Australian golf fans will find out within a matter of weeks whether Minjee Lee and Cameron Smith will both bring their Major championship trophies Down Under to play in a groundbreaking Australian Open on the Melbourne Sandbelt.
The men’s and women’s Australian Opens will be played concurrently across Victoria GC and Kingston Heath in early December, presenting an opportunity to have Open Championship winner Smith and US Women’s Open winner Lee teeing up in the same event.
It would be a spectacular return for both national Opens, with the men having their event cancelled twice due to the pandemic and the women having the 2021 edition canned because of Covid-19.
Smith has previously declared his intention to play the Australian Open and PGA Championship, but Lee has yet to announce her plans for the summer of golf. Both are ranked world No.2.
However, Lee’s management told Australian Golf Digest on Wednesday her end-of-year schedule “hasn’t been set yet but will be finalised within the next month or so”.
Fans are hopeful Lee will make it happen for the Women’s Australian Open, which will offer the same $A1.7 million tournament purse as the men’s draw.
With 13 events still to come in the LPGA season, the key for Lee and her team will be setting a schedule that allows for some rest for the Perth native between August and November.
The LPGA Tour’s finale, the CME Group Tour Championship, isn’t until late November – just over a week before the Australian Open. The men’s PGA Tour finishes its 2022 season in the US at the end of August.
Lee’s US Open triumph at Pine Needles in June was her second Major title after breaking through at the Evian Championship in 2021. At just 26, she cemented her status as one of Australia’s greatest golfers – becoming just the sixth Australian winner of multiple Majors.
Meanwhile, Smith has verbalised his intentions to come home for the first time since the 2019 Australian Open and Presidents Cup were held just months before the Covid-19 pandemic began.
After his breakthrough Major victory at the 150th Open Championship at St Andrews last month, Smith told Australian TV networks his “plan was to play those couple of events in Australia”.
“I think my priority during those weeks is going to be to catch up with family and friends,” he said. I‘ll probably stay a little bit after into Christmas and just really have a good time.
“I’m looking so forward to that. You really have no idea of it’s been three years since I’ve been at home and just to see some familiar faces will be so nice.”
Australian tournament organisers have confirmed stars Hannah Green and world No.49 Lucas Herbert will return to Australia for the summer of golf.
Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, Green said she would lobby Lee, as well as 2019 Australian Open champion and world No.3, Nelly Korda, to travel to Australia after American Thanksgiving.
“It’d be great if Nelly could come back down,” Green said. “It is a hard time of year because of Thanksgiving a week prior to the Open but some girls might want to go on a holiday and make a trip out of it.
“It’s a long season. You can make some good money out of it (the Australian Open) and celebrate. So it’d be nice if Nelly and her sister Jess could come down.”
“It would obviously be great if Minjee could attend. But I think it’s just important to have all the Australian players come back.”
