"VAN" (Sports Desk - 14.07.2025) :: Texas teenager Lucky Cruz has the backing of NBA legend Stephen Curry as he tries to earn status for the 2025/2026 season of the Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia.
To be staged at Kinderlou Forest Golf Club in Valdosta, Georgia from July 15-18, 52 players from the United States, Canada, Spain, India, New Zealand and Australia have signed up for the first Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia Qualifying School held internationally.
A veteran of 201 starts on the PGA TOUR, 46-year-old Kiwi Tim Wilkinson is the most recognisable name to have entered yet with his youthful exuberance and distinctive hairstyle, Cruz may be the standout on course.
At 16 years of age, Cruz became the youngest player in North America to earn status on a professional tour when he qualified for the Gira de Golf Professional in Mexico in February.
Two years earlier, Cruz came to the attention of four-time NBA champion Curry.
A passionate golfer who won the celebrity-laden American Century Championship at Lake Tahoe last year, Curry established the UNDERRATED Tour to provide playing opportunities for under-represented minorities within golf.
The Curry Cup brings together the top 24 girls and boys from the UNDERRATED Tour, Cruz catching the eye of Curry when he took out the 2023 Curry Cup.
“He’s a gamer,” Curry told Golf Digest of the now 17-year-old.
“He’s a super talented young golfer who has got a flair about him and a presence about him.
“He’s a competitive kid and the sky’s the limit for him in the game of golf.”
In addition to his Curry Cup win in 2023, Cruz also won the boys 14-15 years division of the Notah Begay III Junior Golf National Championship, finishing 13 strokes ahead of Tiger Woods’s son, Charlie.
It is the first time that the Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia has gone global in providing direct entry to a tour that has proven itself to be a pathway to the DP World Tour, Korn Ferry Tour and, eventually, the PGA TOUR.
Tour Development Manager for the PGA Tour of Australasia, Kim Felton, says players such as Cruz are exactly those this initiative is trying to target.
“Golfers globally are now recognising the pathway offered by the Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia and we are thrilled that a talent such as Lucky wants to come and play our tour,” said Felton.
“We understand that Australia is a long way to come for Q School so our intent with this qualifier in Georgia is to align with our vision and attract more international players to Australia. The opportunity of international pathways to other major tours is also a huge benefit for them to make the journey and compete on our Tour.
“The top three on the Order of Merit at season’s end earn status on the DP World Tour and our past three Order of Merit winners have each played two majors in the months that followed.
“Ryan Peake is the perfect example of our pathway. Ryan attended Q School in April last year and in November this year will be a playing Member of the DP World Tour.
“Not only are we providing opportunities for these players to advance their professional careers, I’m confident that Aussie golf fans will love seeing those who qualify playing Down Under this summer.”
Six players will earn playing rights for the 2025/2026 season with the top spot being exempt into all events, including the BMW Australian PGA Championship, the Australian Open at Royal Melbourne Golf Club and the New Zealand Open.
Kinderlou Forest Golf Club, a quality course and well-known as a stern test of golf, hosted the South Georgia Classic on the Korn Ferry Tour between 2007-2014 and has been used as a host venue for Second Stage of PGA TOUR Q School.
Responses
Leave your comment