Olympian Marcus Fraser is proposing officials scrap Australian Open prize money in a bid to lure more of the world's best golfers down under.
Fraser, who proudly wore the green and gold for Australia at the 2016 Games in Rio de Janeiro, finishing fifth, would like to see the tournament "mix it up for a year" after failing to attract any of the world's top 25 players for this week's Open in Sydney.
The Open has been spoilt in recent years with a raft of superstars including Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy, two-time champion Jordan Spieth and fellow former world No.1s Dustin Johnson, Jason Day and Adam Scott headlining the fields.
The biggest names teeing up at The Lakes from Thursday are world No.29 Matt Kuchar and fellow American Keegan Bradley (world No.30), both recent winners on the US PGA Tour.
Cameron Smith is the top local hope in the absence of Day, Scott and Marc Leishman.
Fraser on Tuesday floated the radical idea of ditching prize money, which this year totals $1.25 million, with $225,000 going to the winner.
"I'd love to see the idea of maybe not putting on any prize money at all," he told Macquarie Sports Radio Breakfast.
"Purely just play for the Stonehaven Cup and just mix it up for a year."
He suggested promoting Australia as a destination instead, as well as reminding players of the prestige of the Stonehaven Cup - a famous trophy won by Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer and Peter Thomson.
In modern times, the likes of Spieth, McIlroy, Scott and Greg Norman have all reigned.
Fraser said he'd personally have no qualms playing for no prize money.
"I would love to have my name on that trophy. That's what it's all about," he said.
"Don't worry about the prize money, it's all about the championship."
Golf Australia chief executive Stephen Pitt was non-committal about Fraser's radical proposal but admitted the sport needed to be more innovative.
"That's a great challenge for golf in general" he said.
"Golf's got to look at how it can change because we've been ultra-consistent in terms of format for tournaments over a period of time,
"I don't think we've done a good enough job of bringing players into the living rooms and Australian households over time.
"Other sports have probably done a better job than us, so I do think golf has to change.
"But I don't just think it's the Australian Open or Australian tournaments.
"Golf needs to have a look at the broadcast generally and look at how it's engaging with people."
Australian Associated Press
