Masters champion Rory McIlroy is heading Down Under for the first time in more than a decade to play the Australian Open on Melbourne’s famed sandbelt courses for the next two years.

SYDNEY (Reuters) -Masters champion Rory McIlroy will play the next two editions of the Australian Open in a major coup for one of golf's oldest tournaments, which has struggled in recent years to get marquee names to undertake the long journey south.