Aussie Open looks at US Tour link
GOLF: The Australian Open could be tied to the lucrative US PGA Tour in coming years with tournament organisers determined to increase the appeal of the Sydney event.
Tournament director Trevor Herden has raised the possibility of linking the PGA Tour of Australasia event with a bigger tour in a bid to strengthen the Sydney tournament.
Last year’s Australian Open was headlined by major winners Jason Day and Jordan Spieth but drew some criticism over the field’s depth with Australian stars Adam Scott and Marc Leishman notable absentees.
Herden indicated then that co-sanctioning could be on the table.
“We’re trying to find a way to make it stronger; maybe we’ve got to join somebody else (another tour), but at the moment the discussions are just early days,” he said.
PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan, speaking at the Tournament of Champions in Hawaii yesterday, said he would be open to discussions but said there were no immediate thoughts of co-sanctioning the Open.
“There are not,” Monahan (pictured) said.
“It’s a logical question, and it has been raised (before), but those are probably longer-term conversations.”
“Australia is obviously an important market to us but right now ... we’ve got three events that work really well in Asia and they’ve committed longer term, so it’s really not something we can entertain.”
Money would be a big issue if the Australian Open was to join the US tour.
To do so, Golf Australia, in conjunction with a title sponsor, would likely need to stump up a tournament prize purse between $8.9 million ($US7 million) and $12.7 million ($US10 million).
Currently, the Open’s entire purse is $1.3 million.