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Rory McIlroy said on tournament eve he wanted to elevate the Australian Open back to its glory days.
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Geez, Thursday morning’s crowds sure looked like it even if there are days, if not years, to go before the Stonehaven Cup holds as much hype as the 1970s and ’80s.
Several thousand people lined up at 6:30am waiting for gates to open at Royal Melbourne on day one of the 2025 Australian Open, given reigning Masters champion McIlroy was teeing off the 10th hole of the Composite course at 7:05am in a supergroup with 2013 winner at Augusta National, Adam Scott, and popular PGA Tour winner Min Woo Lee. The numbers grew throughout the morning.
“Some crowds for seven o’clock in the morning,” McIlroy said after shooting a one-over 72 on the Composite course to sit seven shots off the leader Elvis Smylie (65). “Yeah, it was great. It was a wonderful atmosphere to play in. Playing with Adam and Min Woo too, it was unbelievable. It was really cool to see how many people were lining the fairways and framing the greens.”
Although golf’s most recent career grand slam winner, McIlroy struggled to adjust to the swirling northerly wind on the Melbourne Sandbelt. After a perfect start of birdie at the 10th, McIlroy bogeyed the next two before consecutive birdies at 14 and 15. Another bogey came at the long par-3 16th to ensure he went out in even par 37 before mixing three more bogeys and two birdies on the front nine (his second nine) to fall to one-over.
“I need to putt better; I can feel myself struggling on the greens a little bit Tuesday and Wednesday just to see the reads, they’re quite tricky to read in spots,” said McIlroy, the 2013 Australian Open winner. “I holed some good ones; I think I was better from outside 25 feet than I was from inside five, so work on that a little bit. I made enough birdies, but I just need to limit the mistakes.”
Smylie, who narrowly missed out on a PGA Tour card recently via the top 10 on last season’s DP World Tour rankings, lived up to his place in a star grouping with Cameron Smith and 2016 Masters champion Danny Willett. Last year’s Australian PGA champion Smylie bogeyed the 10th, his first, before seven birdies sent him back to the top of the leaderboard.
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England’s Eddie Pepperell shot 68 to trail Smylie while Scott and Lee upstaged playing partner McIlroy with matching 69s to finish at two-under. Former Open champion Cameron Smith and Marc Leishman were among the big names who carded one-under 70s.
“I think they did a good job of setting up the golf course; it was firm and I’m sure over the weekend they’ll spice things up. [My caddie] Sammy and I came up with a pretty good game plan and I just need to hole a few more of those mid-range putts that’s about it,” Smith said.
Leishman, who played his pennant golf at nearby Commonwealth Golf Club, said Thursday’s swirling wind and semi-firm turf was true Melbourne Sandbelt golf. A winner on LIV Golf this year, he took advantage of the front nine (his second nine) with four birdies while three bogeys held him back.
“This course sets up pretty good for me; I enjoy playing golf like this and today was one of the most enjoyable tournament rounds of golf I’ve ever had,” Leishman, who contended at last week’s Australian PGA, told Australian Golf Digest on Thursday. “I loved the challenge early on with hitting the running 2-irons off a couple of the tees and a couple of big cuts with the driver off other tees. The wind was swirling and I’m happy to be under par.”
Now the Australian Open has established a home on the Sandbelt – it heads down the road to Kingston Heath in 2026 with McIlroy signed on to return – and restored standalone stages for the men and women, McIlroy said on Wednesday that he hoped the Australian Open could relive its glory days of the 1960s, ’70s and ’80s.
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“I think just with obviously the wonderful golf courses that [the Australian Open] plays over the next couple of years and also the change in the format and going back to the traditional Australian Open probably helped that too. I’m just really excited to be back,” he said. “I’d say this tournament has lost a little bit of what it had say 30, 40 years ago but because of the history, the tradition, deserves to be a standalone tournament. Hopefully one day, the powers that be put together a schedule where the biggest and best tournaments and oldest ones with the most heritage can be elevated and stand on their own,” McIlroy said.
After the morning wave of round one, it was clear the Australian Open was at least back on track.
