WANT RORY MCILROY IN YOUR GOLF TOURNAMENT? THAT'LL BE $2 MILLION.

By mustang6560 on 12/5/12

The Australian Open, which is Australia's "most prestigious golf championship", kicks off tomorrow from the Lakes Golf Course (coverage in the U.S. starts tonight at 8PM ET on The Golf Channel).

The field includes several big names like Adam Scott, Justin Rose, Geoff Ogilvy, and Tom Watson. However, according to Australian Golf Digest, the field is missing its headliner — Rory McIlroy. The publication reports Rory negotiated a $1 million appearance fee to compete Down Under, but following his PGA Championship victory, he doubled his fee. At $2 million, the tournament couldn't afford to keep Rory in the field.

Tournament promoters believed they had an "arrangement" with the Northern Irishman's management for the 23-year-old to play the Australian Open in December.

But once the final putt was holed at Kiawah Island, the asking price for the new world No. 1 had escalated dramatically.

His appearance fee was about $1 million prior to the US PGA, upon winning a second, but major McIlroy's asking price was twice that amount.

And that put him out of reach for Australian Open promoters.

I don't want to rush to judgement, but if this report is true, it's pretty crappy on Rory's part. I have no problem with Rory upping his appearance fee, however, if he reached an agreement, then he should have honored it.

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