Allan government’s bold plan to lure Rory McIlroy to Melbourne
The Victorian government has launched an audacious bid to bring golfing superstar Rory McIlroy to a revamped Australian Open at Royal Melbourne in a move expected to generate millions of dollars for the state.
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The Victorian government has launched an audacious bid to lure golfing superstar Rory McIlroy to Melbourne.
The Herald Sun can reveal McIlroy is the primary target of a plan to stage a revamped Australian Open at Royal Melbourne.
The world’s No. 2 golfer, fresh off a grand slam-clinching Masters victory at Augusta National, would headline a star-studded field expected to include the big four Australians – Min Woo Lee, Cameron Smith, Jason Day and Adam Scott.
Stars from the breakaway Saudi-backed LIV tour are also being courted.
McIlroy’s asking price is unknown, but Tiger Woods cost taxpayers $3m when he agreed to play the Australian Masters at Kingston Heath in 2009.
The Northern Irishman has made no secret of his desire to play a tournament on the famed Alister MacKenzie-designed Royal Melbourne sandbelt course.
“The market down there is huge with potential. They love golf. They love sport,” McIlroy said last year.
“They have been starved of top-level golf. And the courses are so good.”
Victoria is locked in a bidding war with the NSW government for the rights to the 2025 Australian Open, controlled by Golf Australia.
Attempts to secure McIlroy’s signature are being led by the Victorian government’s major events body, Visit Victoria.
If Victoria wins the race, the Open would likely be played on Royal Melbourne’s composite course in late November or December.
As part of his bumper sign-on fee, McIlroy would be required to help promote Victoria’s golfing and tourism sector with the expectation that the tournament would also attract overseas golf fans to the state.
The deal is expected to generate millions in economic benefits to the state.
A state government spokesman said: “as Australia’s major events capital, we are always working to secure major events that boost tourism and support jobs.’’
Royal Melbourne, in Black Rock, hasn’t hosted an Australian Open since 1991.
Golf Australia has returned the Open to a men’s only event after three years of a mixed format.
McIlroy, 36, survived a near-catastrophe – and a playoff against Englishman Justin Rose – to finally salute at Augusta National last month, sealing his place as the greatest player of his generation.
The victory elevated McIlroy into golf’s pantheon as a member of its most exclusive group – the career grand slam club as a winner of all four majors.
Only Woods, Jack Nicklaus, Ben Hogan, Gary Player and Gene Sarazen had ever achieved the feat.
McIlroy won the Australian Open at Royal Sydney twelve years ago, one of his 47 worldwide victories.
He has three wins already on the PGA Tour this season and is a joint favourite with world No.1 Scottie Scheffler at this week’s USPGA Championship in North Carolina.
Victoria has already secured the President’s Club for 2028.
Originally published as Allan government’s bold plan to lure Rory McIlroy to Melbourne
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