Spieth call for more US aces to play here

JORDAN Spieth says he will urge world No.1 Dustin Johnson and other elite stars of US golf to play in the Australian Open for the next two years as a way to prepare for the Presidents Cup tournament, which will be held in Melbourne in 2019.

Spieth and former world No.1 Jason Day talked up their excitement about going headto-head in the Aussie Open, which will start at the Australian golf course today, but the tournament has attracted criticism for its overall lack of strength.

The Open routinely struggles to attract more than one or two of the world’s top stars, given its comparatively small prizemoney, bigger rival tournaments and the difficulty of luring Americans away from Thanksgiving holidays all the way to Australia.

Spieth bucks the trend by taking holidays earlier and using the Australian Open to launch his next season. And it has been a big success — he has followed up Australian Open wins in 2014 and 2016 with major victories — the US Masters and US Open in 2015, and the Open this year.

The Presidents Cup at Royal Melbourne in 2019 may see the cream of the US finally join Spieth en masse, however. The last time the Presidents Cup was in Australia in 2011, the US team — including Tiger Woods, Bubba Watson, Johnson and Fred Couples — all played in the Aussie Open beforehand, at the Lakes.

The current US team — which won the Presidents Cup last month — is brimming with exciting young talent, including Justin Thomas, Brooks Koepka and Rickie Fowler, and Spieth says he will be advising them all to not only play in the 2019 Australian Open but the 2018 tournament as well.

“I would certainly encourage players to come play next year and right before in ’19. Yeah, it can only help in my mind, and they’re going to love it,” he said. “The guys still talk about the last Presidents Cup in Melbourne, how great a time it was.”