Tournament Information

• Tournament: New Zealand Open presented by Sky Sport
• Date: February 27 – March 2, 2025
• Venue: Millbrook Golf Resort, Queenstown. Remarkables, Coronet and Composite Courses.
• Par/Yards: Coronet Course Par 71 / 6,936 Yards; Remarkables Course Par 71 / 6,784 Yards; Composite Course (for rounds 3-4) Par 71 / 6,961 Yards
• Purse: NZ$2million
• Defending champion: Takahiro Hataji (JPN)
• Asian Tour leg: Third
• Tournament is co-sanctioned by the Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia and the Asian Tour, in partnership with the Japan Golf Tour.
• Edition of tournament: 104^th
• Total number of players: 156
• Format: 72-hole stroke play with a cut made after two rounds to the leading 60 pros plus ties.
• The professionals will compete for the New Zealand Open title, and the Brodie Breeze Trophy, while simultaneously a pairing of one professional and one amateur will play a best-ball format for the New Zealand Open Pro-Am Championship. The field will be split across the two courses for the first round of competition with all players alternating to the other course for the second round. After the second round the top 60 plus ties in the main tournament will continue to the final two rounds.  For the Pro-Am teams, the top 40 pairings will progress to compete in round three, before a third-round cut will see the top 10 Pro-Am teams progress to the final round.
• Social media hashtags: #TimeToRise #NZOpen

Defending champion Takahiro Hataji arriving for the Past Champions Dinner. Picture by Michael Thomas/Photosport.

Field Breakdown

• Order of Merit winners: John Catlin (2024), Jazz Janewattananond (2019), Scott Hend (2016)
• Nationalities: 17
• Top contenders: Ben Campbell (NZL), John Catlin (USA), Kevin Yuan (AUS), Kazuki Higa (JPN), Ryo Ishikawa (JPN), Danny Lee (NZL), Lucas Herbert (AUS)
• Former champions playing: Takahiro Hataji (2024), Brad Kennedy (2020 and 2011), Brendan Jones (2023) Michael Hendry (2017), Zach Murray (2019), Daniel Nisbet (2018), Matthew Griffin (2016) Jordan Zunic (2015).
• Highest ranked player on OWGR: John Catlin #131
• Highest ranked player on 2025 Asian Tour Order of Merit: Kevin Yuan (AUS) #6
• Number of amateurs: 4
• Number of New Zealand players in the field: 25

The iconic 18th at Millbrook Golf Resort.

Tournament Notes

• New Zealander and Queenstown local Ben Campbell enjoyed a successful 2024 when he finished second on the Asian Tour Order of Merit and third on The International Series Rankings. He won the International Series Morocco and posted six other top 10s. Since getting a call up to LIV Golf League in early 2025 to join Bubba Watson’s Range Goats GC team, he has posted a T15 and T23 in the first two events in Riyadh and Adelaide. Campbell has come close to winning his National Open before: in 2023 when he finished second to Brendan Jones of Australia, and in 2017 when he was in a play-off with fellow Kiwi Michael Hendry and Australian Brad Kennedy which Hendry won.
• The 2024 Asian Tour Order of Merit champion John Catlin of the U.S. had a spectacular season last year, posting two wins, in the International Series Macau presented by Wynn and Saudi Open presented by PIF, three runner-up finishes and eight top 10s in 15 events on the way to setting a new single season earnings record with US$1,456,800. He also recorded his best result in a Major, finishing T16 in the Open Championship at Royal Troon.
• Kevin Yuan from Australia came dangerously close to losing his card in 2024 but has started 2025 strong, finishing fourth at the Smart Infinity Philippine Open and a T8 at the International Series India presented by DLF. He is the highest ranked player on the Order of Merit in the field this week, in sixth.
• Japan’s Kazuki Higa has also started his season with top 10s in the first two events, a T8 in Philippines and a T5 in India, and is the second highest ranked player on the Order of Merit at eighth. Higa won four tournaments in Japan in 2022, including the Asian Tour and Korean Tour tri-sanctioned Shinhan Donghae Open, and won the Japan Tour Money List that year.
• Korean-born New Zealander Danny Lee who plays on Kevin Na’s Iron Heads squad on the LIV Golf League, has one LIV title on his resume after winning the Tucson event in 2023. He also famously won the 2009 Johnnie Walker Classic on the DP World Tour while still an amateur, a year after winning the 2008 U.S. Amateur Championship at Pinehurst. He was the number one ranked amateur in the world from August 2008 until turning pro in April 2009.
• Japanese star Ryo Ishikawa has won 20 tournaments on the Japan Golf Tour during his career, the first one coming at the age of 15 years and eight months while still playing as an amateur. Ishikawa had a solid season in Japan in 2024, winning twice at the Japan Players Championship and the Mitsui Sumitomo Visa Taiheiyo Masters and finishing seventh on the Money List.
• Lucas Herbert from Australia is part of Cameron Smith’s Ripper GC team on the LIV Golf league and has a T4 at this year’s Riyadh event as his best individual finish. He was also part of Ripper’s two team titles in 2024 when they finished third in the overall team standings. Prior to joining LIV Herbert posted three DP World Tour and one PGA Tour win.
• Five-time Open Championship winner Peter Thomson of Australia won the New Zealand Open a record nine times between 1950-1971, including back-to-back wins in 1950-1951 and a three-peat in the 1959-1961 editions.
• Fellow Australian Kel Nagle, winner of the Open Championship in 1960, won the event seven times between the years 1957-1969, successfully defending his title in 1958 and going three in a row 1967-1969.

Main picture: The Brodie Breeze Trophy.