This year marks the seventh occasion the Asian Tour has been fortunate enough to joint-sanction the tournament with the Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia. There is also a strong presence from Japan as the tournament is staged in partnership with the Japan Golf Tour, which is an important part of the event with the Ishii family\u2019s ownership of Millbrook Resort.<\/p>\n
The Asian Tour has 33 exemptions from a starting field of 156 but with dual members from the other Tours roughly one third of the field are members of the Asian Tour.<\/p>\n
As per last year, the New Zealand Open will form part of the Open Qualifying Series with the leading player, not otherwise exempt, qualifying to play in the 154th Open at Royal Birkdale this summer.<\/p>\n
The 2025 Asian Tour Order of Merit champion Kazuki Higa from Japan is the highest ranked player on the OWGR in the field this week at number 123.\u00a0Pavit Tangkamolprasert from Thailand started his 2026 campaign with a very strong statement at the season-opening Philippine Golf Championship with a runner-up finish, pushing the eventual winner Wooyoung Cho from Korea all the way to the end.<\/p>\n
Australian Lucas Herbert, currently playing on the LIV Golf League for the all-Aussie Ripper GC squad, has finished T6 in Adelaide and T9 in Riyadh to open up his 2026 LIV season. Herbert also has one PGA Tour win on his resume, the 2021 Butterfield Bermuda Championship, as well as two victories on the DP World Tour: the 2020 Omega Dubai Desert Classic and the 2021 Dubai Duty Free Irish Open.<\/p>\n
New Zealand\u2019s local hero and Queenstown resident Ben Campbell is also playing on the LIV Golf League, for the Range Goats GC team. He has finished joint second in his home national Open twice, in 2023 behind winner Brendan Jones from Australia and in 2017 losing in a play-off to another Australian in Michael Hendry. Campbell is a two-time Asian Tour and International Series winner, claiming the 2023 Hong Kong Open and the 2024 International Series Morocco.<\/p>\n
Americans Kevin Na and Nick Watney, both five-time winners on the PGA Tour, are also in the field this week, as is former PGA Tour player Kyle Stanley, also from the U.S.<\/p>\n
Here\u2019s the prize money breakdown for each golfer at the 2026 New Zealand Open.<\/p>\n
1 $360,000<\/p>\n
2 $220,000<\/p>\n
3 $126,000<\/p>\n
4 $100,000<\/p>\n
5 $82,000<\/p>\n
6 $66,600<\/p>\n
7 $57,000<\/p>\n
8 $49,000<\/p>\n
9 $42,800<\/p>\n
10 $38,200<\/p>\n
11 $34,900<\/p>\n
12 $32,500<\/p>\n
13 $30,300<\/p>\n
14 $28,900<\/p>\n
15 $27,700<\/p>\n
16 $26,500<\/p>\n
17 $25,300<\/p>\n
18 $24,100<\/p>\n
19 $23,100<\/p>\n
20 $22,300<\/p>\n
21 $21,800<\/p>\n
22 $21,200<\/p>\n
23 $20,600<\/p>\n
24 $20,000<\/p>\n
25 $19,400<\/p>\n
26 $18,800<\/p>\n
27 $18,200<\/p>\n
28 $17,600<\/p>\n
29 $17,000<\/p>\n
30 $16,400<\/p>\n
31 $16,200<\/p>\n
32 $15,600<\/p>\n
33 $15,200<\/p>\n
34 $14,800<\/p>\n
35 $14,400<\/p>\n
36 $14,000<\/p>\n
37 $13,600<\/p>\n
38 $13,200<\/p>\n
39 $12,800<\/p>\n
40 $12,400<\/p>\n
41 $12,100<\/p>\n
42 $11,700<\/p>\n
43 $11,300<\/p>\n
44 $10,900<\/p>\n
45 $10,700<\/p>\n
46 $10,600<\/p>\n
47 $10,200<\/p>\n
48 $9,800<\/p>\n
49 $9,400<\/p>\n
50 $9,000<\/p>\n
51 $8,600<\/p>\n
52 $8,200<\/p>\n
53 $7,800<\/p>\n
54 $7,600<\/p>\n
55 $7,400<\/p>\n
56 $7,200<\/p>\n
57 $7,000<\/p>\n
58 $6,800<\/p>\n
59 $6,600<\/p>\n
60 $6,400<\/p>\n
61 $6,200<\/p>\n
62 $6,000<\/p>\n
63 $5,800<\/p>\n
64 $5,600<\/p>\n
65 $5,400<\/p>\n
Follow Golf Digest Middle East on social media<\/p>\n