Vic Open Concept Comes North, Gets European Tour Status Thanks To ISPS Handa, Horan

Australians rave about the Vic Open’s male/female format that sees both tournaments concluded Sunday, with leading groups interspersed. And now it’s coming to another European Tour/LET stop.

From Brian Keogh’s report on ISPS Handa and Niall Horan’s Modest! Golf Management putting together the event for this July, with first-ever northern hemisphere tri-sanctioning.

The ISPS HANDA World Invitational will attract a field of 288 players, 144 men and 144 women. The women’s field will be split equally between the LPGA and the Ladies European Tour. The $2.35 million purse will be split evenly, with men and women competing for two equal prize funds.

The tournament will count towards the European Tour’s Race to Dubai and carry Team Europe Ryder Cup points, while the women’s tournament will count towards the Race to the CME Globe for women on the LPGA Tour, the Race to Costa del Sol on the Ladies European Tour (LET) and Solheim Cup points for both Team Europe and Team USA.

When the male and female fields are cut to 60 and ties, another 54-hole cut reduces the fields to 35 advancing to Sunday, with tee times mixed so fans can watch both tournaments conclude at similar times.