PGA Tour winners Kevin Na, Nick Watney and Kyle Stanley will all be heading to Millbrook next week.
He captained the Iron Heads GC team in LIV for four seasons, but has left the tour and applied for PGA Tour reinstatement and will tee it up in Arrowtown for his first start since the Saudi International in November.
Las Vegas-based Watney, 44, is also a five-time PGA Tour winner and a former Ryder Cup representative who had a career year in 2010 when he finished seventh at both the Masters and the US Open.
Washington golfer Stanley, 38, has won twice on the PGA Tour and returns to New Zealand 15 years after his last visit.
All three players will experience Queenstown for the first time, and the opportunity to compete at Millbrook — with the extra carrot of a spot in the British Open for the winner — has them eager to make the journey south.
"I’ve heard so many great things about Queenstown and the New Zealand Open,” Na said.
"To finally have the chance to come down, see the place for myself and play such a historic tournament is something I’m really looking forward to."
Watney echoed those sentiments, excited by the setting and the chance to test his game in New Zealand.
Stanley played the New Zealand PGA at Clearwater in 2010 and is looking forward to the Open experience.
"This event has been on my radar for some time, and I am extremely grateful that the tournament has invited me along," Stanley said.
Tournament director Michael Glading said securing the three Americans further strengthened an already deep international field.
"To have three proven PGA Tour winners of this calibre commit to the New Zealand Open is fantastic for the tournament,” Glading said.
All three players will maximise their visit by playing in a second New Zealand event.
Stanley will tee up in the New Zealand PGA Championship at Paraparaumu this week, and both Watney and Na move to Auckland after the New Zealand Open to compete in the inaugural Japan-Australasia Championship at Royal Auckland in early March.
— Allied Media
