Ep187: The Australian Open is Back !!! We Review it all. What Was Great, What Should Happen Next.

What a weekend......The Australian Open was sensational, and we are going to spend the next hour reliving it.

Mark is in Queensland with the family, Nick and Dan at Titleist and FootJoy HQ in Melbourne, so the show sounds a tad different today. Onto the AO. Nick and Mark loved it. The Australian Open is back, and it was an event that everyone involved, and golf fans broadly, should be very proud of.

Mark says last years Open was a 2/10 rating, this years was an 8/10, and he has a Top 5 later in the show of things that could get it to a 10/10 in his view. The big one being the date, it is a challenging date with the South African event and the Bahamas event on at the weekend attracting a lot of big name players. That said, Mark says on TV those two looked second-rate compared to The Australian Open. Changing the date is a no-brainer says Mark.

Nick notes that each of the 4 days had completely different weather which made the event challenging but exciting, and he loved the Sunday pin placements...he also said that he was 'sweating bullets' on friday when Rory was sailing a little close to the cutline.

But that finish. In fact the 17th and 18th holes. Extraordinary. We analyse what happened, how Rasmus and Cam played the holes. The pressure was huge and Rasmus came out on top obviously.

Nick talks about some of the older players who played, and he loved it. And some players who missed the cut who really shouldn't have. How about Min Woo Lee's Open, a tough sunday according ti Nick, and Mark says can you imagine if Adam Scott's putting was more consistent what might happen.

Then, Mark makes a big call about the BMW Australian PGA Tournament saying it needs to be moved out of Queensland. He explains why.

The BMW Touch of Class today is Richard Forsyth and his team at Royal Melbourne for the incredible job they did getting the course into the shape it was in, it looked magnificent and considering how it was only a few months ago, Mark says that they are well deserving of the Touch of Class award. Speaking of BMW, Nick bumped into his good mate Wolfgang, the former boss of BMW Australia, now in Germany, and a huge supporter of golf in Australia.

The Top 5 for Betr....Marks Top 5 things to get The Australian Open to the next level, including a red hot crack at the commentary....which is a little awkward given Nick is one of the commentators.

And for Hostplus, each week we look at what is a plus for golf - today, the running of the event by Golf Australia in how they handled a monster crowd over the week, the number of kids roaming around Royal Melbourne, and Mark adds a final one involving Nick O'Hern.

PING Globals, well there was plenty of golf on aside from the Australian Open, and Nick runs us through all the results that matter. Next week on the show we'll have two particular results of interest, firstly the Cathedral Invitational, and secondly the Vic PGA Pro Am in which our mate Snowy from FootJoy is defending his title in, and our Talk Birdie Wolfpacker Darren from Toowoomba will be playing in. Can't wait!

For Southern Golf Club, feedback this week is all about The Australian Open, and we have a voicemail from Michael in Hobart who has a question about the AO and a Tour Pro who he says 'made a dick move', and wants Nick and Marks thoughts.

After last weeks masterclass, for watchMynumbers, from Mark was branded the 'laziest masterclass we've done', Nick says he is doing a lazy one - although it turns out to be excellent. Nick talks about handling pressure at key points, Ala Cam and Rasmus.

We're live from Titleist and FootJoy HQ thanks to our great partners:

• BMW, luxury and comfort for the 19th hole;
• Titleist, the #1 ball in golf;
• FootJoy, the #1 shoe and glove in golf;
• PING will help you play your best;
• Golf Clearance Outlet, they beat everyone's prices;
• Betr, the fastest and easiest betting app in Australia;
• And watchMynumbers and Southern Golf Club.

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