“It’s obvious he’s got a love affair with the place,” Gow said. “He’s huge in the game of golf, so it would be massive for us to have him back down here.
“It’d draw other players that want to play him, it’d be good for our younger players, if one of them gets a chance to play with him on Saturday and Sunday.
Rory McIroy playing in the Australian Open in 2014.Credit: Anthony Johnson
“I think there’s a lot to play out, but I would love to see him here at the right price. This would [Golf Australia CEO] be James Sutherland’s highlight, without a doubt, if he can get McIlroy.”
Golf Australia declined to confirm talks with McIlroy, but said in a statement: “Golf Australia continues to work through the future of the men’s and women’s Australian Opens, with nothing formal to confirm at this time. We look forward to working with our partners to confirm and announce the future of both events in coming weeks.”
Golf Australia announced in February it was reverting back to separate men’s and women’s Australian Opens this year, after three years of the tournaments being controversially played together.
Jack Nicklaus playing in the 1971 Australian Open.Credit: Ted Golding
Jordan Spieth was one of the last big international names to play in the Australian Open in 2017, after winning the Stonehaven Cup twice, in 2014 and 2016.
GA have since marketed the Australian Open with local stars as marquee attractions instead of world stars, with US PGA Tour players often taking a break or opting to play in rival tournaments in Asia. The Australian Open’s modest prizemoney is also pocket change in golf’s modern world: the $289,900 cheque for first place is about the same as you get for coming 25th in a PGA Tour event.
Gow said luring McIlroy down to Australia would require his Australian friends like Adam Scott and Jason Day to “sell the dream” of foregoing a massive payday to test himself in a challenging tournament at Royal Melbourne, and help foster the world game, too.
“The sand belt golf courses are the best in the world; they are ridiculous how good they are,” Gow said.
“That’s part of the selling piece, isn’t it? It’s the macro, hey mate, we’re going to have Royal Melbourne and it’s going to be in November and the pins are going to be hard and fast and you’re going to have to hit shots that you haven’t hit before. That would excite him because he’s a world player.
“We need a Pied Piper, and he is our Pied Piper. Imagine if we get Scotty Scheffler here too … others would follow. They’d go back and talk and say, hey, how good was that? Players, that’s how we talk. You want to be challenged. Some of the golf courses they play week in, week out over there, aren’t that challenging. If we can get him all over the line, he will be the pied piper to bring others down.”