Jack Nicklaus has won pretty much everything there is to win in golf but when it comes to the tournaments outside of the USA, two stand clear.
The Open is widely considered as the most important for most golfers outside of the Masters, the PGA and the US Open.
However, when you look beyond the tournament held in Britain, it’s a bit harder to pick the next best thing.
How long should an 18 hole round of golf take?
But according to 18-time major winner Nicklaus, there is one event across the other side of the world that very much sticks in his mind.
Jack Nicklaus on why he loves the Australian Open
With golf in Australia currently giving us our fix, it seems pretty poignant that we look back at Nicklaus’ comments on this.
Speaking in a press conference ahead of the Masters in 2016, Nicklaus was asked which tournament – outside The Open – he sees as his most important win internationally.
And according to Nicklaus, it is the Australian Open that stands out.
“Probably the Australian Open. I think the Australian Open, we always thought was sort of the fifth major back in the time when we were playing. Gary won it seven times, and I won it six times. So we went to Australia a lot,” Nicklaus said ahead of the 2016 Masters.
“We sort of look at, and then I think the Tour has come along and put in some significant tournaments which basically has brought the world together for world championships and things, where the guys are playing more together.
“Travel has made it so that we can play together and we don’t have to travel all over to do that. But it’s a different day. Canadian Open used to be in there, too.”
Nicklaus won the event six times, the most of any golfer ever.
Why Rory McIlroy said the Australian Open could be the ‘fifth major’
Rory McIlroy will be playing in the 2025 event and he’s going to be a major star attraction for the event down under.
McIlroy will be hoping to impress and finish his 2025 on a huge high.
Indeed, going into the tournament, fans will be reminded of what McIlroy said when it came to the Australian Open and just why he feels it needs his support.
“The Australian Open, for example, should almost be the fifth major,” McIlroy said in a previous interview.
“The market down there is huge with potential. They love golf. They love sport.They have been starved of top-level golf. And the courses are so good.
“Revenues at the PGA Tour right now are about $US2.3 billion ($A3.4 billion). So how do we get that number up to four or six? “It is by looking outward. They need to think internationally and spread their wings a bit.
“My dream scenario is a world tour, with the proviso that corporate America has to remain a big part of it all. But there is an untapped commercial opportunity out there.”
With McIlroy set to arrive this week, the powers that be will be very much hoping he brings his A-game to the table and is among the players who contend to win.
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