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She has a general distaste for pizza. “There’s just too much going on. Too many flavours.” Spoiler alert, the death of John Dutton on ‘Yellowstone’ brought her to tears and ‘The Fault In Our Stars’ induces “ugly sobbing” every time.
Slow-walking people frustrate her – both on and off the golf course – yet her temper is at its most frayed in a different sporting arena.
“On the tennis court, I have such a temper. It’s next level, honestly. Even Dad’s like, ‘Wow, Cass, chill.’ And I’m like, ‘No! I am better than this.’ It really gets on my nerves.”
Yes, LPGA-bound Cassie Porter is the cheery, effervescent person you have seen emerge on the WPGA Tour of Australasia and the Epson Tour the past three years, but there is so much more sitting just beneath the surface.
“There’s definitely a real fire there that burns pretty bright all the time,” Porter confesses.
“I want to be the best. I don’t want that to sound bad, but it’s just a mindset thing.”
“It doesn’t matter what she does, she absolutely has to win,” says Porter’s long-time coach, Dan Morrison.
“I’ll play her at darts, no problems at all. I’ll play her at darts any day of the week. But tennis, no, she’s too good.”
With an LPGA Tour rookie season beckoning, Porter begins her 2025 campaign as one of the marquee names at this week’s Webex Players Series Perth hosted by Minjee and Min Woo Lee at Royal Fremantle Golf Club.
It is somewhat new territory for the 22-year-old but the next stop along a path she, Morrison and her family have been plotting for close to a decade.
“Six months to a year in, I had almost a hundred percent faith that I knew where we could go with this,” said Morrison, who first started working with Porter when she was just 14 years old.
“I knew she could make LPGA. It’s one of those things that was blindingly obvious.”
‘I woke up one day and couldn’t walk’
Early in 2020, shortly after coming through the stress of completing her final year of high school, everything that an athletic and energetic Cassie Porter had known came to a frightening halt.
At her parents’ home on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast, Porter woke to searing pain in her hip and back, an ailment that she would undergo 16 MRIs in an attempt to diagnose, a range of diagnoses from different specialists failing to find the solution.
It was an 18-month enforced hiatus from the game at a crucial time in a young player’s development, Porter faced with the possibility that she may never play competitive golf again.
“Every doctor I saw told me something different and I was just getting worse. I was in so much pain,” Porter recalls.
“Certain people weren’t scared to tell me that I would never play golf again and that my career’s probably over.
“I just was like, That’s just not it. That’s not where my journey ends.
“I changed my physio and saw a few doctors that I really wanted to see and within six weeks I was back playing pain-free.”
Working closely with Morrison and physiotherapist Jen McKenzie, Porter slowly and methodically rebuilt her body and her game.
When she returned to competitive golf after almost 18 months away, Porter won the Katherine Kirk Classic and Keperra Bowl in quick succession.
At just 19 years of age, she then made the decision to turn professional.
“My coach and I were basically the only ones in our whole circle that were like, ‘Let’s do it’,” Porter says of her move into the pro ranks.
“It was a pretty bold decision, I won’t lie. It did happen quite quickly. I mean, I didn’t play for 18 months. Suddenly I was playing pain-free and straight out the box, I wanted to turn pro.
“I was house-sitting for my sister at the time. I went down to the beach and just cried for four hours. I knew that if I turned professional then… there’s no going back after that.
“It was that cliff that once you take that step, if you have the right mindset, you’re not going to fall. You’re going to fly.”
‘Potential to be a superstar’
Cassie Porter was 12 years old when she first told people closest to her that she wanted to play the LPGA Tour.
Ten years on – and eight years into the plan she and Morrison devised with the United States as the ultimate destination – that pre-teen declaration has become a reality.
A win at the FireKeepers Casino Hotel Championship last June gave Porter the foundation to finish 10th on the Epson Tour points list and secure that coveted LPGA Tour card.
Playing in Perth this week is partly driven by her goal to be top 80 in the Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings by year’s end as she and Morrison plot what comes next.
“Yes, we’ve ticked off a very long journey to get to this point, but it’s the beginning of the main story now,” says Morrison.
“We need to keep putting that work in and be able to justify the work we’ve done and get a reward for the path we’ve travelled.
“We just want to make sure that we do ourselves proud and get those results that we know she’s capable of.”
Adds Porter: “I’m absolutely going to be grateful for every second because it’s what I’ve dreamed of since I was 12.
“It’s a dream come true, but I am also not going to take that for granted. I’m going to work hard because there’s a lot of stuff that I want to achieve out there.”
From the emergence of Karrie Webb through to the current crop of major winners in Minjee Lee and Hannah Green, no one has witnessed the emergence of more Aussie talent than WPGA Tour of Australasia CEO, Karen Lunn.
Having known Porter since she was 15 years old, Lunn believes Australia’s latest addition to the LPGA Tour has the foundation to join the greats of the game.
“You can get there too early, there’s no doubt about that, and the stars have got to align for you to reach the pinnacle,” Lunn adds.
“The Epson Tour has been the best thing for her. She’s absolutely ready to go to the LPGA now, where maybe a year ago she wasn’t.
“If Cassie stays healthy and if she keeps enjoying it, I have no doubt she can get to the very top of the tree.
“She’s got the potential to be another superstar.”
A rules blunder four holes from the finish denied Cam Davis a top-10 to start the year as Cameron Smith’s scoring record fell at The Sentry in Hawaii.
Hideki Matsuyama birdied the final hole to finish the week at 35-under par, the PGA TOUR all-time record low for score in relation to par.
Smith had held the record since 2022 when he shot 34-under in a duel with Jon Rahm at Kapalua Resort, Matsuyama setting a new benchmark in claiming a three-stroke victory worth $US3.6 million.
As Matsuyama counted his cash, Davis was left to rue the cost of a rules infraction he and playing partner Will Zalatoris incurred at the par-5 15th.
Zalatoris was first to play the wrong ball with his third shot, Davis subsequently hitting Zalatoris’s ball before the mistake was brought to light prior to both players hitting what would have been their fourth shots.
As a result, Davis and Zalatoris both incurred two-stroke penalties and had to return to the spot where they played their third shots from, both getting up-and-down for bogey.
Davis would drop another shot at the par-4 17th but birdied the par-5 closer for a final round of 4-under 69 to finish at 22-under par and tied for 13th, taking home $US410,000 in an encouraging start to 2025 for the two-time PGA TOUR winner.
Adam Scott birdied all four par-5s in his round of 3-under 70 to finish one back of Davis in a share of 15th with Jason Day tied for 40th after also posting 70 in Round 4.
Photo: Sarah Stier/Getty Images
Results
PGA TOUR
The Sentry
Plantation Course at Kapalua, Kapalua, Maui
1 Hideki Matsuyama 65-65-62-65—257 $US3.6m
T13 Cam Davis 73-64-64-69—270 $410,000
T15 Adam Scott 68-69-64-70—271 $292,000
T40 Jason Day 70-70-68-70—278 $81,000
On the back of securing his PGA TOUR Champions card for 2025, the 2023 New Zealand Open champion, Brendan Jones, has confirmed he will return to Queenstown for his favourite event of the year.
The 104th New Zealand Open presented by Sky Sport tees off at Millbrook Resort in Queenstown between February 27 and March 2.
A fantastic ambassador for both Queenstown and the New Zealand Open, Jones’ 2023 victory in Queenstown came after he survived the cut on the number, and then played “the two best shots of my life” to make crucial birdies on the final few holes helping him claim the title.
Speaking about the New Zealand Open Jones says he “wouldn’t miss it for anything” and is looking to add his name to the Brodie Breeze trophy once again.
“The New Zealand Open is the first event I add to my schedule every year. It’s a fabulous event and not only myself, but every one of the players can’t wait to be part of it.”
“Not only is it the best event of the year in my opinion, but the location and hospitality are something we don’t experience anywhere else in the world.”
Jones, who turns 50 on March 3, the day after the final round at the New Zealand Open, believes the experience and pressure from the PGA TOUR Champions Q-School has helped put him in great shape, both physically and mentally for returning to Queenstown.
“The Q-School process is quite tough and really tests your all-round game. Having had a few injuries this year, it’s been great to see my fitness and mentality back up to the level I want them to be at. Hopefully, these experiences will help me push on at Millbrook.”
Jones also made note of the success that Steven Alker, who is also confirmed to be playing at the New Zealand Open in 2025, has had in recent years on the PGA TOUR Champions and will be hoping to emulate his success.
“Obviously Steve has had a couple of wonderful seasons on the tour and I will definitely be having a few conversations with him in Queenstown. Maybe some of his magic will rub off on me.”
New Zealand Open Tournament Director, Michael Glading is delighted that Jones will be returning, and is also excited to see how he goes next year on tour.
“I think Brendan will do really well on the PGA TOUR Champions as he has the tools in his locker to win again, as he demonstrated so well in Queenstown in recent years,” Glading said.
For more information, please visit nzopen.com
Superstar siblings Minjee and Min Woo Lee hope to uncover and mentor the next generation of Aussie golf stars when the Webex Players Series Perth tees off at Royal Fremantle Golf Club on Thursday.
The pair of Paris Olympians will go from headline act to tournament hosts at the course where they developed their games, eager to share what they have learned about the golf course itself and their paths to the top of world golf.
Minjee, 28, is a two-time major champion with 10 career LPGA Tour wins while Min Woo is entering his second year on the PGA TOUR and whose four career wins include the 2023 Australian PGA Championship and 2021 Scottish Open.
It’s a far cry from their formative years in Perth, yet a major motivator in their decision to take on hosting duties for the first Webex Players Series event in their home state.
“It’s a real privilege for us to be able to host, especially in our home state and obviously at our home club, Royal Fremantle,” said Minjee.
“I’ve been here since I was eight years old, so for a tournament like the Webex Players Series to come to Royal Fremantle is a really big deal.”
Min Woo was a 14-year-old amateur when he played the WA Open for the first time in 2012, a tournament that was won by 18-year-old amateur Oliver Goss.
It is why he is so excited to not only provide a platform for elite amateurs and young professionals, but those who will contest the Webex Junior Players Series over the course of the weekend.
“We were lucky enough to play all the professional events before we turned pro and have that experience before we got to the big stage,” said Min Woo, a three-time winner on the DP World Tour.
“That definitely helped get us to where we are now. I’m really excited to see the juniors playing as well. That’s a new thing that’s been happening and I think a lot of good names will come out of it.
“It’s very inclusive to have all the juniors, men, women and All Abilities playing and definitely what we wanted to be part of promoting.”
A 30-time host of the WA Open and host venue of the 1960 Australian PGA Championship, Royal Fremantle Golf Club will mark its 120-year anniversary in 2025.
With such a storied history and the breeding ground of some of Australia’s greatest golfers, Royal Fremantle General Manager, Lucy Guppy, believes it is a fitting way to commence celebrations in a milestone year for the club.
“Royal Fremantle Golf Club is a club with a very proud history but also one that is committed to providing the best experience for a diverse membership,” Ms Guppy said.
“By having men, women, juniors and All Abilities competitors playing, the Webex Players Series is golf’s most inclusive tournament and we couldn’t think of two more appropriate hosts than Minjee and Min Woo.”
For participants who have never played Royal Fremantle, Min Woo says they can expect a golf course that offers up a mix of scoring opportunities and challenging pars.
“If the ‘Fremantle Doctor’ comes through, it can play windy, but then there’s also a lot of scoring opportunities,” said Min Woo.
“It’s definitely a fun course for everyone. I love coming back here. Make some birdies, but there’s also a few tough holes to get us in that frame of mind for the tough courses on tour.
“It’s a really nice mixture and if the greens are nice, it’s going to be a really good time for everyone who’s playing.”
The Webex Players Series is a playing opportunity for women and men professionals and elite amateurs, competing in the same field for the same prize purse in mixed pairings.
For the final two rounds, they are joined by competitors in the Webex All Abilities Players Series and Webex Junior Players Series.
The tournament runs from January 9-12 and entry is free for spectators all four days.
The final two rounds will be broadcast live on Fox Sports and Kayo from 4pm-7pm Saturday and 2pm-7pm Sunday AEDT.
A run of four consecutive birdies on the back nine has elevated Adam Scott into a share of 10th after day one of The Sentry tournament at Kapalua Resort in Hawaii.
The PGA TOUR season-opener formally reserved for champions from the previous year attracted a field of 59 for the 2025 addition, American Tom Hoge taming the Plantation Course with a round of 9-under 63 to lead Will Zalatoris and Hideki Matsuyama by one.
Scott is four strokes off the lead after a round of 5-under 68, birdies at 12, 13, 14, 15 and 18 the late surge he needed to climb into the top 10.
Jason Day had three birdies in his final four holes in a round of 3-under 70 to be tied for 23rd with the third and final Australian, Cam Davis, tied for 41st with an even par 73.
Scott failed to get up-and-down from greenside bunkers at both two and three to make two early bogeys but responded with three straight birdies from the par-5 fifth.
The 44-year-old hit 60 per cent of the expansive Kapalua fairways but was content with his first round of his 25th season as a professional.
“I was very happy with that, first round back out,” said Scott in his ninth appearance at Kapalua.
“It was a slow start, but they were the harder holes for the day in the wind.
“I settled down and found my rhythm. Made a couple putts, missed a couple putts, but overall very solid, seeing I’ve had a bit of a break.”
Currently No.18 in the Official World Golf Ranking, Scott is the only player over the age of 40 inside the top 40.
The Queenslander enjoyed a superb second half to the 2024 season and refuses to let age put a ceiling on what he can accomplish in the game.
“I haven’t achieved all my goals that I set out to,” said the 2013 Masters champion.
“I don’t think it’s unrealistic, given the way I’ve played certainly the last six or eight months to get myself back up toward the top of the rankings again.
“I don’t think it’s unrealistic to think I can still achieve a couple big victories out here that I would like.
“That’s really what drives me.”
Photo: Ben Jared/PGA TOUR via Getty Images
Australia’s ageless veteran Adam Scott will begin his 24th season on the PGA TOUR with a ninth appearance at The Sentry starting Friday morning in Hawaii.
The Plantation Course at Kapalua has proven to be a happy hunting ground for Aussies, Cameron Smith’s record-breaking performance in 2022 the most recent of eight tournament victories by four different Australians dating back to Steve Elkington in 1992.
It’s been 21 years since Scott played his way into the event formally reserved for tournament champions the year prior, his triumph at the 2003 Deutsche Bank Championship paving the way for full PGA TOUR membership having earned Special Temporary membership in both 2002 and 2003.
Having missed the trip to Kapalua last year, Scott returns having finished in the top 50 on last year’s FedEx Cup standings on the back of a superb second half of his 2024 season.
The 44-year-old has not won since the 2020 Genesis Invitational but boasts four top-10 finishes at Kapalua including a runner-up result in 2007.
Also flying the Aussie flag in the $US20 million season opener are Cam Davis and Jason Day.
Like Scott, Day earned his spot in the field courtesy of finishing inside the top 50 on the 2024 FedEx Cup standings while Davis returns for his third start at Kapalua courtesy of last year’s Rocket Mortgage Classic victory.
Davis was tied for 10th on debut three years ago while Day’s best result came 10 years ago when he shot 62 in the final round to earn a share of third.
Photo: Maddie Meyer/Getty Images
Round 1 tee times AEDT
PGA TOUR
The Sentry
Plantation Course at Kapalua, Kapalua, Maui
5:21am Cam Davis
8:15am Jason Day
8:39am Adam Scott
2024 champion: Chris Kirk
Past Aussie winners: Steve Elkington (1992, 1995), Stuart Appleby (2004-2006), Geoff Ogilvy (2009-2010), Cameron Smith (2022)
Prize money: $US20 million
TV times: Live 4:30am-2pm AEDT Friday, Saturday; Live 5am-12pm Sunday, Monday on Fox Sports 503 and Kayo.
When Hannah Green began her 2024 campaign, breaking into the world top 10 was a goal she was desperate to tick off.
With a three-win season on the LPGA Tour – a feat not achieved by an Australian since Karrie Webb in 2006 – there were times this year when Green could lay claims to being the best player in the women’s game.
Granted, everyone played second fiddle to Nelly Korda’s seven-win season and Lydia Ko’s Paris gold medal at AIG Women’s Open title was a remarkable run in its own right but there was no question that Green was part of the conversation.
It took just two starts for the West Australian to record her first win of the year at the HSBC Women’s World Championship, storming home to edge France’s Celine Boutier.
Champion's final putt!@hannahgreengolf wins the 2024 @HWWCGolf in style! ✨ pic.twitter.com/FBbTF5JFr0
— LPGA (@LPGA) March 3, 2024
She missed the cut unexpectedly at the Chevron Championship – the year’s first major – but bounced back a week later where she successfully defended her JM Eagle LA Championship title at Wilshire Country Club.
West Aussie golfer Hannah Green has firmed for Olympic selection – defending her JM Eagle Championship title. The 27-year-old with a dream to fend off her closest rival by three strokes | @GolfWestAust @GolfAust @ashnelson08 pic.twitter.com/qLjOuDm2d4
— 10 News First Perth (@10NewsFirstPER) April 29, 2024
A head-to-head with Nelly Korda at the Mizuho Americas Open led to a playoff defeat at the hands of the world No.1, Green climbing to a career high of No.5 in the world and full of confidence headed to her second Olympic Games.
A slight stumble out of the blocks put the now 28-year-old on the back foot but she clawed her way back into medal contention over the following three days.
Hannah Green you did not 😲
— Stan Sport (@StanSportAU) August 9, 2024
↳ Olympic Games Paris 2024. Every Event. Ad-free. Live & On Demand. Biggest Moments in 4K on Stan Sport.#StanSportAU #Paris2024 #Olympics #AllezAUS @GolfAust @AUSOlympicTeam pic.twitter.com/ibvIgNPgJ2
A hole-out for eagle at the par-4 17th in a back nine of 6-under in Round 3 put Green within four strokes of the medals heading into the final day. By the time she began the back nine in Round 4, she was in a tie for third and charging towards Australian Olympic history.
A wayward tee shot on 10 would lead to a double-bogey that would ultimately prove fatal, Green making par at the 72nd hole to finish one shot out of a medal playoff.
Green’s third win for the year came at the BMW Ladies Championship in Korea, making it successive Aussie wins after Minjee Lee’s victory in 2023, and was tied for sixth a week later at the Maybank Championship.
The third winning putt of the year for @hannahgreengolf! 🏆 pic.twitter.com/POJ8G98cTh
— LPGA (@LPGA) October 20, 2024
A second Greg Norman Medal at the PGA Awards was fitting reward for a season in which she finished sixth in the world ranking, seventh on the LPGA Tour Race to CME Globe standings and asserted her place as one of the dominant forces in women’s golf.
Photo: Andrew Redington/Getty Images
In May, Karl Vilips graduated after four years at Stanford University. In October, he wrapped up a 2025 PGA TOUR card.
In the professional golf of today, such an ascension is almost unheard of.
You are supposed to bide your time, pay your dues, do the hard yards on secondary tours and establish your own path to the highest echelons of the sport.
If you make it there at all.
The fact that Vilips was able to convert status on the PGA TOUR of Americas earned through the PGA TOUR U program into a PGA TOUR card inside five months is one of the more remarkable accomplishments of 2024.
That he was a child prodigy who has been seemingly on this path from the days he could first start walking makes Vilips’ story even more compelling.
With father Paul documenting his golfing development in Melbourne, Vilips came to public awareness with two US Kids Junior Golf Championship wins and a Callaway World Junior title.
After spending time in Perth, Vilips made the move to Florida to complete high school where his impressive golf credentials continued to build.
It made him a sought-after commodity by college golf programs, Vilips choosing to join Tiger Woods as a Stanford alumni where he closed out his college career with victory at the Pac-12 Championship.
That result saw Vilips finish 10th on the PGA TOUR U standings to begin his professional life with status on the PGA TOUR Americas.
After two starts on that tour he received a sponsor’s exemption to play on the Korn Ferry Tour.
He finished second in his second start there and won the Utah Championship in just his fifth tournament as a professional.
Those two results alone went a long way to Vilips’ finishing 19th on the 2024 Korn Ferry Tour Points List and earning Rookie of the Year honours.
Vilips returned home to Australia in November to play the ISPS HANDA Australian Open and will likely complete the whirlwind with his maiden start as a member of the PGA TOUR at the Sony Open in Hawaii in January.
As golf established its place within the Olympic family at Paris 2024, no person had a greater influence on the Australian team than PGA Professional Ritchie Smith.
As swimming coach Dean Boxall guided the fortunes of 10 athletes in the 44-person Australian swim team, Smith (pictured far left with Hannah Green, Minjee Lee, Min Woo Lee and physiotherapist Marty McInnes) had three of the four golfers who wore the green and gold at Le Golf National under his stewardship.
In the men’s competition, Min Woo Lee fought back after a 76 on day one to finish tied for 22nd, Minjee Lee was also tied for 22nd in her third Olympic appearance while Hannah Green finished one shot shy of a playoff for an Olympic medal.
The 27-year-old from Perth was outright third by the time she walked off the ninth green at 7-under par but hit her tee shot on 10 into the water left of the fairway and made double-bogey.
Green thought at that point that her medal hopes had vanished, yet as players around her rose and fell, she fought to stay in touch with the top three, ultimately finishing one shot shy of Australia’s first Olympic golf medal.
Green’s Olympic campaign was just part of a stellar season in 2024 that she and Smith plotted back in January.
Part of that process involved a putter change that turned good ball-striking weeks into victories.
There were three in total on the LPGA Tour in 2024, the last of which came on the same day that Smith was watching another of his players, Elvis Smylie, win the WA Open for his first professional victory.
As Green was named Greg Norman Medal winner for a second time at the PGA Awards in November, Smith was honoured as PGA National Coach of the Year – High Performance for a fourth time.
Five days later he was celebrating again as Smylie showed remarkable composure on the back nine at Royal Queensland Golf Club to win the BMW Australian PGA Championship.
It was fun to be a member of Ripper GC in 2024. Victorian Lucas Herbert joined for his first season of LIV Golf and throughout the season emerged as a talismanic presence within the team that also boasted captain Cameron Smith, Marc Leishman and Matt Jones.
On the back of Smith’s playoff defeat in the individual event, Ripper GC registered their first podium finish of the year in Hong Kong but it was on home turf where their season burst into life.
Individually, all four team members finished inside the top 20 at the completion of 54 holes, enough to force the first ever LIV Golf team playoff against the South African Stinger GC team.
Smith and Leishman represented the Rippers while Louis Oosthuizen and Dean Burmester squared off for the Stingers, scores counting for all four players on each hole.
After dodging a bullet on the first playoff hole, Leishman’s par and Smith’s bogey on the second extra hole sent the home crowd into a state of delirium.
Despite the extensive celebrations that followed, they backed that up by winning the team event at Singapore a week later and arrived at the season-ending team event in Dallas in the hunt to be crowned team champions.
Third in the standings entering the Team Championship Dallas, Ripper GC defeated Fireballs GC in the semi-finals thanks to individual wins by Herbert and Leishman and then won the final thanks to rounds of 4-under 68 from Smith, 3-under 69 from Herbert and rounds of 2-under 70 from both Jones and Leishman.
What happened after that remains a closely guarded secret within the four walls of Ripper GC.
Photo: David Cannon/Getty Images
