Nine Media<\/a>.<\/p>\n\u201cBut we had a proper swing at it and fortunately for us it came off, and landed really well. We have sent a message, not just to the Australian public about the Australian Open but … there\u2019s been an amazing response internationally as well.\u201d<\/p>\n
The former Cricket Australia boss added: \u201cI hope lots of other golfers feel the same … actually I know there are a number of golfers that were playing in different parts of the world in the last week that were looking and saying, \u2018wow, I might\u2019ve made a mistake\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n
There is a clear determination within the golf community to ensure the momentum gathered at Royal Melbourne is not lost.<\/p>\n
No one would want this year\u2019s event to be a flash in the pan, but the multi-year success of LIV Adelaide – which is locked in until 2031 – and the 2028 Presidents Cup being staged at Kingston Heath indicates that the golf buzz should be here to stay.<\/p>\n
There may be some tweaking in order to maximise it, however.<\/p>\n
The Australian Open has been a test dummy for tweaking in recent times as for three years it was played as a combined men\u2019s, women\u2019s and All Abilities event.<\/p>\n
The success of the return to the traditional stand-alone format this year ensured that the mixed-gender idea will remain in the rear view mirror.<\/p>\n
Location is also a matter that remains up in there as no host venue is locked in beyond 2026 at Kingston Heath.<\/p>\n
There have been many calls for the tournament to stay exclusively on the famed courses for the Melbourne Sandbelt after it was played in Sydney every year from 2006 to 2019 – a move that former world No.1 doubles tennis player and sports administrator Paul McNamee said was an error during his time as tournament director.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, the timing of the tournament also remains a key point of discussion.<\/p>\n
After his final round at Royal Melbourne, McIlroy addressed that the rumours that from 2027 the PGA Tour is looking at a shortened schedule.<\/p>\n
The proposed changes would include roughly 20 events being played from February\/March to August.<\/p>\n
\u201cYeah, I think I understand what they\u2019re [PGA Tour] doing,\u201d McIlroy told reporters. <\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019re trying to get their domestic model right before focusing internationally, and they obviously don\u2019t want to go up against football. NFL is king in the States, and it makes sense from an American point of view, but then I think it does let international and global golf shine for five months of the year.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo if the [PGA] Tour are really thinking about playing from February through to August, that leaves September through to January for here [Australia] and Europe and wherever else in the world to really be the shining light of golf for that five months. So I think people could really get behind that. And you sort of have the American swing \u2013 with maybe the Scottish Open and The Open in the middle \u2013 but the rest of the big international stuff sort of in that September to January time frame, which I think works pretty well, especially for the Southern Hemisphere, for tournaments like this.\u201d<\/p>\n
Double Bogey! Rory vs Banana Peel | 01:04<\/p>\n
As McIlroy said, such a move would free up a lot of time in the calendar for events outside of the US like the Australian Open.<\/p>\n
Being played in the first week of December has always been problematic as drawcards are less likely to come down under at the end of a long season – especially American players as it is close to the Thanksgiving holiday.<\/p>\n
Locally, while the tournament was a raging success, it still had to compete with the second Ashes cricket Test match between Australia and England in Brisbane for the spotlight.<\/p>\n
These reasons are why it has often been suggested that the Australian Open could move to February to act as a season opener for players.<\/p>\n
That would coincide with LIV Adelaide, but the DP World Tour schedule is already packed with events in the Middle East before playing in Kenya and South Africa at that time of year.<\/p>\n
For now, Sutherland says the event is staying put.<\/p>\n
The Whiff & The Miracle – Rory Reacts | 01:24<\/p>\n
At Kingston Heath next year it will again be played in the first week of December, immediately following the Australian PGA Championship, which is also DP World Tour co-sanctioned.<\/p>\n
But Golf Australia are open to suggestions with Sutherland saying he will have a post-tournament debrief call with McIlroy to discuss scheduling and any other ideas the Masters champion has to boost the event.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe definitely get his (McIlroy\u2019s) feedback on that,\u201d Sutherland said. \u201cHe can have conversations with people in higher office even more readily than we can. And hopefully his positive feedback will only strengthen our case.<\/p>\n
\u201cScheduling is really challenging. There\u2019s so much going on at the same time \u2026 we can decide to play whenever we want, but how it fits and works in with others is not something we have unilateral authority on. And in the scheme of world golf, we\u2019re a smaller player. We don\u2019t have the clout.<\/p>\n
\u201cOne path is you can be beholden to the rest of the world, and try to squeeze in and around things.<\/p>\n
\u201cOr the other route is you make a stand. What\u2019s really important to us is that we play in the window that works for Australia and Australian golf fans. And I think then we go and back our product. We back our golf courses and we back our national championship, and its heritage and history. It feels like we\u2019ve made a noise around that.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"As the dust settles on a record-breaking Australian Open, the golf world feels like it could be just…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":340453,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[566],"tags":[5487,6074,2095,51350,189138,189123,64,63,689,29976,6946,189127,159650,145895,10396,189128,651,3193,29743,10404,37104,189121,15912,120358,45893,1208,189129,2057,189136,676,14604,29983,2105,755,189122,25300,189126,5505,149026,29459,29981,24416,189124,132139,24415,182916,33330,34534,189131,59826,647,170977,673,2041,2067,3583,5492,677,189140,189118,63841,701,163418,189132,189135,189125,189120,189137,756,182914,33195,189134,1183,18780,85,189130,189133,670,48923,9244,183159,120051,3586,2614,189119,660,189139,189141],"class_list":{"0":"post-340452","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-golf","8":"tag-adam-scott","9":"tag-africa","10":"tag-america","11":"tag-american-players","12":"tag-american-point","13":"tag-american-swing","14":"tag-au","15":"tag-australia","16":"tag-australia-and-new-zealand","17":"tag-australian-golf","18":"tag-australian-golf-fans","19":"tag-australian-golfing-icon","20":"tag-australian-public","21":"tag-australian-stars","22":"tag-bahamas","23":"tag-banana-peel","24":"tag-brisbane","25":"tag-cameron-smith","26":"tag-career-grand-slam","27":"tag-caribbean","28":"tag-cbs-corporation","29":"tag-city-of-edinburgh","30":"tag-decision-makers","31":"tag-double-bogey","32":"tag-eastern-africa-sub-saharan-africa","33":"tag-england","34":"tag-entertaining-golf-event","35":"tag-europe","36":"tag-events-outside","37":"tag-final-round","38":"tag-gary-player","39":"tag-geoff-ogilvy","40":"tag-getty-images-inc","41":"tag-golf","42":"tag-golf-buzz","43":"tag-golf-community","44":"tag-golf-course-architect","45":"tag-golf-courses","46":"tag-golf-enthusiasts","47":"tag-golf-world","48":"tag-grand-slam-winner","49":"tag-greg-norman","50":"tag-heads-trying","51":"tag-host-venue","52":"tag-jack-nicklaus","53":"tag-james-sutherland","54":"tag-josh-chadwick","55":"tag-kenya","56":"tag-kids-scale-trees","57":"tag-maiden-australian","58":"tag-melbourne","59":"tag-mike-clayton","60":"tag-new-south-wales","61":"tag-north-america","62":"tag-northern-america","63":"tag-northern-europe","64":"tag-northern-ireland","65":"tag-oceania","66":"tag-patrick-mcdonald","67":"tag-paul-mcnamee","68":"tag-professional-golf","69":"tag-queensland","70":"tag-rasmus-neergaard-petersen","71":"tag-real-golf-courses","72":"tag-real-players","73":"tag-real-stakes","74":"tag-rear-view-mirror","75":"tag-record-breaking-australian","76":"tag-rory-mcilroy","77":"tag-royal-melbourne-golf-club","78":"tag-season-opener","79":"tag-seismic-shift-means","80":"tag-south-africa","81":"tag-southern-africa","82":"tag-sports","83":"tag-sports-administrator","84":"tag-storied-history","85":"tag-sydney","86":"tag-tennis-player","87":"tag-tiger-woods","88":"tag-tournament-director","89":"tag-tournament-organisers","90":"tag-united-kingdom","91":"tag-united-states-of-america","92":"tag-vantage-point","93":"tag-victoria","94":"tag-visiting-american-friend","95":"tag-whiff-amp-the-miracle"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/340452","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=340452"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/340452\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/340453"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=340452"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=340452"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=340452"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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