How much does Scottie Scheffler like Tiger Woods, and could the world No.1's comments in Scotland be the catalyst for considerable change?

It is a question which could consume governing body Golf Australia's officials, with hearts all aflutter at HQ in the wake of the world No.1's 20-word answer to a question in Scotland this week.

However, it wasn't just Scheffler who inserted Australia into the conversation, with Jon Rahm also affixing clear thought to a possible sandbelt appearance when pondering the impending changes to the PGA Tour calendar.

From 2028, a clear window for all players to play international events from September through to February will be created, one celebrated by those in charge of the Australian Open, who have long lamented competing events as a hindrance to getting the best possible field.

Now comments from the two major champions should ensure Nick Dastey, the man given the job of luring the big names to fight for what should be increased prizemoney at the Australian Open, is one of the busiest men at Royal Birkdale next week.


Dastey, who played a key role in getting Rory McIlroy to sign a two-year deal to play in the Australian Open, spends the 12 months in between every event working his contact book to get the best players to Australia in December.

However, when the likes of Scheffler and Rahm tell the world it's on their radar, expectations immediately lift, regardless of the actualities of anything arising.

"Those events in Australia look unbelievable and from what I've experienced there, it's a lot of fun," Rahm said, answering a question, like Scheffler did about the revamped PGA Tour schedule, which has purposely given events like the Australian Open, one with considerable and distinguished history in the game of golf, renewed calendar protection and respect.

Jon Rahm played at Kingston Heath in 2016. (PHOTO: Scott Barbour/Getty Images)


Those two elements, calendar protection and authoritative respect, are absolutely critical in the re-elevation of the Australian Open among players like Scheffler and Rahm and even McIlroy, whose attendance last December put the 100-year-old tournament well and truly back on the international golfing radar.

However, even as enthusiasm builds, the calendar itself remains the fight. That is where the Tiger question comes in - because the scramble for the best time slots could be an unwanted consequence of change.

While the Australian Open is being played this December, there are two competing events. One is the Nedbank Challenge in South Africa, which offers $1.4 million to the winner, a prize so significant, that last year Ryggs Johnson opted to play at Sun City rather than defend his Australian Open title.

The other event on that weekend is Woods' Hero World Challenge, which offers only 20 spots, but historically lures the likes of Scheffler to play for over $7 million in prizemoney ... because it's in the Bahamas and, if Tiger asks you to play, not many say no.

Both pots are larger than the Australian Open, but the purse is expected to grow as part of a new partnership with the PGA Tour.

Scottie Scheffler with Tiger Woods at the 2025 Hero. (Photo by David Cannon/Getty Images)


That partnership could also prove pivotal in potentially moving the Hero from its traditional December spot as part of those calendar changes, and maybe removing one of the obstacles to getting Scheffler to the Australian Open as soon as 2027.

Scheffler will be in Melbourne in 2028 for the Presidents Cup, so it's not like he won't get that up-close look at the sandbelt he's after.

However, getting him to Peninsula Kingswood for the 2027 Australian Open would be a different level of achievement; one that would require a fresh way of thinking, some bold scheduling adjustments and a good deal of international cooperation.

Before he mentioned Australia, and the sandbelt, Scheffler raised the idea of getting to New Zealand also, which adds another level of potential exploration for PGA Tour of Australasia officials.

The Australian "triple crown" used to be a thing - a big thing, too. Winning the Australian Open, PGA and Masters, in the same summer, was an annual quest before the Masters' demise. Only one golfer, Robert Allenby, achieved the feat in 2005, and it was celebrated for the stunning accomplishment it was.

Is there now potential for a new Triple Crown, adding the New Zealand Open, played in late February as the bookend to the Australasian Tour, to a new slot in December, after the Australian Open, or in November even, before the Australian PGA?

Right now, the New Zealand Open is played the week before the South African Open, rarely attracts marquee players and sustains itself without ever truly thriving.

Even in 2028, locked into that date, it would be competing with the start of the new PGA Tour season, making it even more difficult to stand out.

There has long been a suggestion the Australian Open would be better played in February - a myth GA officials have consistently dispelled.

Golf Australia boss James Sutherland has some work to do.


However, shifting that thought process, playing it as one of three tournaments along with the New Zealand Open in December, could create a new period of major action and enhance all the events together.

Scheffler could kill two golfing birds with one trip, tick two bucket-list items in a three-week stint. Not just Scheffler, but Rahm, too and any of their likeminded peers who have so often looked on from afar, rugged up in a northern hemisphere winter wondering just how much fun it would be in the sun.

Yes, Scheffler and Rahm talking up their desire to play in Australia should send GA officials scurrying off to the government and tourist groups and sponsors who helped fund McIlroy's two-year deal, and Woods' appearances a decade before him.

However, the calls that matter most could be the internal ones, to try to shift the Hero off its collision course, and to build a Triple Crown worth chasing again. Do that, and Scheffler and Rahm might not just be talking about Australia, they could be booking flights.