Written by Ian Ransom
MELBOURNE (Reuters) – Australian Open champions Riggs Johnston and Xin Jiyai hoisted the men's and women's trophies side by side in front of a healthy crowd at Melbourne's Kingston Heath on Sunday, but the future of the mixed tournament remains uncertain. It's still up in the air.
The mixed format was introduced in 2022 to restart local tours that were canceled due to the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19), but it will reduce the status of the men's and women's National Open, which had previously been independent tournaments. For many years, there have been opinions criticizing this.
Criticism continued on Melbourne's sand this week, with men's headliner Cameron Smith saying wet weather had weakened the normally hard and fast sand course despite soft and slow conditions. He blamed those involved.
Australian major winner Hannah Green said the course setting had “generous” pin placements to ensure everyone had a round.
“If the guys had played this course, I think the pins would have been caught more,” Green told reporters.
Adam Scott, Australia's first Masters winner and long one of the country's biggest supporters of the local tour, has chosen to sit out this year's tournament, but experts say other top players such as Smith will also play in the future. I'm worried they'll do the same thing.
Australian golf officials are unconvinced that separating the men's and women's competitions is the right way forward, although dates and formats for 2025 remain undecided.
“It's no secret that some of our leading male players don't like this format, but we like the schedule,” Golf Australia director James Sutherland told reporters on Sunday.
“And conversely, some of our main female players don't like dates, they like formality.
“And the simple answer to that is to separate the two events at different times…but it's not that simple.”
The schedule, fresh off the heels of the season-ending LPGA event in Florida ending last Sunday, posed a major problem for many of the women's competitors, including major winner Minjee Lee and Green, who arrived jet-lagged.
Due to bad weather on Wednesday, many athletes were unable to participate in practice rounds before the start of the event.
The Women's Australian Tour (WPGA) is very grateful to the top players who came out on the road and we can only hope that they remain loyal.
With the Women's Australian Open losing its place on the LPGA calendar due to the coronavirus pandemic, there is no guarantee the tournament will return to the world circuit within a few years.
WPGA president Karen Lunn said the mixed format suits the women's game and allows it to showcase talent to fans who might not otherwise be able to see it.
“James (Sutherland) said dating is difficult for the girls. But they love the format,” she said.
“We have a lot of fans here who three years ago would only go to the men's tournament, but now they're probably fans of the women's game as well.”
(Reporting by Ian Ransom in Melbourne; Editing by Sonali Paul)
