McILROY HEADLINES AUSTRALIAN OPEN FIELD
World number two Rory McIlroy returns to Melbourne for this wqeek’s Crown Australia Open. (Photo: Getty/DP World Tour)
Five-time Major Champion and Career Grand Slam winner Rory McIlroy is headlining the Crown Australian Open this week as the tournament returns to the iconic Royal Melbourne Golf Club on the famed Melbourne Sandbelt.
The World Number Two has arrived in Melbourne following a historic season in which he became just the sixth player to complete the Career Grand Slam, capturing the Masters Tournament at his 17th attempt.
McIlroy’s success at Augusta came amid a remarkable run of global form, having already secured victories at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am and THE PLAYERS Championship earlier in the year, before adding a dramatic win at the Amgen Irish Open to earn a second DP World Tour title of the season.
Last month, the Northern Irishman lifted a seventh Harry Vardon Trophy after once again finishing top of the Race to Dubai Rankings Delivered by DP World. It marked his fourth consecutive season-long triumph and seventh overall - moving him one clear of the late Seve Ballesteros and leaving him just one behind legendary Scot Colin Montgomerie in the record books.
The 36-year-old will now aim to set a strong early marker in his bid for a record-equalling eighth season-long crown when he tees off tomorrow morning alongside home favourites Adam Scott and Min Woo Lee.
This week also marks the start of McIlroy’s two-year commitment to the Crown Australian Open, as he targets a second Stonehaven Cup. His previous triumph came in 2013 with a thrilling one-stroke victory over Scott, before he returned in 2014 as defending champion.
Royal Melbourne’s world-renowned Composite Course will provide a fitting stage, with its return as host venue marking the first men’s national open on the Sandbelt since 1991 - adding another prestigious chapter to its storied history.
Australian fans will enjoy a star-studded home contingent featuring Major Champions Scott, Cam Smith and Geoff Ogilvy, while Ryan Fox, Daniel Hillier and Kazuma Kobori add further Antipodean strength in one of the biggest weeks on the golfing calendar.
The Crown Australian Open is the second event of the Opening Swing and offers the tournament champion an invite to the Masters, while the top three players not already exempt secure a place in the field for The 154th Open at Royal Birkdale.
Player quotes
Rory McIlroy: It's been a very warm welcome and obviously delighted to be here. First time playing in Australia in quite a while, so I've, I've been excited to come back. It hasn't been a secret that I've wanted it to come back as well. I think obviously the wonderful golf courses that we're playing the next couple of years, also the change in the format, going back to the traditional Australian Open has probably helped that too. But yeah, just really excited to be back.
I think Australia has been a very big part of my golfing life and my golfing journey, going all the way back to playing the Australian Open as an amateur back in 2005 and 2006.
I've talked about trying to win at some of the most important venues in golf - this week is one of them. You think about the tournaments and the people that have won at Royal Melbourne and how highly regarded it is within the golf world.
I was lucky enough to win at Pebble Beach this year for the first time, obviously at Augusta. I'd love to win at St. Andrews one day. I'd love to win a US Open at Pebble Beach. There's a few venues in our game that maybe just mean a bit more than some of the others and that's something that I would love to do one day. But yeah, I mean I want to win more Majors. I want to be part of more Ryder Cup teams.
Adam Scott: It's kind of one of those things that I grew up dreaming about really and it just for whatever reason hasn't happened in my career yet, but we have been lucky enough to play quite a few tournaments here at Royal Melbourne and I think having the national championship here is extra special this week with a great field. So I'm very excited about the opportunity of being out there and trying to win another Aussie Open.
It feels pretty good. There was lots of good stuff. A couple of mistakes early in the week probably cost me up there, but all good things. I think hopefully some of my experience of playing around here in championship conditions helps me out and a couple of less mistakes and I might be able to hang in there and have a crack at this thing.
I think winning the Aussie Open at Royal Melbourne has one of those asterisks next to it where it's just that little bit more meaningful and it's nothing against anywhere else but just the fact we haven't played a national open here since 1991 is going to make this a really special one and for every Aussie golfer, but I think also for anyone who's here, if they were to win, it's kind of a feather in the cap. It's something to be incredibly proud of.
Min Woo Lee: It’s so exciting. You can see that it's firming up just a little bit. The wind's blowing out there and it's going to be fun. I think it's going to be tricky by the afternoon and yeah, very excited. Different golf than usual. You got to think around every shot really and make sure you don't leave it in bad spots. So you've got to be in control of the ball and I am. So, I'm pretty happy.
It's been a good year. The last couple months have been really good. Trending really well. I think the results have been getting a little bit better and my approach play was something that I needed to get better at and it's showing signs, so very happy with that. The win was amazing.
It's one of the best courses in the world. I think it has very similar characteristics to Augusta. A lot of undulation on the greens, a lot of creativity. You don't hit many simple shots or easy shots. It has to be with imagination, and I think that's why Royal Melbourne is so good. There's a lot of ways to play it and it's just fun. But you can bite you in the butt. You can't overpower it.