Australian golf star Cameron Smith is thrilled about a major change to his home country’s biggest tournament. The men’s and women’s Australian Opens will now be played separately, ending a three-year experiment of holding them together.
“It’s going to help bring back the glory days,” Smith said in Adelaide, where he’s preparing for this week’s LIV Golf event.
The joint format had created some real headaches, especially when it came to setting up the courses. You can’t really have the same layout work perfectly for both men’s and women’s play – it’s like trying to fit a square peg in a round hole.
Golf Australia’s boss James Sutherland thinks the timing is spot-on. “Both championships will stand on their own two feet and prosper,” he said.
Smith, who won The Open Championship last year, believes this change will attract more top players to the men’s tournament.
“We want to support our event, but this really opens the door for a stronger field,” he explained. “It’s about getting the Australian Open back to what it once was.”
His fellow Aussie Lucas Herbert couldn’t agree more.
The problems were pretty obvious at last November’s tournament, played across Melbourne’s famous Kingston Heath and Victoria clubs. The course setup was a compromise that didn’t really work for anyone.
“We were kind of handcuffed,” Herbert said. “What works best for the men isn’t necessarily what works best for the women.”
“You shouldn’t have to set up courses the same way – it’s not fair to either gender,” he added. “Splitting the tournaments is definitely the right move.”
This change marks a return to tradition for one of golf’s oldest national championships, and it looks like Australia’s top players are all for it.
