The Australian Sandbelt in the Spotlight

“I think the greatest competition we have right now in the game of golf is the PGA Tour and playing in the States,” world No.1 Scottie Scheffler said back at the Open Championship in July. “I'm starting a young family, and travelling across the world to play golf would be great, but at the end of the day, that's not my priority nor my responsibility.”

Comments like Scheffler’s don’t faze anyone in today’s professional golf landscape, but they serve as a clear barometer of where global golf stands in 2025. The best player in the world – an American – seldom needs to leave the comforts of the United States to achieve his goals within the game. Global imbalance isn’t an especially new phenomenon, but perhaps no region has felt the consequence of an American-dominated landscape more acutely than Australia, a region rich in history, talent, and world-class venues.

Today, even many of the game’s top Australian-born stars neglect their homeland when building their schedules. It’s instructive that LIV Golf’s most successful event by a wide margin, LIV Adelaide, both takes place in Australia and relies on contractual guarantees to ensure player participation. With all due respect, recent winners and field lists at the Australian Open don’t reflect the level of prestige a championship like the Australian Open should command.

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This week, the sport takes a meaningful step toward restoring some of that prestige. Rory McIlroy is set to tee it up at Royal Melbourne, a reality that should delight the souls of golf fans worldwide. One of the greatest players of the modern era is tackling one of the best golf courses on the planet, fulfilling the first leg of a two-year commitment to the event. His appearance is just the latest example of the world No. 2’s commitment to national opens, highlighted by non-major starts this year in Australia, Canada, Scotland, and India (though the Indian event was not a national open). It also gives McIlroy an opportunity to cement one of the most successful and well-rounded seasons of his career to date, should he add hardware in Melbourne.

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The path to long-term sustainable success for the Australian Open remains uncertain, but it will undoubtedly require a significant financial investment. Though details aren’t publicly disclosed, McIlroy is likely receiving a hefty guaranteed paycheck for his appearance, and recent history suggests few other top stars would participate without guarantees either. Still, McIlroy’s appearance, combined with recent developments in the golf world, makes the prospect of restoring Australia’s place in global golf feel much more realistic than it has in years. Reports of a shrinking PGA Tour schedule, along with a recent announcement by Augusta National and the R&A to reward national open winners, should help rebalance a sport increasingly dominated by an American footprint.

A few years from now, we could very well find ourselves back in the familiar position of wishing more top talent would venture to Australia, without any practical solution in sight for bringing that ideal to fruition. But whatever the future of Australian golf brings, this week marks a clear and significant victory for the sport. Fresh off the career Grand Slam, McIlroy’s presence alone provides weight and historical significance to a tournament worthy of much more priority than it’s been shown. For the first time in far too long, Australian golf is receiving the spotlight it deserves.