Moving the Australian Open back to February is the only way to boost the women’s field according to major champion and world No.7, Hannah Green, who said the current December slot, to suit the tournament’s dual-gender ambitions, didn’t work for most.
The Australian Open will be played in the dual-gender format, with both men and women on the same course at the same time, for the third year in a row in late November and the second time on the Melbourne sandbelt.
It brings together Australia’s biggest names, with Green and fellow major champ Minjee Lee keen to rub shoulders with the likes of Cameron Smith and Adam Scott in a rare coming together.
The December date has long prevented the world’s best men’s players turning out – Jordan Spieth was the most recent international headline act in 2017 – and so too the women’s event has suffered.
The world’s best female players, including world No.1 Nelly Korda, were regulars when the women’s Open was played in the old time slot.
Korda, who went on a blistering run to start 2024, netting six LPGA tour wins, won as recently as 2019 when the women’s Australian Open was played in Adelaide.
Green, who puts winning an Australian Open at the top of her want list, won’t even arrive in Melbourne until the Wednesday before the tournament begins on Thursday, with all the best LPGA players contesting the Tour Championship in Florida.
While she concedes there’s little other space in the packed golf calendar to play the dual-gender event at another time, she said the current slot was “inconvenient”.
“I think it worked really well when it was in February, but if having the men and the women, if that’s the only date that kind of works, then I understand why they’ve done it,” Green said.
“But for the people that are on the LPGA, it’s kind of a difficult time to come down to Australia.
“I’m arriving on a Wednesday, which is very unusual for a Thursday start.
“But I think it is really fun to have the men and the women at the same time and I think it elevates both events. Having everyone on the golf course at the same time, I really enjoy it.”
A February move could potentially work with the LIV event in Adelaide that have been shifted to a new date and bring a slew of major champions to Australia.
Despite her concerns, however, which are shared by some of her fellow players, Green doesn’t expect a shift back to the old date.
“I obviously don’t know how a golf tournament is run. I don’t know when the best dates are to play. I don’t know how TV contracts work, all those types of things,” she said.
“So even though I might ask for them to try and move it, it’s not as easy as me just saying that I would like it on that specific date.
“It also does kind of conflict with (LPGA) Q-School for the women and even I think sometimes the men. So maybe if it gets back to the start of the season, you might be able to have some of the LPGA players that used to come down here prior to Covid and obviously the change in date.
“But it’s not as easy as me just saying, ‘OK guys, we need it in February’. I do understand that.”
