"It’s probably not the best course in Melbourne" - McIlroy shocks locals ahead of Australian Open tilt

Rory McIlroy in action at Royal Melbourne. Picture: Getty Images

Rory McIlroy is never afraid to speak his mind, but he still surprised golfing aficionados with his views on the vaunted Royal Melbourne on the eve of this week’s Crown Australian Open.

The Masters champion and five-time major winner is reportedly banking a hefty appearance fee from the local government to tee it up in Victoria this week.

But nobody expected him to downgrade the famous course to second-class status, albeit with a significant caveat.

“I don’t want the membership to take this badly, but it’s probably not the best course in Melbourne,” McIlroy said ahead of the event, where the top three non-exempt players who make the cut will earn starts in The Open at Royal Birkdale, and the winner will receive an invitation to the Masters Tournament.

“I think that’s my opinion, but it’s certainly in the top 10 in the world.”

Pressed on what was in fact Melbourne’s best course, McIlroy was clear.

“Kingston Heath,” he said of the venue where he is already committed to playing the Australian Open next year.

As for Royal Melbourne, the famous Sandbelt venue’s Composite Course will play host to the Australian Open for the first time since 1991.

“I didn’t anticipate how many blind tee shots there were going to be,” McIlroy said of Royal Melbourne. “(It’s a course) that takes a little bit of time to figure out and is certainly not straightforward.

“It probably plays better in a southerly wind rather than a northerly wind.

“I think I’ve played it today. You know, some of the shorter holes are downwind, and it plays a little funky. And then, if you get the southerly wind and it gets back into the wind, then they play like really good. So it’s probably not a fair reflection on the golf course playing it in this wind.

“It would be good to play it in a few other directions. But it’s obviously an amazing golf course and can’t wait to get out there and compete on it this week.”

McIlroy is no stranger to golf in Australia.

He was, he admitted, “a little bit chubby and pudgy” when he played in the Australian Masters at Huntingdale in Melbourne as a 16-year-old amateur in 2005.

He went on to qualify for the Australian Open at Moonah Links but shot rounds of 73 and 79 to miss the cut, then finished 49th in the Australian Masters two weeks later.

He returned to compete in the Australian Open in 2013 and beat Adam Scott by a shot to lift the Stonehaven Cup at Royal Sydney.

He returned to play the event in 2015 but recalls that the 2013 win was a watershed moment in his career.

“I think about that tournament a lot and about what it meant,” McIlroy said of a season finale that laid the foundation for two major wins in 2014.

“I felt at that point in my career I was at a bit of a crossroads. I had had the worst season of my professional career in 2013. I changed equipment, I really struggled to make the switch.

“I just had an awful year, didn’t have a win, didn’t play well. I played with Adam Scott all four days … and I ended up beating him on the 72nd green.

“Of all the trophies that I have at home, the Australian Open trophy is meaningful because I felt like it got me back on track to go and have the year in 2014 that I did and go on to win two majors.

“That Australian Open will always hold a special place in my heart.”

He will be reunited with Scott and fellow Australian Min Woo Lee this week as they tee off from the 10th at 7.05 am local time on Thursday.

While it clashes with Tiger Woods’ Hero World Challenge, McIlroy’s presence makes this week’s Australian Open the bigger event, and he was full of praise for the country’s golfing pedigree.

“Australia has been a very big part of my golfing life and my golfing journey, going all the way back to playing the Australian Open as an amateur back in 2005 and 2006,” he said.

“I just think the quality of the golf down here, the quality of the players that have come from here.

“You look at an event like LIV (Golf) in Adelaide and the people that come out to that event and how excited they are that some of the top players in the world are down here playing, it just feels like this country is starved of top-level golf.

“A market like this with amazing fans and the history that it does have probably deserves more of a consistency of big players and big tournaments.

“This tournament, in particular, because of the history, because of the tradition, deserves to be a standalone tournament, a week on its own, and hopefully one day they could put together a schedule where the biggest and best tournaments in the world and the oldest and the ones with the most heritage can be elevated and stand on their own.”

As for his ambitions, he wants to win significant events at storied venues and add to his major haul.

“I was lucky enough to win at Pebble Beach this year for the first time and obviously at Augusta,” he said. “I’d love to win at St Andrews one day. I’d love to win a US Open at Pebble Beach. There are a few venues in our game that maybe mean more than some of the others.

“I want to win more majors. I want to be part of more Ryder Cup teams,” he added. “I’d say my records on either tour, whether it be the DP World Tour or PGA Tour, are probably meaning a little less to me as time moves on.

“It’s really just focusing on the majors and being a part of that Ryder Cup team and trying to build on the legacy I’ve built over the last 15 years.”