Rory McIlroy to play 2013 Australian Open

Former world number one Rory McIlroy has confirmed he’ll play in the 2013 Australian Open.

The 2013 Australian summer of golf is set to be another ripper with Rory McIlroy confirming that he will make an appearance at The Australian Open held at Royal Sydney in November.

McIlroy looks like he is emerging out of his form slump following a good performance at the US PGA Championship where he posted a respectable eighth place finish, his first top-10 placing since The PLAYERS Championship in May.

“It is pretty much locked in place I will be playing the Australian Open in Sydney,” McIlroy said.

“It’s been a couple of years since I last competed in an Australian Open. I competed in 2006 when I was still an amateur and then a year later after just turning pro.”

“Both were in Sydney and I’ve always enjoyed myself in Sydney so I am very much looking forward to returning to Royal Sydney.”

McIlroy was in Sydney earlier this year when he visited without his golf clubs with his girlfriend and tennis star Caroline Wozniacki.

Having a great afternoon in Sydney with @McIlroyRory pic.twitter.com/rt1fZGsW

— Caroline Wozniacki (@CaroWozniacki) January 4, 2013

The news is great for Australian golf and comes on the back of the announcement earlier this week that Matt Kuchar will play in the Australian Masters, a week before the World Cup of Golf. Both events will be played at Royal Melbourne in November.

Once the Presidents Cup train rolled through Australia in 2011, many golf fans were predicting a lull in the excitement associated with Australian golf tournaments in the following years.

While it would be hard to ever match the star-studded fields we had in the country that summer, Golf Australia, the PGA of Australia and IMG are ensuring the three big tournaments have quality fields with international stars to get the galleries through the gates.

The Australian Open will be held at Royal Sydney from November 28 – December 1, 2013. Tickets go on sale August 28.