Real players compete for real bets on real golf courses. That’s all you need. While professional golf decision-makers rack their brains to create the best possible product, appease partners, squeeze every last bit of cash and aim to “grow the game”, the Australian Open proved how easy it is to put on an entertaining golf event.
During the Northern Hemisphere’s winter weekend, three different golf tournaments were held on three different continents: Tiger Woods’ Hero World Challenge in the Bahamas, the DP World Tour’s Nedbank Challenge in South Africa, and the Australian Open at Royal Melbourne.
“It’s unbelievable,” Rory McIlroy said. “I said to Adam (Scott) walking down the first hole that it didn’t feel like a Friday afternoon round, it felt like coming out in the final group on Sunday.
“That scene from the first tee was amazing. And then you walk to the end and everyone’s still here. I always say, that’s the potential for[Australia]to host these really, really big events. The other two events that are going on in other parts of the world don’t have the atmosphere that this tournament has. It has so much potential and it’s great to see so many people come and support this tournament.”
While many of golf’s biggest names, such as Scottie Scheffler and Jordan Spieth, played in Woods’ 20-a-side event, McIlroy headlined a solid field in Melbourne, Australia, that included some of the country’s best players such as Scott, Cameron Smith and Min-woo Lee, as well as LIV Golf’s young stars David Puig and Caleb Surratt, as well as the odd PGA Tour member.
They were tasked with making shots they don’t normally play against. Therefore, multiple variables had to be considered in each trial, including runoff, angle, and wind. Royal Melbourne has transformed modern players, often compared to robots that input numbers and output golf shots, into golfers in the truest sense of the word.
The players, the golf course, and the stakes were real. Scott secured his 26th consecutive appearance at the Open Championship with a solo fifth-place finish, while South Africa’s Michael Hollick made his championship debut as Si-woo Kim sealed his return to Royal Birkdale, where he made his first British Open appearance.
Even Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen and Smith, who were on the last tee sheet on Sunday, were playing for something. For Smith, it was a chance to win his first Open in his home country in the midst of a year in which he missed out on qualifying for all four major championships and recorded just one top-five finish at LIV Golf. For Niergaard Petersen, it was a chance to win his first DP World Tour title and earn a ticket to the Masters.
In the end, Neergaard-Petersen won. The young Dane, who earned dual membership on the PGA Tour this season with his Race to Dubai standings, summoned a short-game performance from high heaven in the second half to fend off Smith (and the home crowd), who needed a three-putt on the 72nd hole and ultimately fell one stroke short.
“It’s tough. I’m really speechless. It’s been a battle all day,” Niergaard-Petersen said. “It looks calm from the outside, but (for me) it was a storm on the inside all day. But I kept fighting and managed to get up and down and make that last putt. I honestly don’t know what to say.”
The 26-year-old will have the benefit of joining the winner’s circle at the Australian Open, but he won’t be alone. Golf fans were delighted to see him compete for the right to win a major against the likes of McIlroy, Scott and Smith on a course as famous as Royal Melbourne.
