Cameron Smith believes the chance to join golf greats Jack Nicklaus and Greg Norman as Australian Open champions should be used by cash-strapped event organisers to lure stars next year.
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Organiser Golf Australia came under fire for failing to entice Australian drawcards Jason Day, Adam Scott and Marc Leishman - as well as any international superstar like recent visitor Jordan Spieth - to tee it up in this year's Open at The Lakes.
Scheduling won't get any easier for the Open next year when it clashes with Tiger Woods' elite 18-man Hero World Challenge event.
The Open will be staged concurrently at The Australian in Sydney from December 5-8, with the biennial Presidents Cup being held the following week at Royal Melbourne.
Woods will captain the US team in the Presidents Cup and it seems likely he will attract many of them to play in his tournament the week before in the Bahamas.
Smith believes the Open's best shot at drawing Presidents Cup players to Australia a week early is marketing the chance to join golf royalty, Gary Player, Nicklaus and Norman, on the Stonehaven Cup.
Particularly with the Open's $A1.25 million purse paling in comparison to the regular $US8 million pools on the US PGA Tour.
"For the guys over (on the US Tour), we're playing for seven or eight million dollars every week," Smith told AAP after firing a six-under-par 66 to finish tied 10th.
"The prize money I don't think is ever going to draw anyone (to Australia); I definitely think the history side of it will."
World No.33 Smith, the highest-ranked Australian in the field at The Lakes, acknowledged the Australian stars on the US Tour also had a duty to sell their national championship to American golfers.
"If the Aussie guys out on the US Tour gave it a good hype up, it could be really good next year," he said.
"Especially at a really good golf course like The Australian - it's an American-style golf course."
Smith's seven-under total gave him a third straight top-10 result at the Open, nine shots back of Open winner Abraham Ancer (69).
Smith finished fourth last year and tied second in 2016 courtesy of a sudden-death play-off loss to Spieth.
"I gave it a pretty good crack this week," Smith said.
"I probably put too much pressure on myself earlier in the week and I was trying too much," Smith added, having shot two-over 74 in the first round.
"But I'll take a lesson from that I can draw off in future Australian Opens."
Australian Associated Press
