Australian Open (golf)

The Australian Open, owned and run by Golf Australia, is the oldest and most prestigious golf tournament on the PGA Tour of Australasia. The Open was first played in 1904 and takes place toward the end of each year.

The winner of the tournament receives the Stonehaven Cup, presented by Lord Stonehaven, the Governor-General of Australia from 1925 to 1930. It was first presented in 1930.

The Australian Open was the flagship tournament of the PGA Tour of Australasia from 1992 to 2019. It had a special status in the Official World Golf Ranking's points system, awarding a minimum 32 points to the winner regardless of the strength of the field.

The tournament was part of the OneAsia Tour from 2009 to 2016. The 2022 edition was co-sanctioned by the European Tour.

Since the Open Qualifying Series was introduced for the 2014 Open Championship, the Australian Open has been the first of a number of qualifying tournaments, giving up to three non-exempt players entry into the Open Championship.

The Australian Open was once referred to as the "fifth major" by Jack Nicklaus and Rory McIlroy.

The Australian Golf Union was formed in 1898 and from 1899 organised a championship meeting. From 1899 to 1902 this included the Australian Amateur championship contested over 72 holes of stroke play. In 1903 the format was revised, there being a 36-hole stroke-play stage after which the leading 8 played match-play with a 36-hole final. The 1904 championship meeting was held at The Australian Golf Club. In 1903, the club had hosted the New South Wales Amateur and had run the 36-hole stroke-play qualifying stage as an open event, with professionals as well as amateurs competing. The idea was used at the 1904 championship meeting. There was a 72-hole stroke-play event open to professionals, played over two days, after which the leading 16 amateurs competed for the amateur championship. The stroke-play event became the first Australian Open and was won by an English amateur, Michael Scott, with a score of 315. Two more amateurs Leslie Penfold Hyland and Dan Soutar finished second and third, while Carnegie Clark was the leading professional, tied for fourth place.

The 1905 championship meeting was played at Royal Melbourne and the open and amateur championship were decided by the same 72-hole tournament. Dan Soutar, now a professional, won the open with Michael Scott second, 10 strokes behind. As the leading amateur, Scott won the amateur championship. The 1906 open was won by Carnegie Clark, 5 ahead of Soutar. Soutar was to be runner-up in five successive opens, from 1906 to 1910. In 1907 Scott repeated his success of 1904, and further amateur wins came in the following two years, Clyde Pearce winning in 1908 and Claude Felstead in 1909. The 1910 open was held in South Australia for the first time and resulted in a second win for Clark, with a record score of 306, 11 strokes ahead of Soutar. Clark won for the third time the following year, although only by a single shot from Fred Popplewell. The 1912 open was won by an 18-year-old amateur, Ivo Whitton, 5 ahead of Popplewell and Soutar. Whitton won again the following year with a new record score of 302. Another amateur Audley Lemprière came second with Soutar third, a distant 15 strokes behind Whitton.