Australian Open golf: Adam Scott, Hannah Green, add voice to calls for change to tournament format

What’s happening off the course at the Australian Open is as fascinating as what’s happening on it, and with the national tournament at a crossroads, the players are calling for change.

Adam Scott and Hannah Green.

At its heart, golf is a sport where the stars not only put on the show, they essentially run it too.

It is mostly done through soft power. Occasionally, it is of the public variety Cameron Smith resorted to this week, when he was about apoplectic as Smith gets at the state of the watered (naturally and, in his mind, artificially) Australian Open courses.

Where golf really differs is the stars are members of the respective worldwide tours, and expect the tours to work for them, rather than the opposite.

Which makes what’s happening off the course at the Australian Open this week almost as fascinating as what’s happening on it.

The Australian Open is at a crossroads.

This is the third year men and women have played together on the same courses, and many hope it will be the last.

No man has done more for Australian golf than Adam Scott. Picture: Getty Images

READ MORE: ‘Bulls**t’: Smith rages at Aus Open courses

Its current iteration staggered across the line for 2024 after a one-year deal with the Victorian government, announced only in July. Prising money out of government has never been more difficult. From 2025 onwards, who knows?

No man has done more for Australian golf and its local schedule in the past two decades than Adam Scott, and when he speaks, people listen.

He hasn’t returned to the Melbourne sandbelt this year after an exhausting year, and no one can blame him as he zeroes in on an improbable second major in the twilight of his career.

But in an interview with Golf Australia magazine before the summer, Scott stepped up to the first tee and pulled out the driver: “There is a place for different formats, but your national Open is not the place for that.”

In the players’ lounge at Kingston Heath this week, there were nods of agreement. Player pushback is in overdrive.

The corridors were abuzz that moves are already underway to revert to type in 2025: men and women playing in separate events. Officials stress no decision has been made yet.

But players want the Australian Open to be a prestigious event befitting an honour roll which includes Player, Palmer, Nicklaus and Norman, a searching test of golf, rather than courses which need to be designed as a high-wire act for women and the all abilities players.

Greg Norman is among the revered names on the Australian Open honroue roll. Picture: Getty Images

Smith doesn’t want to reach for a pitch repairer in his pocket on the sandbelt, he wants bumps and bounces and every player being forced to use their imagination to navigate what is one of the best courses in the world. It’s rained in Melbourne in the lead-up – a lot – but that didn’t wash with Smith.

When asked about the pin positions this week, his LIV Golf teammate Marc Leishman bit his tongue, and sort of didn’t.

“It’s been the same the last three years,” he said. “There’s probably a lot I can say, but I’m not going to say it.”

Added the highest-profile visiting American Harry Higgs, albeit at 165 in the world: “I’d love to see a bounce. Maybe just one, maybe two or three.”

And then there was PGA of Australia chairman Ian Baker-Finch, who broke ranks this week and stressed he wants to see the Opens back to how they used to be.

But it’s not just the men.

This week, Australia’s world No.6 Hannah Green, another considered and mild mannered star, left no one in any doubt about her thoughts.

Hannah Green didn’t have time to practice on the course before the first round of the Australian Open. Picture: Getty Images

She flew into Melbourne on Wednesday morning after the LPGA season finale, didn’t have a chance to practise on the course before the first round, and stressed the date for the women’s event needed to be early in the new year, as it used to be. It is the only way to get the likes of Nelly Korda and Brooke Henderson to Australia, rather than relying on the handful of jetlagged Australians.

The women’s cut features just 30 players and ties because officials need to cycle through so many players on the one course over the weekend. For a brief while on Friday, it appeared Minjee Lee might not squeeze below the number, and that would have been a shame, no matter how shaky she has been with the putter this week.

Golf Australia chief executive James Sutherland said they were “focused on delivering a high-quality 2024 ISPS Handa Australian Open this week on Melbourne’s famous sandbelt”.

“We understand the focus on the future of the Australian Open as all three championships mean so much to so many, so we will continue to consult with key stakeholders to ensure the success of the event moving forward,” the spokesperson said.

“As the golf world continues to evolve, Golf Australia will remain agile and adaptable to deliver the best product for our players, the tours, fans, partners and beyond.”

Minjee Lee smiles after sinking a birdie putt during the second round of the Australian Open. Picture: AFP

To say the dual gender event has been a failure would be to overlook the positives.

A big reason to run men and women concurrently is to ensure the event is economically viable, allowing the female stars to compete for the same $1.7 million purse as the men. Sponsors, too, have indicated a preference both Opens are played at the same time to maximise their corporate dollar.

The crowds have been super in the last couple of years, and two-time defending champion Ash Buhai was the first to admit she never gets a chance to play in front of so many people. The galleries for just the second round at Kingston Heath on a Friday were remarkable. Tick.

Television audiences have been on the rise. And having the Lee siblings, Min Woo and Minjee, featuring alongside each other is a promoter’s dream.

But Golf Australia’s worst fear is players start voting with their feet. It’s the last thing the players want to do, harming an event which means so much to them, and more importantly, the fans.

Originally published as Australian Open golf: Adam Scott, Hannah Green, add voice to calls for change to tournament format