Men's and Women's Australian Open to be held together for first time in Melbourne with champion golfer Karrie Webb to feature

The Men's and Women's Australian Open will be played together for the first time, with seven-time major champion Karrie Webb coming out of semi-retirement to chase another title.

The tournaments will be played at The Victoria Golf Club and Kingston Heath on Melbourne's sandbelt from December 1-4.

The courses will share hosting duties for the opening two days and the closing two rounds at Victoria, with full fields of 144 men and 144 women competing for an equal split of $3.4 million prize money.

In another first, the men's tournament will be co-sanctioned by the DP World Tour — formerly the European Tour — with organisers hoping players will travel to Australia for a two-tournament swing as the Australian PGA Championship takes place a week prior at Royal Queensland Golf Club.

The Victorian Open at 13th Beach was a template, featuring mixed fields since 2012.

«By bringing these two events, the men's and women's, together, we are trying to create a great celebration of golf in the week,» said Golf Australia chief executive James Sutherland on Friday.

«The men's and women's Opens are the biggest titles in Australian golf and to bring them together on the one stage is something really significant.»

Men's winners include Rory McIlroy, Jordan Speith and Adam Scott while the defending champion from 2019 is Australian Matt Jones, with the tournament cancelled for the past two years due to COVID-19.

Korean world number nine Inbee Park won the last women's edition in 2020 while world number one Jin Young Ko claimed the title in 2018.

Webb, who has won the Australian Open five times, was the last local winner with her 2014 victory at Victoria, but she also won at Kingston Heath in 2008.

«At this stage, I plan to dust off the clubs — I