Golf to tee up new triple crown with Australian Masters back on table in coronavirus aftermath
An attempt to recapture Australian golf’s golden era post COVID-19 could see the long-time jewel of game return to all its glory as part of a triple crown of summer marquee events.
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The Australian Masters could be revived within the next two years with a coronavirus-prompted rethink from golf officials set to reshape the local calendar.
Potential for more co-sanctioned events with the European Tour and a “clearly defined six-month summer of golf” are among plans from the Australasian PGA Tour to “recapture our sport’s golden era”.
That could include rebirthing the Masters which was last played in 2015 after 35 years as part of the Australian “triple crown” with the Australian Open and PGA as major summer events.
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“We’re always striving to improve our schedule; be it by introducing new events or better aligning with other international tours,” PGA of Australia chief executive Gavin Kirkman told the Sunday Herald Sun.
“We would love to see the return of Australian Masters. Aussie golf would benefit from its return.
“The Australian Masters — or a similar-sized event — scheduled at the right time would attract a number of the world’s best to Melbourne. We would aspire to make it an international spectacle as popular as the Australian Grand Prix and the Melbourne Cup.
“The Triple Crown brought excitement around our marquee events and we have worked hard to see it or something similar reintroduced.
“We require commercial and government investment to bring large tournaments to life – but we’re not there yet.”
Robert Allenby was the last player to win the Australian triple crown in 2009.
Kirkman said the global pandemic, which brought a premature halt to the 2019-20 season, presented a unique opportunity to revert to the format of the 1980s and 90s.
He said locking in a six-month season, finishing in March, would become the norm and would more opportunities for partnerships with other tours in a bid to lure players to Australia on a consistent basis.
“There is a strong appetite to stage more events that attract the world’s best to our shores,” Kirkman said.
“We believe a clearly defined six-month summer of golf season will recapture our sport’s golden era and engage a new generation of fan to the sport.”
Australian golf officials have been at the forefront of tournament innovation.
The Vic Open was the first event in the world to have male and female players competing on the same course at the same time.
Both events are co-sanctioned with the European Tour, and the women’s event is now an LPGA event as well, with prizemoney now a combined $3 million.
Kirkman said creating new events would be part of the tour’s forward planning, including the Players Series, which will be launched soon.
“Our aim is to create a number of new events on our tour that will see both men and women compete in the same field for the same prize purse,” he said.
“This will be a game-changer in world golf.”
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