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Rory McIlroy, Min Woo Lee and Adam Scott are the headline group for the 2025 Australian Open at Royal Melbourne as officials revealed the draw for the opening two rounds.
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As the reigning Masters champion and most recent player to complete golf’s career grand slam, McIlroy is the biggest drawcard of this edition as the 121-year-old championship returns to Royal Melbourne for the first time since 1991.
McIlroy played a practice round Tuesday with David Micheluzzi and DP World Tour and Ryder Cupper Nicolas Colsaerts.
Northern Irishman McIlroy, who won the 2013 Australian Open, will go out in one of the marquee groups at 7:05am Thursday from the 10th tee of the Composite course. He’s grouped with fellow Masters champion Scott and PGA Tour winner and crowd favourite Lee, guaranteeing a huge gallery. The trio will then return on Friday at 12:05pm from the first tee, a prime afternoon TV slot.
Just behind them on Thursday is another elite grouping, with Cameron Smith, the 2022 Open champion at St Andrews, scheduled at 7:15am off the 10th alongside 2016 Masters champion Danny Willett and rising Australian star Elvis Smylie. The high-profile group flips to 12:15pm Friday off the first tee.
LIV Golf Miami 2025 winner, Marc Leishman, also has a key morning slot, beginning his campaign at 7:25am Thursday from the 10th with Switzerland’s Joel Girrbach and Frenchman Ugo Coussaud, before the group moves to 12:25pm Friday off the first.
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Other headline groups include 2023 Australian Open champion and five-time LIV golf winner this year, Joaquin Niemann, two-time PGA Tour winner Ryan Fox and Si Woo Kim, teeing off at 12:05pm Thursday from the first. They switch to 7:05am Friday from the 10th.
A winner across the DP World, PGA and Asian Tour, LIV golfer Lucas Herbert also features in the afternoon wave Thursday at 12:15pm off the first with Daniel Hillier and David Puig. Herbert is chasing his maiden Australian Open crown having played in the Sunday final group last year at Kingston Heath.
Cameron Davis, the 2017 Australian Open champion, begins at 12:25pm Thursday off the first, paired with 2018 Australian Open winner Abraham Ancer and DP World Tour star Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen, before the group moves to 7:25am Friday off the 10th.
The afternoon-morning rotations will create starkly different conditions, with softer conditions expected Thursday morning before the sun and afternoon Northerly winds create fast, firm fairways and greens for the afternoon wave.
With McIlroy chasing a storybook ending to the defining year of his career, and the local stars eager to deny him, anticipation is building for one of the most compelling Australian Opens in decades.
