Royal Melbourne’s historic West Course is ranked 7th on GOLF’s Top 100 Courses in the World list. Royal Melbourne is also the host of this week’s 2025 Crown Australian Open, and Rory McIlroy is in the field.
But the five-time major champion worried he may have offended the historic club’s “membership” with one surprising but honest take he shared publicly in his press conference. He thinks Royal Melbourne is not the best golf course in the area, let alone all of Australia.
Here’s what you need to know.
Where Royal Melbourne ranks among Top 100 golf courses
Before we get into McIlroy’s comments, delivered in his pre-tournament press conference at the Aussie Open, it’s important to get a few things clear.
Royal Melbourne has two courses on the Top 100 Courses in the World list, but technically neither of them is being played this week.
The tournament course at Royal Melbourne is a composite layout comprising of holes from the 7th-ranked West Course, designed by Alister MacKenzie in 1931, and the East Course.
While the West Course is regularly in the conversation for best course in the world, the East Course is no slouch. Designed by Alex Russell, it comes in 82nd on the World Top 100 list.
So while McIlroy is getting his first look at Royal Melbourne this week, the layout he is playing is a mix between the 7th-ranked and 82nd-ranked courses in the world.
Rory McIlroy: Royal Melbourne is not best course is Melbourne
Given Royal Melbourne’s prestige, it came as a surprise when McIlroy took it down a notch in public comments this week.
During his pre-tournament press conference at the club, McIlroy shared his opinion that this week’s host isn’t the best golf course in Australia.
“I don’t want the membership to take this badly,” McIlroy began tentatively, “it’s [Royal Melbourne] probably not the best course in Melbourne.”
He quickly reassured everyone that he still believes Royal Melbourne is one of the best courses in the world.
“That’s my opinion, but it’s certainly in the top 10 in the world,” McIlroy. “There’s so much great golf in this country, especially in this area.”
Despite the initial shock, it’s hard to blame the five-time major champion when you hear the course he thinks tops Royal Melbourne.
“Kingston Heath,” McIlroy declared.
Kingston Heath is no goat track. Just a short drive from Royal Melbourne, it has a historic pedigree of its own. Opened in 1928, Kingston Heath was also designed in part by MacKenzie. And its own ranking in the Top 100 Courses in the World, 24th, shows that course experts hold it in high regard.
McIlroy also provided a few more specifics on his first experience at Royal Melbourne.
“I didn’t anticipate how many blind tee shots there was going to be,” he said. “It sort of takes a little bit to figure out. It’s certainly not straightforward.
He did provide the caveat that the unusual southerly wind caused some holes to play “a little funky” in his practice round.
“It’s probably not a fair reflection on the golf course playing in this wind,” McIlroy said. “It would be good to play it in a few other directions.”
He continued: “But it’s obviously an amazing golf course and can’t wait to get out there and compete on it.”
In his first competitive round at the Royal Melbourne composite course Thursday, McIlroy traded five birdies for six bogeys to shoot a one-over 72. He’ll start the second round seven shots off the lead.
Even if he doesn’t turn his play around on the course this week, he should be happier with next year’s Australian Open host course: Kingston Heath.
