Jason Day has vowed to return to Australia next year, making it likely he and Adam Scott will defend their World Cup crown and potentially headline the domestic summer.
Day made the promise during his acceptance speech of the inaugural Greg Norman Medal where he also expressed his drive for even more success in 2016.
The 28-year-old was unable to come home this summer to celebrate his achievements on the US PGA Tour with his Australian fans, having decided to be with his wife for the birth of their daughter Lucy three weeks ago.
However, Day is determined his homecoming will happen late next year, providing a tantalising prospect for promoters, especially those of the World Cup which will be played in Melbourne in mid-to-late November.
Day and Scott won the team's event at the last World Cup held at Royal Melbourne in 2013, and Day's intention to return home late next year means the Australian team looms as the star attraction of the international tournament.
"I'm looking forward to coming to Australia this coming year ... I'm definitely coming back," he said.
It is also highly possible that Day would couple the World Cup with entry into at least one, or maybe all, of the major Australian tournaments, with the Australian Open at Royal Sydney the most feasible given the calibre of field it has delivered over the past few years.
The team and individual World Cup triumph in 2013 was the last time Day has played in Australia, and by the time he returns, he hopes to have even more to celebrate.
The recent world No.1 was the obvious choice for the first "Sharkie" – a new award created to honour Australia's best golf every year – after a career-elevating 2015 where he won his first major and four other events on the PGA Tour schedule, and achieved his life-long goal of reaching the top of the world rankings.
But speaking via video hook-up, Day used his speech to demonstrate his will to achieve Norman-like feats.
"This is not a one-and-done deal," he said.
"I want to make sure when people look back at the list of winners of the Greg Norman Medal, they don't just look at my name.I want them to know exactly who I am, and that's on and off the course as well.
"I look at what Greg has done ... 331 weeks as world No.1, two majors, more than 80 career wins, the Hall of Fame."
The 2015 PGA Championship winner revealed there was theoretically time for him to come back to Australia this year to appear in some of the domestic tournaments, but he decided he needed to support his wife Ellie in the US.
"I don't know if everyone is aware, but Ellie went through a tough time with post-natal depression after [son] Dash was born [in 2012]," Day said.
"Obviously, I had time to come to Australia [this season] but I wanted to be here for her."
Also on Australian golf's first "night of nights", Jarrod Lyle was honoured with the PGA Tour's courage award for twice beating leukaemia.
