Five-time major champion Rory McIlroy to play Australian Open for first time in 11 years
Updated . First published at
Five-time major winner and reigning Masters champion Rory McIlroy will play the Australian Open for the first time in 11 years.
Golf Australia on Wednesday morning announced the Irish superstar will head Down Under to contest the tournament, which was once colloquially considered golf's fifth major.
He is locked in to play the event in 2025 and again in 2026.
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This year's edition will be played at Royal Melbourne in the first week of December, and next year's is scheduled for Kingston Heath Golf Club - meaning Victoria will have hosted the Open three years in a row.
McIlroy, 35, won the Australian Open in 2013 and last played the event in 2014.
Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland celebrates winning the 2025 Masters Tournament. Getty
"I'm proud to be committing to the Australian Open for the next two years, especially with it being played on the world-class Melbourne Sandbelt, somewhere I've always wanted to play professionally" McIlroy said in a statement.
"The success of the Australian Open is important for the global game, and I'm incredibly confident it will thrive again this year, especially with it being staged in one of the world's great sporting cities and on two of the finest golf courses in the world over the next two years.
"Melbourne is known for being one of the world's great sporting cities and I can't wait to be part of that atmosphere and soak in everything it has to offer, both on and off the course."
McIlroy has not committed to playing the Australian PGA Championship - the other major Aussie event which is typically held a week before the Open and also often attracts big-name players.
The Australian Open is held in high regard around the world and last year McIlroy suggested it should be given major status - joining the Masters, PGA Championship, British Open, and US Open, all of which McIlroy has now won.
"The Australian Open, for example, should almost be the fifth major. The market down there is huge with potential," McIlroy said at the Dubai Desert Classic.
"They love golf. They love sport. They have been starved of top-level golf. And the courses are so good."
The international pulling power of the Aussie majors has dwindled somewhat in recent years but McIlroy is a huge inclusion.
He won his maiden Masters jacket last month to complete his career grand slam - something only six golfers in history have managed to do.
Golf Digest reports Aussie superstars Min Woo Lee, Adam Scott, and Cameron Smith are all likely to contest the Open later this year.
