Potgieter will play his first professional tournament in the country where he developed his game while Higgs comes to Australia for the first time on the back of two Korn Ferry Tour wins this year to regain his PGA Tour status.

They will be joined by another KFT winner this year, Chilean Cristobal Del Solar, who has been inspired to play in Australia by countryman and reigning Australian Open champion, Joaquin Niemann.

Just 20 years of age, Potgieter is headed for the PGA Tour in 2025 after a huge year on the Korn Ferry Tour (KFT) in 2024, including becoming the youngest winner in the Tour’s history, beating the record held by Jason Day, when he won The Bahamas Great Abaco Classic in January.

Although he was born in Mossel Bay on South Africa’s Southern Cape, Potgieter moved to Perth with his family when he was a child, eventually becoming a member of Golf WA’s High Performance Program.

A member at the Joondalup course, he won the South Australian Junior Masters by nine shots in 2020, the 2021 WA Amateur and was second in the 2021 Australian Boys’ Amateur before, at just 17, becoming the second youngest winner in the history of the British Amateur Championship.

The two-shot win in The Bahamas, thanks to a closing 65, was followed by two other top-10 finishes to see Potgieter finish 29th in the end-of-season standings.

“Growing up in WA, I always enjoyed watching the big tournaments each summer every year in Australia,” Potgieter said.

“I can’t wait to get to Royal Queensland and experience everything about the BMW Australian PGA Championship. There’s plenty of the guys I came through the amateurs with who are now professional who I’m looking forward to catching up with.

“And then there’s the challenge of going up against players like Jason Day, Cam Smith, Min Woo Lee and Cam Davis.”

The affable Higgs, who has won twice on the KFT in 2024, has been a popular figure on the PGA Tour where his best results have included two runner-up finishes and T4 at the 2021 US PGA Championship.

“Australia has always been on the destination list for Kailee and I,” Higgs said.

“We love travelling and seeing new parts of the world.

“It’s all worked out for me to come down to play both of the Aussie majors this year which I’m sure is going to be a great experience.

“It will be a real honour to play in both the Australian Open and Australian PGA in front of the Aussie fans.”

Del Solar’s 2024 highlight was a four-shot victory in The Ascendent, his fifth worldwide success.

“Seeing my great mate Joaquin (Niemann) play so well in Australia last year and hearing from him how much he enjoyed the country, the golf courses and the atmosphere of the events, made it an easy decision to come down and experience it for myself,” he said.

For BMW Australian PGA Championship tickets, go to ticketek.com.au

The Australian PGA Championship is supported by the Queensland Government, through Tourism and Events Queensland’s Major Events Program and Brisbane City Council, through Brisbane Economic Development Agency.