Steve Palmer's Australian PGA Championship predictions & free golf betting tips

Golf tips, best bets and player analysis for the Australian PGA Championship at Royal Queensland on the DP World Tour.

Where to watch

Sky Sports Main Event and Golf, 2am Thursday

Best bets

Min Woo Lee
3.5pts each-way 14-1 Betfair, Power
Lucas Herbert
3pts each-way 18-1 Betfair, Power
Jack Thompson
1pt each-way 150-1 Hills

The DP World Tour season tees off with a double-header from Australia and South Africa - and it is the action from down under which has attracted the better players. LIV Golf rebel Cameron Smith headlines the Royal Queensland gathering.

Brisbane-born Smith obviously has every chance, but the Open champion did not play in last year's Aussie PGA at this venue, he has not competed for the best part of a month, and can be left alone at short odds. His fellow LIV recruit Marc Leishman has been in dismal form, while Adam Scott is an unappealing prospect for a low-scoring week when potential title contenders will need to hole every short putt.

Steve Palmer's top tip

Min Woo Lee 14-1

A 12th-place finish in a high-class DP World Tour Championship on Sunday provided further evidence of Min Woo Lee's comfort in elite events and the 24-year-old Australian takes a sharp downgrade in his homeland this week.

The two-time DP World Tour champion boasts form figures on that circuit of 3-3-8-12 from his last four starts and he will be thrilled with how solid he has been on the greens. Putting is the department of the game which can frustrate Lee, but he finished tenth, ninth and 26th in the putting statistics in his last three events.

An edge that Lee has over his market rivals this week is the fact he played in the last Australian PGA Championship. He is the only one of the market principals who has competitive experience of Royal Queensland. Lee finished fourth in the Aussie PGA and can hit the ground running this week. His maiden DP World Tour title came at home in the 2020 Vic Open.

Next best bet

Lucas Herbert 18-1

One of the best putters in the world can make an impact in a week when scoring should be extremely low. Lucas Herbert topped the PGA Tour putting statistics last season and almost comes with a guarantee of flat-stick brilliance.

This is a short, easy layout by modern standards - Jed Morgan reached 22 under par in the last Aussie PGA - and Herbert can make merry. He will appreciate the room off the tee, as loose driving is his weakness, and this prolific champion can finally get off the mark in his homeland.

Herbert has never won a professional event in Australia and is eager to put that right. He is a two-time DP World Tour champion who has also won on the PGA Tour. The 26-year-old's form from the Open onwards hints that he could be a massive threat at Royal Queensland.

Herbert was 15th in the Open, then 15th in the BMW Championship, before fifth place in the Italian Open and 25th spot last time out in the Nedbank Challenge.

Other selection

Jack Thompson 150-1

Complete a three-pronged attack with Jack Thompson, a 24-year-old with great potential. He had a superb amateur career, which included losing a playoff for the 2020 Queensland Open. He appears to have every chance of making an impact in the same state this week.

Thompson, a tough cookie who lost his father at a young age and battled through the junior ranks without much help, excelled in his final three tournaments of last year. He finished second in the New South Wales Open, seventh in the Victorian PGA, then won the Gippsland Super 6.

In last year's Australian PGA, he finished 12th, and form figures of 14-23-5-12 from his last four Aussie Tour starts suggest this great putter is ready to rumble at Royal Queensland again.

Players to note

Cameron Davis
The sweet-swinging Aussie took a lot of confidence from his Presidents Cup debut and seems a likely contender this week.

Rasmus Hojgaard
The Dane has been in superb form on the DP World Tour and is putting well enough to go low at Royal Queensland.

Royal Queensland course guide

Course Royal Queensland Golf Club, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
Prize money A$2m (A$360,000 to the winner)
Length 7,162 yards
Par 71 - three par-fives; 11 par-fours; four par-threes
Field 156 The cut Top 65 and ties qualify for round three
Highest-ranked players in field (world ranking in brackets) Cameron Smith (3), Ryan Fox (27), Adam Scott (34), Lucas Herbert (55), Adrian Meronk (58)
Course records- 72 holes 262 Jediah Morgan (January, 2022) 18 holes 63 Jediah Morgan (January, 2022)

Course winners taking part Scott Arnold, Jediah Morgan

When to bet By 8pm on Wednesday

When to watch Sky Sports Main Event and Golf, 2am Thursday

Time difference Queensland is ten hours ahead of the UK and Ireland

Course type Parkland

Course overview The new Royal Queensland layout was designed by Michael Clayton and opened in December, 2007. Royal Pines was the Australian PGA venue from 2013 until Royal Queensland took over for the last edition, which was played in January this year. The Australian Amateur was staged at Royal Queensland in 2009 and 2020. This flat course is on the northern bank of the Brisbane River. The fairways are wide and there is no rough, but bunkers are strategically placed, with some even in the middle of fairways at the three par-fives

Story of last Australian PGA (January, 2022) Jediah Morgan turned the event into a procession, reaching 22 under par and romping to an 11-shot victory

Weather forecast Sunny and warm for the most part, with hardly any breeze

Type of player suited to the challenge Finding the right sections of the fairways to get the best angle of attack to the greens is important, but putting well is arguably the key on a low-scoring track in fantastic weather

Key attribute Touch/putting

Spotlight insight Jediah Morgan won last year in just his fourth tournament as a professional golfer

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