Kiwi Pro Watch

World Number one Lydia Ko is aiming for more history this weekend as she looks to win the CME Group Tour Championship for the third time in a row.

As one of the strongest fields seen on the LPGA Tour arrives in Naples this week, Ko has been in the spotlight for many more reasons than being the best in the business, but the 19-year-old is looking to finish the long year on a very high note starting this Friday.

This year Ko has managed a well above par four victories, 13 top 10 finishes and nearly a quarter of a million dollars in prize money and currently sits in second place on the CME Globe standings.

The tight tussle will continue with the world number two and potential player of the year, Ariya Jutanugarn who holds the top spot in the CME Globe standings and looks to end Kos remarkable run. It would be a well-deserved prize for Jutanugarn after topping Ko with five wins and 15 top 10 finishes this year.

The Race to the CME Globe is a season-long points competition in which players accumulate points in every LPGA Tournament. AS only the best players of the year remain, the top nine all have a mathematical chance of winning the Race to the CME Globe.

The tournament starts this Friday with Ko teeing off at 10:41am in Florida, which is an early tee time of 4:41am NZT for Kiwi fans.

Ryan Fox and Michael Hendry will fly the flag for our large New Zealand contingent at this weeks Emirates Australian Open in an attempt to be the first ever Kiwi to win Australias biggest prize.

Nine strong players attempt to make history at the Royal Sydney Golf Club this week, but after returning from a successful European Challenge Tour campaign, Fox is looking to be the favourite.

With a full European Tour card in his suitcase after finishing fourth in the Race to Oman where the best 15 players of the year receive a ticket to the top tour, Fox arrives in Sydney with confidence and the freedom to win.

The 29-year-old from Auckland has been paired with his Olympic rival and good friend, Michael Hendry who returns from a very successful stint on the Japan Tour where he sits in the top ten on the prize money list with a very consistent five top-five finishes this year.

To the other end of the scale, Daniel Hillier will make an appearance at his first Australian Open after a sensational victory at the Australian Junior Championship earlier in the year. Winning by an impressive six shots earnt him a valuable spot in the field this week.

Hillier has had a colourful career thus far and now finds himself in a position where he could play alongside one of the worlds best golfers in Jordan Spieth who is the biggest drawcard this year alongside local legend, Adam Scott.

Hoping to match it with these great players are an experienced pack of New Zealand golfers including Brad Shilton, Josh Geary, Michael Long, Ben Campbell, Gareth Paddison and Harry Bateman. Shilton will be looking to press on with his hot streak after the obvious success in Fiji, Japan Q-School and winning the Harewood Open.

There is no better time zone for live sport than Australia and with all these New Zealand names in the field, its going to be a great week following our favourites.

Tim Wilkinson will be teeing it up on the big stage once again, this time at the RSM Classic as he looks to get his PGA Tour season off to a solid start. After missing the cut in his last outing, the Palmerston North professional will be searching for a quick turnaround.

In recent news, Mark Brown and Mat Perry have just missed out on the chance of earning their full European Tour card. After a brutal process at Q-School, the two missed the all-important cut by three and five shots respectively. Even Browns astonishing front nine of 28 and final score of 64 wasnt enough to get him through.

Enjoy your weekend of golf.

- This story has been automatically published using a media release from Golf NZ