John Senden fully supports the Australian Open's date switch to mid-December, and says he will defend the title even if invited to Tiger Woods' exclusive tournament in California at the same time.

And US Open champion Geoff Ogilvy also says he'll skip Woods' event if again invited into the 16-man field where last year the last place-getter earned $A215,000.

However, some other Australians may be tempted by such easy money, including Rod Pampling, who admits he'd find it very difficult to turn down a personal invitation from Woods, his regular practice round companion.

Organisers created a clash with the Woods event last week when the announced the Australian Open would move from mid-November to double as a showpiece finale for the 2007 Australasian tour.

"I'd have to defend the Australian Open. I wouldn't miss it for the world," said Senden, when asked whether he would consider skipping the December 13-16 event at The Australian course in Sydney.

Ogilvy was almost as emphatic.

"Tiger has a great tournament, and if I'd won it last year there would have been (a dilemma), because there's a responsibility to defend, even an exhibition kind of event," Ogilvy said.

"It's frustrating, because it's a great tournament, but the Australian Open has precedence over pretty much anything.

"I'm not saying I'm going to play every year for the next 30 years, but you can put me down as playing this year."

Pampling, however, took a different tack.

"I've never played Tiger's tournament, whereas I've played the Australian Open a lot of times," he said.

"If I got an invite to Tiger's tournament, absolutely I'd think about it. Hopefully, I'll always be allowed back to the Aussie Open, whereas the chance to play Tiger's tournament might not come around every year."

Adam Scott, Nick O'Hern, Robert Allenby and Stuart Appleby are among other Australians in the running for an invitation to Tiger's tournament, depending on how well they play this year.

Ogilvy and Scott were the only Australians in last year's field and, as Ogilvy, who finished second to Woods, pointed out, the Australian Open will probably always clash with a big money international tournament, such as the Sun City event in South Africa, the Dunlop Phoenix in Japan, or Woods' shindig.

The tour stars believed the Australian public would welcome the changed dates for the Open.

"The last week (of the season) is always good, because people have three or four weeks to get into golf," Ogilvy said.

"Everyone knows there's golf on and they are revved up."

Added Senden: "With two or three tournaments before it, I think it's good to have the Australian Open as the last tournament, because it allows you to see who's playing the best golf leading into the premier event in Australia."

One downside of clashing with Woods' event is that the great man himself will not play the Australian Open, not that he was going to this year anyway.

He has not played in Australia since the 1998 Presidents Cup at Royal Melbourne, but he wants to play the other great sandbelt courses sooner or later, particularly Kingston Heath.

Woods will be back at some stage. It's just a matter of whether it's for an official tournament, an exhibition, or even a private round.

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