Winning the Australian Open is as important as claiming another major for the showpiece event’s newest recruit, Hannah Green.
Now the race is on to have her colleagues thinking the same way as organizers tackle the remaining roadblocks in getting more big-names to sign on.
This year’s Australian Open — held on December 1-4 at Victoria Golf Club and Kingston Heath — promises to be one of the biggest in recent memory with the men’s and women’s fields now combined, and playing for $1.7 million AUD in prize money each.
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Meanwhile, the pandemic has left some of Australia’s biggest players, such as Cameron Smith, homeick and eyeing extended stays down under this summer.
That plays into the hands of the Australian Open, which, after a three-year hiatus, could see a strong local contingent play, including the returning Smith and Marc Leishman.
And yet, organizers are still faced with a number of challenges in confirming more stars alongside Green, and world No.49 Lucas Herbert.
Herbert is the biggest star from the men’s side to officially commit, while Green is the only confirmed player in the women’s field, although Karrie Webb is expected to make her appearance official in the coming weeks.
Green told reporters on Tuesday that she’s trying to give players a nudge to make the trip to Australia, but noted late-year sponsor events, the lack of a LPGA co-sanction, and Thanksgiving in America, as potential roadblocks.
Green said she is yet to speak to world No.2 Minjee Lee about joining her in Victoria, but anticipated that sponsor events elsewhere could leave the two-time major winner’s hands tied.
Meanwhile, Green flagged that Thanksgiving on November 24 could present a challenge for American players, such as 2019 champion and world No.3, Nelly Korda.
“It’d be great if Nelly could come back down,” Green said. “It is a hard time of year because of Thanksgiving a week prior to the Open but some girls might want to go on a holiday and make a trip out of it.
“It’s a long season. You can make some good money out of it (the Australian Open) and celebrate. So it’d be nice if Nelly and her sister Ella Jess could come down.
She added: “It would obviously be great if Minjee could attend. But I think it’s just important to have all the Australian players come back.
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“It sounds like Cam (Smith) wants to come back, and hopefully Scotty (Adam Scott) and Leish (Marc Leishman) and all the boys want to come back too, so I think just getting as many Australian players in the field as possible is important.”
Green said that freshly crowned Women’s Open winner Ash Buhai “really wants to come play” and is waiting for confirmation.
Meanwhile, the 25-year-old is eyeing a real piece of history, looking to make it a hat-trick of wins in Australia having taken out the mixed gender TPS Murray River, and the Victorian Open, on her last visit.
Should the 2019 PGA Championship winner be successful, she said the victory would be as important to her as claiming another major.
“I still think getting my hand on that trophy would be very important to me,” she said.
“It definitely depends on the field and I think it would make a difference if we still had LPGA players to come, but it doesn’t mean I’m not going to work just as hard to try and win that trophy depending on who comes at the end of this year.”
The Women’s Australian Open has historically been held in February but will now shift to December to align with the men’s competition.
As such, the women’s field now faces the challenge of having a number of stars eyeing time off after a long season.
That’s a familiar issue for the men’s competition, which has traditionally been held in November and December, and has had varied success in attracting a star-studded field.
Whether top international players will commit this year remains to be seen, but some of Australia’s biggest names are expected to be involved regardless.
Open Championship winner Smith told Fox Sports Last month he will have an extended stay in Australia this summer, which could include playing both the Australian Open and the Australian PGA Championship.
Leishman also told foxsports.com.au before The Open that he was looking forward to returning to play in Australia, although no confirmation has yet been given for either player, who has been heavily linked to LIV Golf.
Nonetheless, Green is confident both will commit for the historic tournament, which will be the first national Open worldwide to combine both men’s and women’s fields.
“We need to elevate both championships so I hope that combining them at the same venue at the same time is going to do that,” she said. “We’ve obviously seen success with the Vic Open with the same format that we’re going to try this year.
“It’s going to be hard for us females to not have maybe as strong a field as we’ve had in previous Aus Opens, but hopefully the attraction of the event, people will want to come back to Australia and play.
“It’s a great week. The Australian Open is definitely one of my favorites to attend so it’s just really nice that after the last few years of not having one to be able to get back and play.”
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