Australian PGA ahead of Open to accommodate Presidents Cup

Gold Coast - Next year's Australian PGA championship will precede the Australian Open so it can accommodate the Presidents Cup in mid-December at Royal Melbourne. 

Officials said the 2019 Australian PGA will be played at Royal Pines on the Gold Coast from November 28 to December 1, a week ahead of the Australian Open (December 8-11 at The Australian in Sydney) and the Presidents Cup (December 12-15). 

This year, the Open, won by Mexico's Abraham Ancer, preceded the PGA by two weeks, with the World Cup of Golf at Metropolitan in Melbourne in between. 

The World Cup team event was won by Belgians Thomas Pieters and Thomas Detry, with Cameron Smith and Marc Leishman, representing Australia, tied for second. 

This year's Australian PGA begins on Thursday with defending champion Smith and Leishman among the entries. 

Also entered are Geoff Ogilvy, who was named as a captain's assistant on Sunday by captain Ernie Els for the Presidents Cup, England's Andrew (Beef) Johnston and American Harold Varner III, who has won, finished second in a playoff and finished sixth in three Australian PGAs at Royal Pines.