AUSSIES TAKING ON THE WORLD
The Emirates Australian Open will have its strongest field in years when it returns to The Australian Golf Club this month. Can one of our Aussie heroes hoist the Stonehaven Cup ahead of a host of international stars?
The Emirates Australian Open will have its strongest field in years when it returns to The Australian Golf Club this month. Can one of our Aussie heroes hold off a strong international contingent?
There’s an argument to suggest that recent editions of the Emirates Australian Open have resembled Rolls-Royce-powered Ford Fiestas.
Much was pinned on the drawing power of a sole international marquee player – whether it be Rory McIlroy or Jordan Spieth – as well as a top Australian golfer to get the fans through the gate. All this, while its owner – Golf Australia – did its best to keep the show on the road. But this year is dierent. In 2019, Tournament Director Trevor Herden won’t be under siege at the first media conference to kick o championship week at The Australian Golf Club. Instead, he’ll be smiling ear-to-ear knowing our national Open has the best and deepest field since the 2011 instalment at The Lakes Golf Club – an event that featured the likes of Tiger Woods, Dustin Johnson, Matt Kuchar and Bubba Watson.
Australia’s four best players – Adam Scott, Jason Day, Marc Leishman and Cameron Smith – head the local charge for the Stonehaven Cup. It will be the first time all four have played in the same Open in eight years. Former champs Geo Ogilvy and Matt Jones will be among the other highly-acclaimed locals teeing it up.
Then there are the big-name internationals looking to add their name to one of the game’s most prestigious trophies, including Ernie Els, Paul Casey, Louis Oosthuizen and Sergio Garcia. And the big names don’t end there. Presidents Cup assistants K.J. Choi and Mike Weir are also teeing up, as is defending champion Abraham Ancer.
All of this star power, of course, can be attributed to the Presidents Cup, which will
be contested at Royal Melbourne the week after the Stonehaven Cup is hoisted in Sydney, just as it was eight years ago. But it is nevertheless an exciting time for golf in this country.
Will Scott, Day, Leishman and Smith, along with an array of other home-grown talents, be able to keep the coveted trophy away from the foreign raiders?
Scott will be making his first Australian Open appearance since 2016. The former World No.1 – who won the title by five shots at New South Wales Golf Club 10 years ago – says he is eager to etch his name on the trophy for the second time.
“I’m really looking forward to playing at The Australian Golf Club again and giving myself a chance at a second Stonehaven Cup,” Scott said of the December 5-8 tournament.
The 39-year-old Queenslander clearly enjoys the Jack Nicklaus-designed layout, charging home to finish runner-up to Jones (alongside Spieth) when he last competed at the Kensington course in 2015.
Scott, our lone Masters champion, has arguably been playing his best golf since donning the green jacket six-and-a-half years ago, posting nine top-10s and bagging two runner-up finishes on the PGA Tour in 2018-19.
The world-class ball-striker also finished the wraparound season ranked 31st for Strokes Gained: Putting on the world’s leading circuit, something his harsher critics should perhaps take note of. He will be dicult to hold out should his putter stay hot in Sydney.
Day, meanwhile, has slipped to his lowest world ranking since April, 2013. The current World No.28 has struggled with back issues this year – and his approach play and scrambling has dropped right o, eectively causing him to miss five cuts in what was his latest winless season.
But his putting has been a distinct highlight. The Queenslander was second-best on the PGA Tour for his eorts with the flatstick last year, which was an area of his game that helped tremendously during his most recent visit to The Australian in 2017.
Memories of that particular Australian Open will either fill him with confidence or put him right back in his shell. The man from Beaudesert shot three rounds in the 60s to lead the championship by one stroke over the up-andcoming Lucas Herbert. But the pressure mounted – and his final-round 73 saw him slide back to fifth as the Stonehaven Cup once again eluded him.
“It’s the tournament we all grew up watching and I’ve said before that I want to win a few of them, so there’s no better time to start than December. I nearly got one at The Australian a couple of years ago and it’s a course that really sets up well for me,” said Day, who recently won the four-man Japan Skins event against Woods, McIlroy and Hideki Matsuyama.
The third member of our talented quartet hasn’t played an Australian Open since missing
the cut at The Australian back in 2015. In fact, Leishman has only made one appearance at the championship since 2012 – and he has never finished higher than T11th (2007).
It’s not all doom and gloom for the Victorian though, as that near-top-10 result came at this year’s host course thanks to four solid rounds of golf.
Leishman, currently 25th in the world rankings, has been uncharacteristically inconsistent recently, finishing third at the Safeway Open in September before failing to contend in Korea (T43rd) and Japan (69th). In saying that, the 36-year-old hasn’t missed any weekend action since August and is an extremely proud Australian who always gives his all whenever he returns home.
“It will be great to have the big crowds supporting us again. I know all the guys are dead-keen to win the Aussie Open, so we’re all pumped to get back to Sydney,” Leishman said.
The other half of last year’s World Cup team, Smith boasts one of the best recent records on the planet when it comes to the Australian Open.
The 26-year-old Queenslander shared 10th place at The Lakes last year – and he was fourth at The Australian in 2017. His finest performance, however, came at Royal Sydney in 2016 when he and Ashley Hall fell to Spieth in just the seventh playo in tournament history.
“I’ve been really close and it’s something I would love to win … It’s a great rush playing in front of your home crowd,” Smith said in August.
The reigning, back-to-back Australian PGA champion’s recent form is more than encouraging, while his much-improved putting stroke and terrific wedge play should once again suit the challenging green complexes found at The Australian.
Although he is currently ranked 47th in the world, Smith could very easily be considered Australia’s greatest hope to claim the Stonehaven Cup.
Standing in his way will be globally-recognised names such as Garcia, Casey, Oosthuizen, C.T. Pan, Ancer and International Presidents Cup Captain Els.
Golf Australia, you would imagine, will also be looking to further bolster the field with the likes of Haotong Li before he becomes the first player from China to compete in the Presidents Cup.
Other exciting inclusions would be Asian Tour Order of Merit leader Jazz Janewattananond and reigning PGA Tour Rookie of the Year Sungjae Im. Neither player had received Captain’s picks for the Presidents Cup at the time of writing – but one suspects Els would like to have them acclimatised to Australian tournament conditions prior to the biennial matches if he has decided to hand them lifelines.
Japanese ace Matsuyama is also interested in making his Australian Open debut prior to joining the Internationals at Royal Melbourne on
IT’S ONE OF THOSE TROPHIES IN WORLD GOLF THAT HAS SUCH AN INCREDIBLE HISTORY.
– ERNIE ELS
December 9.
“I’ll be playing in Japan in November and I’d like to go to Australia and play in the Australian Open; it would be a great warm-up for the Presidents Cup. I don’t have any plans right now as I haven’t set my [end-of-year] schedule just yet. If all works out, that will be great,” Matsuyama told Australian Associated Press.
The five-time PGA Tour winner would certainly help to keep the turnstiles ticking over if he does decide to travel Down Under one week earlier than currently expected.
Of the notable international players already confirmed at the time of going to print, Garcia is perhaps most likely to catch the attention of the galleries as he makes his Australian Open debut.
The 2017 Masters champion is one of the alltime greats when it comes to ball-striking – and he plays with great passion and flair.
“I’ve always loved my visits to Australia and I know the Stonehaven Cup has a great history,” said the 39-year-old Spaniard, who won the KLM Open in September for his 16th European Tour title.
“I can’t wait to get to Sydney and try to add my name to that trophy with such legends. I have always found Australian crowds to be enthusiastic and knowledgeable, so hopefully I can put on a show for them.”
Casey, 42, is widely regarded as one of the most consistent players in the global game, winning twice from 22 starts across the leading Tours in 2019 and missing just three cuts. The highly competitive Englishman, currently 12th in the world ranking, will more than likely be the top-ranked player in the field and is quite rightly one of the pretournament favourites.
Like Casey, the sweet-swinging, uber-consistent Oosthuizen has won a title on Australian soil and loves the playing conditions here. The 2010 Open Champion has been South Africa’s No.1 player for several years
I CAN’T WAIT TO TRY TO ADD MY NAME TO THAT TROPHY ... I HAVE ALWAYS FOUND AUSTRALIAN CROWDS TO BE ENTHUSIASTIC AND KNOWLEDGEABLE.
– SERGIO GARCIA
and hasn’t fallen outside the World’s Top 50 since December 2014. Pan, who won the RBC Heritage on the PGA Tour this year, is set to become the first player to represent Chinese Taipei at the Presidents Cup. The 27-year-old played the Australian Open as an amateur in 2006 and returned in 2015 to share 21st place.
Defending champion Ancer became the first Mexican to capture the title when he defeated Dimi Papadatos by five strokes at The Lakes last year. The 28-year-old will now attempt to become the first back-to-back winner of the championship since Peter Lonard completed the feat in 2004.
“I can’t wait to get back Down Under and play in front of the fans who were so supportive and to see if we can recreate a bit of that Stonehaven magic with such a great field coming to Sydney in December,” Ancer said.
Els, meanwhile, will more than likely be focussed on getting his Internationals ready for the Presidents Cup. But the 50-year-old is still incredibly proud and should never be underestimated. ‘The Big Easy’ has only ever played in one Australian Open – finishing third at The Grand on the Gold Coast in 2001 – but he has great respect for the history of the championship.
“I love playing national Opens and it’s been unfortunate that I haven’t been able to play for the Australian title more often with dates often clashing in South Africa,” the four-time major champion said.
“It’s one of those trophies in world golf that has such an incredible history.”
How right you are, Ernie.