It’s all bonza: Rory McIlroy has tills ringing down under as he commits to Australian Open

Plus: the policeman’s trousers, the internet loses its mind over Theegala, and the ups and downs of the PGA

His focus might purely be on Quail Hollow this week, but when it was announced on Tuesday that Rory McIlroy would be competing at the 2025 and 2026 Australian Opens, the golfing fraternity down under only had thoughts for December when he will make his first appearance in the tournament in over a decade.

Having won the title at Royal Sydney in 2013, McIlroy’s last Australian Open came the following year. But he hasn’t been back since, so there’s quite a bit of excitement about him committing to turning up at Royal Melbourne in December and nearby Kingston Heath the year after.

How much excitement? Well, Australian Golf Digest said, in the first 24 hours after the announcement was made, “Golf Australia observed the biggest single day of ticket sales in the event’s 121-year history. In addition to overall ticket sales, hospitality suites at Royal Melbourne have almost sold out.”

McIlroy will, of course, receive a hefty fee for his appearances, although Golf Digest reckons the reported €2 million a tournament is stretching it. Mind you, considering those ticket sales, and the assorted extra loot that will gush in, €2 million sounds cheap at the price.

Missed chance to trouser a bonus

The first anniversary of Scottie Scheffler‘s arrest at Valhalla, on the morning of his second round in the PGA Championship, is upon us. And you can only salute The Athletic for their efforts to track down the whereabouts of “Detective Gillis’ ruined pants”.

You might, or might not, recall that the policeman who arrested Scheffler, after an apparent misunderstanding between the pair, had his uniform pants “damaged beyond repair” when he was dragged along the road by Scheffler’s car.

So, The Athletic contacted Detective Bryan Gillis to ask him where those pants were. There are, he said, in a box somewhere in his house, but he’s not sure where. Besides, he wants to forget the whole incident, having received “harassing phone calls” for months and sometimes being pointed at in a shop by someone hollering “You’re the officer who arrested Scottie Scheffler.”

On being told that he really should have sold them at the time, the detective’s heart most probably sank. How much, according to a company that auctions golf collectibles and memorabilia, would they have been worth? As much as $20,000 (€18,000). A year on? Just the $5,000.

Is Alex Smalley 2025’s version of 1991’s John Daly? Daly, you’ll recall won the PGA Championship back then when he was the final alternate for the tournament, and Smalley, the 28-year-old New Yorker, was only called up on Wednesday afternoon after Sahith Theegala was forced to withdraw. Then he went and shot a four-under 67 to give himself a lofty position on the leader board after round one.

Why did Theegala withdraw? It could be that artificial intelligence (AI) had magic mushrooms for breakfast on Thursday, because this is what was popping up on the interweb: “In a shocking turn of events, Theegala has withdrawn just moments before the start, leaving fans and experts in disbelief. The unexpected announcement has sent shock waves through the golfing world, creating a whirlwind of speculation and intrigue as to what led to this last-minute decision.”

The, er, shock waves soon subsided – the Californian dropped out because of the neck injury that led him to withdraw from the Truist Championship last weekend. Whirlwind of speculation? Over.

Done up, and down, to the nines

Granted, there were no shortage of uppy-downy rounds on Thursday, but Séamus Power‘s first nine surely took the biscuit: birdie, double-bogey, bogey, par, eagle, birdie, double-bogey, par, par. In contrast, his second nine was close enough to run-of-the-mill: six pars, a birdie, a bogey and a par.