The road to the 2017 Open Championship is underway along the shores of Sydney Harbour and at the stately Royal Sydney course.
The Australian Open is the very first of 10 countries that will play host to qualifying for golf’s oldest major.
Three places are up for grams into the 146th Open at Royal Birkdale and some 17,000 klms away in Southport, England.
Bernie (center) with Jason, Joe, Steve (My brother with blue cap) and Jack as we get our hands on the famed Claret Jug at last year’s Australian Open.
Since the first Australian Open in 1904, the championship has evolved from an event of limited local standing to a stage for many of golf’s greatest-ever players to battle for the title. The names engraved on the trophy are synonymous with Major Championship history and include Peter Thomson, Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player, Gene Sarazen, Arnold Palmer, Tom Watson, Greg Norman, Adam Scott and Rory McIlroy.
And this year marks the return of the championship to Royal Sydney Golf Club for the 15th time since first hosting the Australian Open in 1904. and with Rory McIlroy ending a miserable season with victory over Adam Scott three years ago.
