikstrums. Jack Buchanan (1st alternate)

Patrick Reed is showing his golfing class with a win and T2 in the last two tournaments. Expect him to repeat the dose here in Qatar. Kiwi Dan Hillier is also in good form and surely he gets a win sometime soon. Padraig Harrington makes a start from his ‘Legends’ category and well known podcast host Eddie Pepperell and Englishman Chris Wood get in on their ‘past winner of the tournament’ category. Last week’s winner Freddy Schott is having the week off. My pick for this week is popular Englishman Marcus Armitage. He finished top ten in the two Dubai tournaments and he is good enough to add to his win in the 2021 European Open.

Hotel Planner Tour & Sunshine Tour

Tournament: Circa Cape Town Open

Dates: 5 – 8 February

Course: Royal Cape Golf Club

Purse: USD $375,000

Ozzies in the field: Austin Batista, Sam Jones (NZ)

The second of the four co-sanctioned tournaments between the Sunshine Tour and the Hotelplanner Tour. Kiwi Sam Jones has been on a self enlightenment journey lately so hopefully that will convert into some form and get his season kickstarted. He cam close to getting promotion onto the DP World Tour last season so he should be close to the top of leader boards.

Asian Tour

Tournament: Philippine Golf Championship

Dates: 5 – 8 February

Course: Wack Wack Golf & CC, Manila

Purse: USD $500,000

Ozzies in the field: Tod Sinnott, Kevin Yuan, Jack Thompson, Maverick Antcliff, Scott Hend, Jed Morgan, Travis Smyth, Justin Warren, Will Florimo, Harrison Crowe, Denzel Ieremia (NZ)

The opening tournament of the 2026 Asian Tour. A bunch of Ozzies playing the Asian Tour this year so hopefully we get to see a W next to an Ozzie name soon. Big Queenslander leftie Will Florimo is looking to have a big year on the Asian Tour having secured a top 10 in the LIV Promotion event which gives him entry to all the International Series Tournaments. Florimo has been in good form and it will be good to see that form continue in Asia. Another Ozzie in good form is Harrison Crowe who carded a blistering 62 last week in stifling conditions at Cobram Barooga.

Mena Tour

Tournament: Egypt Golf Series

Dates: 3 – 5 February

Course: Madinaty Golf Club, Cairo

Purse: USD $100,000

Ozzies in the field: Silvester Tan, Brody Harminson, Luke Kidd (NZ)

Amateur Tournaments

The top amateurs in Australia and from far and wide are contesting the Australian Amateur at The Western Australian Golf Club and the Wanneroo Golf Club. Played as 72 hole stroke play over the two courses. Reagon Denton nis the top ranked female going into the event and Ti Fox is the top ranked male competitor. A very prestigious title for Australian amateur golf.