MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Rory McIlroy might not have endeared himself to the Royal Melbourne Golf Club membership on Wednesday when he gave his impression of the famed sandbelt course — he says it's not the best in Melbourne.
McIlroy will tee off in the opening round of the Australian Open on Thursday with Adam Scott, whom he beat for the title in 2013, and another Australian drawcard Min Woo Lee.
But McIlroy, who played five holes at five different Melbourne courses on Monday, wasn’t overly enthusiastic about Royal Melbourne, rating nearby Kingston Heath above it.
Royal Melbourne has hosted the Presidents Cup three times but Kingston Heath will be the venue in 2028 for the International vs. the United States team event. And Kingston Heath will also host the Australian Open next year, which McIlroy has already committed to play.
“I don’t want the membership to take this badly but it’s probably not the best course in Melbourne,” said McIlroy, who won the Masters this year to become just the sixth man to achieve the career grand slam.
He did at least add that he considered the course among the top 10 in the world and said it possibly played “funky” on Wednesday due to the northerly wind.
“I didn’t anticipate how many blind tee shots there was going to be, and it takes a little bit to figure out. It’s certainly not straightforward. I think as well, it probably plays better in the southerly wind rather than a northerly wind ... it’s probably not a fair reflection on the golf course playing it in this wind."
He also added his approval of the Australian Open returning to a stand-alone format, breaking ties with the Women's Australian Open which had been held concurrently with the men's event the past three years.
“This tournament in particular because of the history, because of the tradition, deserves to be a stand-alone tournament, a week on its own,” McIlroy said.
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FILE - Adam Scott, of Australia, tees off on the ninth hole during the final round of the U.S. Open golf tournament at Oakmont Country Club, June 15, 2025, in Oakmont, Pa. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel, File)
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — NASA fueled its moon rocket Wednesday for humanity’s first lunar trip in more than half a century, aiming for an evening liftoff with four astronauts.
Tensions were high as hydrogen fuel started flowing into the rocket hours ahead of the planned launch. Dangerous hydrogen leaks erupted during a countdown test earlier this year, forcing a lengthy flight delay.
But no significant leaks occurred by the time Wednesday's fueling wrapped up. The launch team loaded more than 700,000 gallons of fuel (2.6 million liters) into the 32-story Space Launch System rocket on the pad, setting the stage for the Artemis II crew to board.
“It is time to fly,” commander Reid Wiseman said on the eve of launch via X. Favorable weather was forecast.
Three Americans and one Canadian will fly around the moon without stopping or even orbiting — then head straight back for a Pacific splashdown. They will set a new distance record for the farthest humans have traveled from Earth as they zoom some 4,000 miles (6,400 kilometers) beyond the moon and then hang a U-turn.
Astronauts last flew to the moon during Apollo 17 in 1972.
Artemis II is the opening shot of NASA's grand plans for a permanent moon base. The space program is aiming for a moon landing near the lunar south pole in 2028.
“The next era of exploration begins,” NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman posted on X.
Best wishes already have started to pour in, including from England's King Charles III to Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen.
Hansen will become the first non-U. S. citizen to launch to the moon. The crew also includes Christina Koch and Victor Glover, the first woman and first Black astronaut, respectively, destined for the moon.
“In this historic moment, you stand as a bridge between nations and generations,” the king wrote in a letter to Hansen, “and I commend you for your courage, discipline and vision that have brought you to this threshold.”
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NASA's Artermis II moon rocket sits on Launch Pad 39-B at the Kennedy Space Center hours ahead of a planned launch attempt Wednesday, April 1, 2026, in Cape Canaveral, Fla. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)
This photo provided by NASA shows NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Artemis II commander, from left, Victor Glover, Artemis II pilot, Christina Koch, Artemis II mission specialist, and CSA (Canadian Space Agency) astronaut Jeremy Hansen, Artemis II mission specialist, right, in a group photograph as they visit NASA's Artemis II SLS (Space Launch System) rocket and Orion spacecraft, Monday, March 30, 2026, at Launch Complex 39B of NASA's Kennedy Space Center, in Cape Canaveral, Fla. (Bill Ingalls/NASA via AP)
NASA's Artermis II moon rocket sits on Launch Pad 39-B at the Kennedy Space Center hours ahead of planned liftoff Wednesday, April 1, 2026, in Cape Canaveral, Fla. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)
