{"id":801169,"date":"2026-07-15T04:54:15","date_gmt":"2026-07-15T04:54:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/801169\/"},"modified":"2026-07-15T04:54:15","modified_gmt":"2026-07-15T04:54:15","slug":"scottie-scheffler-australian-open-golf-how-cam-smith-plans-to-lure-the-worlds-best-golfer-to-the-australian-open","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/801169\/","title":{"rendered":"Scottie Scheffler Australian Open golf: How Cam Smith plans to lure the world\u2019s best golfer to the Australian Open"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Tom<\/p>\n

Updated July 15, 2026 \u2014 12:15pm,first published 11:30am<\/p>\n

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Southport: The world\u2019s best golfer Scottie Scheffler has declared he would love to play in Australia one day. The last Australian to win the Open Championship, Cam Smith, says he has a left-field idea to lure the 2025 Claret Jug winner to the Australian Open after Rory McIlroy accepted the invitation last year.<\/p>\n

\u201cUnreal meat pies and flat whites,\u201d Smith said after a practice round at Royal Birkdale Golf Club in Liverpool ahead of Thursday\u2019s opening round of The Open.<\/p>\n

\"ScottieScottie Scheffler of the United States signs autographs for fans ahead of The Open Championship at Royal Birkdale. Getty Images<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s a coffee snob, is Scottie. I think we really need to sell him on the flat whites and I reckon he\u2019d get down there.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jokes aside, Smith wants the world\u2019s best golfers returning to Australia in greater numbers. He could do worse than a quiet word on the immaculate putting greens and cavernous bunkers at Royal Birkdale, where the game\u2019s elite, including seven Australians, have been sharpening their short games before the year\u2019s fourth and final major.<\/p>\n

McIlroy will return for the Australian Open at Kingston Heath Golf Club in December, while Smith\u2019s LIV Golf colleague and world No.11 Jon Rahm also name-dropped Australia when asked whether golf\u2019s four majors should expand beyond the United States and Britain.<\/p>\n

\"RipperRipper Golf team captain Cam Smith.Getty Images<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it would be good for golf, yeah,\u201d Rahm said. \u201cFrom what I\u2019ve seen the last few years, having a major in Australia could be very successful.\u201d<\/p>\n

Smith added: \u201cWe need to look at a tonne of guys. You look at what the Aussie Open was 20 or 30 years ago \u2026 they\u2019ve got a long way to get back to that. But I feel like we\u2019re trending in the right direction. I feel like we need a few more [big names].\u201d<\/p>\n

Australian round one tee times (AEST)<\/p>\n

Thursday<\/p>\n

5.47pm \u2014 Michael Thorbjornsen, Kota Kaneko, Travis Smyth6.25pm \u2014 Ben Griffin, Hideki Matsuyama, Min Woo Lee6.47pm \u2014 Justin Thomas, Alex Noren, Jason Day9.14pm \u2014 Cameron Smith, Keith Mitchell, Stuart Gregan11.09pm \u2014 Bud Cauley, Jayden Schaper, Lucas Herbert11.31pm \u2014 Chris Gotterup, Sam Burns, Adam Scott<\/p>\n

Friday<\/p>\n

12.59am \u2014 Cameron John, Austen Truslow, Sam Bairstow<\/p>\n

Scheffler was in surprisingly good spirits on Tuesday despite missing the cut at last week\u2019s Scottish Open, ending a streak of 78 consecutive tournaments where he has featured on the weekend. <\/p>\n

One player who had no shortage of things to do last weekend was Australia\u2019s Min Woo Lee, who closed with a final-round 67 to finish runner-up at 15-under. The 27-year-old has one top-five finish in a major, tying for fifth at the 2023 US Open, and is confident he can replicate his form on fairways that will be fast and firm.<\/p>\n

\"MinMin Woo Lee finished second at last week\u2019s Scottish Open. Getty Images<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a week where everything\u2019s heightened, emotions are heightened, and you feel like you want to practise more,\u201d he said. \u201cYou just get so excited.\u201d<\/p>\n

Equally exciting, he says, would be getting Scheffler to Australia.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s one of the best golfers of his generation,\u201d Lee said of the four-time major champion. \u201cWhat he\u2019s doing on the course is spectacular and if Australia gets a player like him \u2026 it\u2019s going to be pretty hectic.\u201d<\/p>\n

As another major begins and thousands prepare to follow their every move, Scheffler was asked about his legacy.<\/p>\n

\"RoryRory McIlroy of Northern Ireland speaks to the media on Tuesday ahead of The Open. Getty Images<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t really play for a place in history. I\u2019m not playing for anything like that because \u2013 this is going to sound a little morbid \u2013 at the end of the day, I\u2019m going to live my life, and it\u2019s going to end. When it ends, I\u2019m going somewhere else, and I\u2019m not going to be here any more,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

McIlroy\u2019s response was equally matter-of-fact.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think I\u2019ll be seeing what people say about me,\u201d McIlroy added. \u201cI\u2019ll be six feet under.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Australians have an opportunity to shape their own legacies this week. Only four Australians have won a men\u2019s major this century \u2014 Geoff Ogilvy (2006 US Open), Adam Scott (2013 Masters), Jason Day (2015 PGA Championship) and Smith in 2022 at St Andrews \u2013 while Greg Norman was the last Australian before them to win in 1993.<\/p>\n

\"JasonJason Day of Australia looks across the first hole during a practice round. Getty Images<\/p>\n

Three of those four are in the field this week, with Scott lining up in his 101st consecutive major. He said Royal Birkdale will offer everyone a chance in pursuit of the $4.6 million prizemoney for the winner.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere won\u2019t be guys with a huge advantage. The shortest and straightest hitters have the biggest advantage. A good opening round or two in a major and the confidence can get up.\u201d<\/p>\n

Related Article\"Australian<\/a><\/p>\n

Smith knows how difficult those opportunities have been to seize by Australians.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere hasn\u2019t been a tonne of majors won by Australians, so it\u2019s definitely difficult to do,\u201d Smith said. \u201cIt\u2019s hard because you need to get your game right on the right week.<\/p>\n

\u201cI like our chances this week.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\"TomTom Decent<\/a> is the chief sports writer for The Sydney Morning Herald.Connect via X<\/a> or email<\/a>.From our partners<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Updated July 15, 2026 \u2014 12:15pm,first published 11:30am Save You have reached your maximum number of saved items.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":801170,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[566],"tags":[64,63,755,85],"class_list":["post-801169","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-golf","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-golf","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/801169","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=801169"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/801169\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/801170"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=801169"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=801169"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=801169"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}