Crunch time for Australian Open: Ogilvy

Geoff Ogilvy says the next couple of years will be an important time for the Australian Open golf tournament.

There will be no sponsor for this year's tournament, to be held at Royal Sydney in December.

Northern Ireland's Darren Clarke and New Zealand's Michael Campbell have both agreed to play in the event.

The 18th-ranked Ogilvy says the tournament will get better if it can survive the current global financial difficulties.

"It's obviously a worry," he said.

"It seems harder and harder to find money for professional golf and sporting events in general in Australia really but they've done a pretty good job here.

"Our event's better every year so hopefully we ride it out until it gets good again and then it's back to one of the biggest ones in the world."