A former Australian touring pro has called for a complete “recalibration” of the Aussie golf calendar following the collapse of the rebel LIV series.
The Saudi-backed tour’s annual pilgrimage to Adelaide is one of the biggest sporting events on the city’s calendar, and its expansion to four rounds for 2026 helped it eclipse last year’s Australian Open in terms of crowd numbers. Tourism SA and LIV claimed a four-day figure of 110,000, with 104,900 people officially attending the Australian Open in Melbourne in December.
Mark Allen – who spent 15 years on the Australasian, Asian, and what’s now the Korn Ferry tour – said the LIV event was the “flagship” golf event in Australia, and part of its success was due to its February time slot.
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The Australian PGA Championship and Australian Open have struggled to attract golf’s biggest names in recent years, although Rory McIlroy is midway through a two-year contract to play in the Open.
The Australian Masters used to be played at Huntingdale Golf Club on the second weekend in February, and its list of defending champions reads like a who’s who of golf – Greg Norman six times, Bernhard Langer, Ian Baker-Finch, Justin Rose, Ian Poulter, Adam Scott, and some bloke called Tiger Woods.
Tiger Woods with the Australian Masters trophy and gold jacket after winning in 2009. Getty
A young Bryson DeChambeau finished in a tie for second as an amateur at the final event in 2015.
Allen said the February spot is better for fans because as far as Australian sport is concerned, the cricket and tennis have usually finished or are winding down, and the two major footy codes are yet to begin their seasons.
Players are also reluctant to travel later in the calendar year owing to the US and European seasons having just finished.
“Our tournaments in November-December is the most poisonous time on the calendar for men’s golf,” he told Wide World of Sports.
“You’re up against Thanksgiving in America, all the golf seasons have just finished, everyone wants a holiday. Not only that, but golf goes up against the cricket starting.”
Outside the top Aussies, the Australian Open and Australian PGA has struggled for starpower in its current slot. Andy Cheung via Getty Images
Allen was particularly annoyed by media coverage following the Australian Open at Royal Melbourne last December.
“Last year … it was a fabulous event, an incredible event. Rory McIlroy was down here, the crowds were enormous, Royal Melbourne looked fantastic, spectacular; people were watching from all over the world,” he said.
“But guess what was on the front and back page of the Herald Sun, Australia’s number one selling paper here in Melbourne, on the Monday following? It was the cricket, and that Test was in Brisbane.
“It will never get the cut-through, even that tournament, up against the cricket.”
The Australian Masters was traditionally held at the Huntingdale Golf Club on the Melbourne sandbelt. The course has recently undergone an extensive redevelopment that has turned it from a park-style course with grass rough to a more traditional sandbelt course with large bunkers and sandy waste areas.
Allen said the expectant cancellation of the LIV event should trigger a “recalibration” of the Australian golf calendar.
“Get in bed with the (European PGA Tour) … go to the second-best tour in the world, and have a tournament in Perth, then Adelaide, Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, and then you have a big one in New Zealand,” he said.
“You have an Australasian swing on the European tour at the same time they have the swing in South Africa.
“They would be up for that – they would have tournaments here and there, and we’d each get our fair share of European players, which would leave plenty of room for the homegrown players in both countries.”
Wide World of Sports has contacted Golf Australia for comment.