Key trio to play Oz Open

JASON Day says playing in front of family at December’s Australian Open could provide a much-needed lift as he joins countrymen Marc Leishman and Cameron Smith as headliners.

Former world No.1 Day, Leishman and Smith will tee up at The Australian Golf Club in Sydney before the Presidents Cup in Melbourne, while Japanese star Hideki Matsuyama has signalled his intention to join his International teammates on December 5-8.

It is not yet known whether Australian superstar Adam Scott will contest the Open although Golf Australia chief executive Stephen Pitt is hopeful of convincing the 2009 winner.

The Presidents Cup will be held at Royal Melbourne the week after the Open, when the International team faces off against a Tiger Woods-led American side. Leishman, Smith, Scott and Matsuyama were among the eight automatic qualifiers for Ernie Els’s International team.

World No.23 Day missed out on qualifying although he is all but assured of a captain’s pick from South African great Els. Day has struggled on the US PGA Tour this year, sliding out of the top 20 on the world rankings for the first time since mid 2013.

But he is hoping the Australian Open provides a similar boost as it did when he last contested the Stonehaven Cup in 2017. That year, Day struggled on the US Tour but held the 54-hole lead at The Australian GC and used his fifth placing as a springboard to win twice on the US Tour in 2018.

“There is something about playing our national open that gives me a lift,” Day said.