2008 PGA Tour of Australasia
Golf tour season
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The 2008 PGA Tour of Australasia was the 36th season on the PGA Tour of Australasia, the main professional golf tour in Australia and New Zealand since it was formed in 1973.
| Duration | 14 February 2008 – 14 December 2008 |
|---|---|
| Number of official events | 6 |
| Order of Merit |  Mark Brown |
← 2007 2009 → | |
Schedule
The following table lists official events during the 2008 season.[1]
| Date | Tournament | Location | Purse (A$) |
Winner[a] | OWGR points |
Other tours[b] |
Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 17 Feb | HSBC New Zealand PGA Championship | New Zealand | US$650,000 |  Darron Stiles (1) |
12 | NWT | |
| 24 Feb | Moonah Classic | Victoria | US$750,000 |  Ewan Porter (1) |
16 | NWT | New tournament |
| 2 Mar | Johnnie Walker Classic | India | £1,250,000 | Mark Brown (1) |
38 | ASA, EUR | |
| 30 Nov | Sportsbet Australian Masters | Victoria | 1,500,000 | Rod Pampling (2) |
22 | EUR | |
| 7 Dec | Cadbury Schweppes Australian PGA Championship | Queensland | 1,500,000 | Geoff Ogilvy (1) |
26 | ||
| 14 Dec | Australian Open | New South Wales | 1,500,000 |  Tim Clark (n/a) |
32 | Flagship event |
Unofficial events
The following events were sanctioned by the PGA Tour of Australasia, but did not carry official money, nor were wins official.
| Date | Tournament | Location | Purse (A$) |
Winner | OWGR points |
Other tours[b] |
Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9 Nov | HSBC Champions | China | US$5,000,000 |  Sergio García |
52 | AFR,[c] ASA,[d] EUR | Limited-field event |
Order of Merit
The Order of Merit was based on prize money won during the season, calculated in Australian dollars.[2][3]
| Position | Player | Prize money (A$) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mark Brown | 440,027 |
| 2 | Rod Pampling | 368,300 |
| 3 | Geoff Ogilvy | 316,500 |
| 4 | Scott Strange | 268,644 |
| 5 | Greg Chalmers | 204,039 |
Von Nida Tour
| Duration | 31 January 2008 – 16 November 2008 |
|---|---|
| Number of official events | 5[e] |
| Order of Merit | Michael Long |
← 2007 | |
The 2008 Von Nida Tour was the sixth and final season of the Von Nida Tour, the official development tour to the PGA Tour of Australasia between 2003 and 2008.
In October, it was announced that the Von Nida Tour events would be absorbed into the main tour from the start of 2009.[4]
Schedule
The following table lists official events during the 2008 season.[5]
| Date | Tournament | Location | Purse (A$) |
Winner[f] | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 Feb | NAB Victorian PGA Championship | Victoria | 110,000 | Marc Leishman (4) |
[6] |
| 27 Apr | OG Roberts South Australian PGA Championship | South Australia | 110,000 | Heath Reed (1) |
[7] |
| QLD PGA Championship | Queensland | – | Removed | ||
| Queensland Open | Queensland | – | Cancelled | ||
| WA Open | Western Australia | – | Removed | ||
| 2 Nov | Oceanique WA PGA Championship | Western Australia | 110,000 | Michael Long (1) |
[8] |
| 9 Nov | Cellarbrations NSW PGA Championship | New South Wales | 100,000 | Tim Wood (2) |
[9] |
| 16 Nov | NSW Open | New South Wales | 125,000 | Aaron Townsend (1) |
[10] |
Order of Merit
The Order of Merit was based on prize money won during the season, calculated in Australian dollars.[11][12] The top 10 players on the Order of Merit earned status to play on the 2009 PGA Tour of Australasia.[13]
| Position | Player | Prize money (A$) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Michael Long | 27,651 |
| 2 | Aaron Townsend | 26,890 |
| 3 | Tim Wood | 24,972 |
| 4 | Peter Senior | 19,731 |
| 5 | Heath Reed | 17,550 |
| 6 | Steven Jones | 13,693 |
| 7 | Tristan Lambert | 13,688 |
| 8 | Kurt Barnes | 13,484 |
| 9 | Peter Wilson | 12,640 |
| 10 | Ryan Hammond | 10,102 |
Notes
- The number in brackets after each winner's name is the number of PGA Tour of Australasia events they had won up to and including that tournament. This information is only shown for PGA Tour of Australasia members.
- AFR − Sunshine Tour; ASA − Asian Tour; EUR − European Tour; NWT − Nationwide Tour.
- Sunshine Tour unofficial event
- Asian Tour unofficial event
- A further three tournaments were scheduled but were either cancelled or otherwise removed from the schedule.
- The number in brackets after each winner's name is the number of Von Nida Tour events they had won up to and including that tournament. It is rare for someone to accumulate many wins on the Von Nida Tour as success at this level usually leads to promotion to the PGA Tour of Australasia.