Vic Open hits the big time
THE VIC Open has taken another step towards replacing the Australian Masters as the third leg of the national triple crown, with confirmation it will be played as a European Tour event in 2019.
Having already increased prizemoney to $1.5 million, more than the Australian Open, for both the men’s and women’s events, the co-sanctioning opens the door for the tournament to land some of golf’s biggest names.
The Vic Open, played at 13th Beach at Barwon Heads in February, will run the week before the Perth Super 6s in 2019, creating a two-week European Tour swing in Australia, which further increases the potential for leading players to head here.
Earlier this year, 2016 Masters champion Danny Willett and former world No.1 Lee Westwood played in the Perth event, which was won by world No.34, Thailand’s Kiradech Aphibarnrat.
The Vic Open is the only event in the world where the men’s and women’s tournaments are played at the same time, with the fields spread out across the two courses at 13th Beach.
Prizemoney for 2019 has more than doubled from last year’s purse of $650,000 each, with the $1.5 million prize pool equal that of the Australian PGA, which is also co-sanctioned with the European Tour.
The winner of next year’s Vic Open will now receive full playing rights in Europe until the end of the 2020 season.
Several Australian greats, including Greg Norman and Adam Scott, found their feet as professionals in Europe before moving to the lucrative the US PGA Tour.
On Sunday, rising Victorian star Lucas Herbert finished fifth at the Nordea Masters in Sweden and inside the top 100 qualifiers for the season-ending Race to Dubai, the European Tour finals.
The women’s Vic Open, won last year by Aussie star Minjee Lee, is already part of the European Ladies Tour and last year boasted a world-class field.
Golf Victoria’s Simon Brookhouse said getting the men’s Vic Open on to the European Tour was another step towards “building the Vic Open into one of Australia’s biggest sporting events”.
“Golf Victoria is proud of the massive growth of the Vic Open and we’re thrilled to be able to provide Europe’s top players with another opportunity to play in Australia and to give Victorian golf fans the chance to witness world-class golf,” he said.
Victoria is in for a big six months of golf with the World Cup at Metropolitan in November then the Vic Open in February next year. Then in November 2019, Tiger Woods will head to Melbourne potentially as the playing captain of Team USA for the Presidents Cup at Royal Melbourne.