Bubba Watson and and Rickie Fowler will be looking to score another American victory in Australia this week.
US duo hoping to bag Australian PGA trophy at Coolum
Bubba Watson and and Rickie Fowler will be looking to score another American victory in Australia this week.
Watson helped the US retain the Presidents Cup in Melbourne on Sunday and he and close friend Fowler are two of the stars on show at this week's Australian PGA Championship at the Hyatt Regency Coolum resort in Queensland.
The field also includes seven of the International team, who lost 19-15 at Royal Melbourne - Aussies Jason Day, Adam Scott, Geoff Ogilvy, Aaron Baddeley and Robert Allenby along with YE Yang and Kyung-Tae Kim of South Korea - while skipper Greg Norman will also line up.
Open champion Darren Clarke adds to the exceptional field.
Fowler, 23, has already made his mark overseas in 2011 having finished fifth in The Open Championship in Sandwich before claiming his first pro win by landing the OneAsia Tour's Kolon Korea Open in Cheonan last month.
He also has some good form in Australia from his amateur days.
"It was really great to get my first win on the board in Korea and now I'm looking forward to a few more," Fowler told the tournament's official website.
"I won the World Amateur in Adelaide in 2008 and also played well in the 2009 Master of the Amateurs at Yarra Yarra, but it's going to be very different this time.
"I'm looking forward to going back and spending some time in Queensland. It will be a great way to finish off my year," said Fowler who tweeted a picture of a stretch limousine when he was picked up at the airport by Australian PGA officials on Friday.
Brian Thorburn, CEO of the PGA of Australia, is understandably delighted to have the colourful Fowler in the tournament.
Icon for the next generation
"Rickie Fowler has fast become an icon for the next generation of golfers and we are delighted to add his name to the Australian PGA Championship presented by Coca-Cola," said Thorburn.
"Our theme this year is 'turn up the heat' and with the likes of Rickie, Jason Day, Bubba Watson, Darren Clarke, Y EYang, Greg Norman, Geoff Ogilvy and Adam Scott in the field I'm sure we will see record galleries visit the Sunshine Coast."
The Aussie players will be hoping to put last week's disappointing result behind them when, collectively, they won only 10 of their 32 Presidents Cup matches.
Geoff Ogilvy was the one shining light, after racking up three wins and a half from his five matches, and the 2006 US Open champ also has previous good form at Coolum having won this tournament in 2008 and finished runner-up last year.
Allenby, who suffered a nightmarke week at Royal Melbourne after losing all four of his matches, is a four-time winner of this tournament (2000, 2001, 2005, 2009) while the defending champion is Peter Senior who caused a shock last year when taking the trophy 21 years after he scored the first of his three wins in the event.
The last American to win the tournament was three-time US Open champion Hale Irwin, who triumphed in 1978.
The tournament is co-sanctioned by OneAsia and the PGA Tour of Australasia.
