[Photo: Getty images]
Adam Scott says there’s no denying an Australian Open victory at Royal Melbourne sits in its own league of career accomplishments as he eyes the first opportunity of his long career to hoist the Stonehaven Cup at the famed Sandbelt course.
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While three Presidents Cups and a World Cup of Golf have been staged at Royal Melbourne, whose West course is ranked by Golf Digest at No.5 in the world, the Australian Open has not been held there since 1991 when Wayne Riley triumphed.
Scott was 11 in 1991 and turned pro in 2000, when he began a career highlighted by a stint at world No.1, the honour of becoming the first Australian to win the Masters at Augusta National, 14 PGA Tour titles, two Australian PGAs and one Australian Open (2009).
It’s safe to stay the 45-year-old Scott wants dearly to win at Royal Melbourne this week, when the Australian Open welcomes a world-class DP World Tour field including reigning Masters champion Rory McIlroy as well as Cameron Smith, Marc Leishman, Joaquin Niemann and others. The winner on Sunday, if not already exempt, will be invited to the 2026 Masters at Augusta National while the top three will receive starts at the Open Championship at Royal Birkdale.
“Yeah, it’s gonna be a great week because it’s one of those things that I grew up dreaming about, really, and for whatever reason, [an Australian Open at Royal Melbourne] hasn’t happened in my career yet,” Scott said Tuesday.
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“I’m very excited about the opportunity of being out there and trying to win another Aussie Open. I think winning the Aussie Open at Royal Melbourne has one of those asterisks next to it where it’s just that little bit more meaningful and it’s nothing against anywhere else.
“But just the fact we haven’t played a national open here since 1991 is going to make this a really special one for every Aussie golfer, but I think also for anyone who’s here, if they were to win it, it’s kind of a feather in the cap. It’s something to be incredibly proud of.”
Returning to Royal Melbourne forces Scott to walk down memory lane in a number of ways. Scott donated the set of golf clubs he used to win at Augusta National to Royal Melbourne and they are on display in the hallway of Royal Melbourne’s clubhouse. It also conjures memories of the golfers he admired triumphing at the firm, fast Composite course, such as Greg Norman’s victories in 1985 and 1987 as well as Riley in 1991.
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“When you’re growing up watching great events, obviously the majors come to mind, but as a young Aussie kid watching the Aussie Open here, I remember ‘Radar’ [Riley] holing the putt, [I remember] watching an Aussie Open down the road at Kingston Heath, these really special venues with great champions,” Scott said.
“Obviously Greg winning all of ’em was something that you dreamt of doing, and we have had other events here [Presidents Cups in 2011, 2019] in my career but we haven’t had the Aussie Open here so this is a chance for me to step back and remember how it felt as that little kid watching these great players play the national championship on one of the greatest courses in the world.”
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After a lean year on the PGA Tour in which he didn’t record a top-10 result – although he was in the hunt at the PGA Championship’s final round and the final group at the US Open – Scott found form last week at the Australian PGA with a solo seventh place.
“Yeah, [the game] feels pretty good; there was lots of good stuff [at Royal Queensland],” Scott said. “A couple of mistakes early in the week probably cost me up there, but all good things.”
Scott hopes to lean on the Presidents Cups he played at Royal Melbourne in 2011 and 2019 as well as the World Cup of Golf teams title he won with Jason Day in 2013.
“I think hopefully some of my experience of playing around here in championship conditions helps me out and a couple of less mistakes and I might be able to hang in there and have a crack at this thing,” Scott said. “I think the Sandbelt, the design style and the challenges have elements of lots of different kinds of golf, certainly some links elements. Strategy is much more a part of Sandbelt golf while most weeks of the year strategy is very simple these days. There are a lot more options here and that makes it difficult for pros because we have to choose one, and the guy who can commit the best this week’s probably going to do well.”
