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Fairness to a tee


In the language of golf, new expressions pop up quite regularly. And in Australia, the latest instalment would be ‘scaled tees’.

That’s because of the proliferation of mixed golfing events at a time when the game comes together.

This season the ISPS HANDA PGA Tour of Australasia and WPGA Tour of Australasia are running four Webex Players Series events with men and women playing for the same prize, including one at Bonnie Doon in Sydney this week.

Just more than a week ago Hannah Green won the Murray River instalment held at Cobram Barooga Golf Club, becoming the first woman to win a TPS prize and creating a bit of history as the first woman to win a four-round mixed event on a major world tour. It created headlines everywhere and in many ways, it was a triumph for the setting up of the course for a mixed event. It was not just Green who played well; four women finished in the top 10.

As Karen Lunn, the WPGA Tour chief executive said recently: “Looking at the rankings Hannah was far and away the best player in the field, and if she didn’t win playing her best golf, we’d done something wrong.”

Scaled tees are the instrument by which the events are meant to be made fair for all competitors. 

Not that it’s easy. As PGA Tournaments Manager Graeme Scott once said about the way courses are set up for women and men to play together: “There’s no manual for this.”

In events like TPS Sydney at Bonnie Doon Golf Club this week or in the Hunter Valley next week at Oaks Cypress Lakes Resort, there has to be an acknowledgement of the different physiology of men and women; the fact that as a general rule, men hit farther and spin the ball more. That means they can’t play from the same tees if you are running an event that aspires to give everyone a chance to win.

At Cobram Barooga, the women played a course that was 866 metres shorter than the men’s course.  At Bonnie Doon this week, it’s 795 metres shorter from the women.

But it’s not as simple as just moving the tees forward for the women. “The key is that we have to set the golf course up so that it plays evenly for both men and women,” said Nick Dastey, the PGA’s Tournaments Director.

“It’s not a perfect science, because everyone hits the golf ball different distances. Some of the women will hit it as long as some of the shorter-hitting men and so on.”

The way this is done is to analyse data about how far men and women hit the golf ball, both here and around the world, and to look closely at the course. At Cobram, Dastey and WPGA Tour chief executive Karen Lunn drove up to the Murray prior to Christmas and Dastey played the course with Steffi Vogel, a trainee pro from the club, to gauge distances, analyse the course and how it played and clubs used. This practical analysis along with the theory around average distances was then considered in order to come up with the final ‘scaled tees’ positions.

The point in regards to  clubs used  is crucial to course set-up for a mixed event.

“We’re trying to get to a point where if a guy hits a good drive and he has a nine iron into the green, then we want a woman who’s hit a good drive to have something like a nine iron or a wedge into the same green,” said Dastey. “We want them to have effectively the same iron shot. They don’t have to be side-by-side at 150 metres out, for instance, because at 150 metres the average  man might hit an eight or seven iron and  the average woman could be hitting a six or a five. It’s more about getting them hitting the same club.

“We also have to be mindful of the spin rate and the fact that men can stop the ball quicker, and that dictates to where you put the pins. So in these events, you won’t have pins tucked away to the same degree like they might be for a male-only event.”

Dastey points out that certain courses will suit the women more than others. For instance at Cobram Barooga, there was a premium on keeping the ball in play. “There’s no doubt that in general the women hit it straighter,” he said. “So on a golf course that’s not overly long, or a course that’s tight and doesn’t lend itself to being overpowered, the straighter hitters might have a better chance.

“We’re aware of all these things, that there might be a hole here or there that works better for the men than the women, and vice-versa.”

Some slight adjustments have been made for Bonnie Doon this week (as they were for Rosebud) as the tours strive for the fairest possible set-up. It’s a work in progress with no doubt that the more this is done, the better it will get.

“That’s been the challenge of the Webex Players series to be honest with you, it’s getting that right,” said Lunn. “Because the difference between the long-hitting men and the short hitting men is probably 60 metres, the difference between the longer-hitting women and the shorter-hitting women is probably somewhere in the middle. It’s a tough job but one we will continue to improve on over time.’’


The hugely popular Vic Open is back this week following it’s pandemic induced absence with an added incentive for the men that is dominating conversation around the 13th Beach clubhouse.

The top three men will gain entry into this year’s The Open at St Andrews – following the cancellation of the New Zealand Open the spots were allocated to this week’s tournament – and the prospect of heading to the home of golf has players buzzing.

“How sick is that? That’s awesome,” Australian PGA champion Jed Morgan said.

Straight after playing alongside England cricket legends Sir Ian Botham and John Emburey in the pro-am day, Morgan was not hiding his excitement at the prospect of a major debut.

“I think everyone has a bit of an extra spring in their step because of it,” he said.

“The cool opportunity with that is that there’s three of them and I don’t think anyone in this field has automatically qualified. No one has so everyone’s playing for them.

“I’ve played the amateur tournament there twice. It’s nothing like what The Open would be like but it’s sick.

“I’ve played the Old Course I think four or five times. It’s awesome. It’s pretty cool.

“I want to go back there and I want to play The Open.”

Major champion Geoff Ogilvy is well versed in what The Open is all about – he had a top-five finish in 2005 and a top-ten finish in 2010 – but his enthusiasm for playing in the majors has not waned.

“That’d be pretty nice. The Old Course is close to my favourite place in golf. The 150th there would be amazing,” he said. 

“Hopefully I can play decently and have a chance. It’ll obviously be on a lot of guys’ minds.”

Nowadays, Ogilvy is rarely focusing solely on himself as he is thrilled for what such an opportunity would mean for others.

“What a bonus for all these kids. There are some young really good players who have been grinding for a few weeks, and played a few events in a row. It’d be a real boon for these kids to get a start there,” he said.

“What a special place to play your first Open for most of them. The Old Course, 150th, it’d be pretty special.”

On the women’s side, the focus is on who will step up to take home the silverware as friends become rivals.

Major champion Hannah Green declared yesterday that she expects to win despite a three month layoff from competitive golf, but she will face stiff competition from fellow LPGA players Su Oh, Steph Kyriacou and Karis Davidson, along with rising star Grace Kim.

Best friends Green and Oh have got their wish of playing together after begging the LPGA to pair them up last year, while Kyriacou, Davidson and Kim form a fascinating grouping.

Kyriacou is becoming a custom to being one of the main draw cards at home tournaments and she is ready to take on that mantle again this week.

“The Vic Open is one of my favourite events,” she said.

“I was saying to the guys in the pro-am (Golf Australia CEO James Sutherland, PGA of Australia CEO Gavin Kirkman and BMW Australia CEO Wolfgang Buechel) before that it’s such a good atmosphere.

“It’s nice that people talk about me. The intent is good but I honestly don’t feel any different to a couple of years ago. It’s fun doing media because not every golfer gets to do it.”

Tee times:

Full list of men’s and women’s tee times available here.

How to follow:

For live scoring and the latest news from the Vic Open visit www.golf.org.au/vicopen

Exclusive content and tournament updates will also be posted regularly on the Vic Open social media channels.

Instagram: @vicopengolf

Twitter: @VicOpenGolf

Facebook: @GolfAustraliaVIC

Official hashtag: #VicOpen

How to watch:

You’ll be able to catch all the action, broadcast live, on Foxtel and Kayo Sports.

Times (AEDT):

Round 1: Thursday 10 February, 1:30pm-5:30pm LIVE on Fox Sports 503

Round 2: Friday 11 February, 1:30pm-5:30pm LIVE on Fox Sports 503

Round 3: Saturday 12 February, 3pm-7pm LIVE on Fox Sports 503

Round 4: Sunday 13 February, 1:30pm-5:30pm LIVE on Fox Sports 503

How to attend:

The Vic Open is being run as a covid-safe event. Fans are welcome to attend each day with entry free and parking available for $10. The full spectator guide is available here.

About the tournament:

The Vic Open adopted its current format of men and women playing together in 2012 and the reigning champions are Min Woo Lee and Hee Young Park.

The total prize money for the tournament is $410,000 for both the men’s and women’s.


The decision to switch putters over the Christmas break is paying big dividends for Victorian David Micheluzzi as he took a one-stroke lead early on day one of the Queensland PGA Championship in Brisbane.


The new Kurrai Course at Nudgee Golf Club along with intermittent rain throughout the morning kept the scoring largely in check, Micheluzzi’s bogey-free four-under 68 the pick of the early groups.

West Australian amateur Josh Greer (69) and veteran Matt Millar (69) got to five-under during their rounds before dropping shots late, finishing level in a share of second with Sydney’s John Lyras at three-under.

Coming off a confidence-building tie for ninth at last week’s Fortinet Australian PGA Championship, Micheluzzi needed just 26 putts on Thursday with a Scotty Cameron Phantom X picked specifically for the course conditions.

Normally a proponent of a blade putter on the firm Melbourne greens that can run as quick as 13 on the Stimpmeter, Micheluzzi opted for the extra stability of the mallet-style for the Queensland swing and it delivered the goods in his opening round.

“I just holed a lot of putts which was nice because I haven’t been rolling it that great leading up to last week,” said Micheluzzi, who holed a birdie putt from almost 30 feet on the par-3 eighth.

“I rolled it really good today, I think it’s the Queensland greens, I just like them.

“I holed a lot of footage of putts today which was quite nice.”

Overnight rain made the Nudgee greens somewhat more receptive on Thursday, the rain that at times fell heavily during the morning making it hard to stay in rhythm.

While he expects his early mark to be overtaken by day’s end, Micheluzzi was enjoying seeing his name at the top through his first 18 holes.

“We had to wait on 18 for a bit because you couldn’t actually get out there and hit the shot so very stoked with four-under with the way I hit it,” he added.

“You’ve just got to manage yourself really well around the course and I feel like I did that today.

“It’s out there. The greens are rolling perfect so you’re going to hole some putts. I’m shocked a little bit but at the same time it was hosing down out there.

“I’m pretty stoked actually to be up on top at the moment but I don’t know how long it will last.”

Fourth at last week’s Master of the Amateurs in Melbourne, Greer reached five-under on the back of birdies at 14 and 16 until a wayward tee shot at the par-5 17th cost him the outright lead.

He made par at the par-3 18th for a round of three-under and intends to continue his aggressive approach into Friday’s second round.

“If you’d asked me what I would want to shoot before I teed it up I would have taken three-under. I played pretty solid,” said Greer, who unsuccessfully tried to play out of the hazard on 17.

“At the start of the day I said to try and go for everything and try and make as many birdies as I could.

“I knew I was going to have a few bad holes so that’s all right.”

It was a positive start too for John Lyras who struggled last week at Royal Queensland following the passing of his grandmother, Dimitra.

Lyras missed the cut with rounds of 74-75, his heavy heart making it difficult to focus on the task at hand.

“My grandmother passed away the beginning of PGA week and that presented its own challenge,” said Lyras, who birdied 17 and 18 to close out his round of 69 on Thursday.

“It made last week very difficult. I wasn’t ready to play golf and hadn’t had a great preparation and unfortunately preparation is everything.

“You need to go into a tournament feeling good physically and mentally about your game and about yourself and I wasn’t last week.

“I feel a lot better this week so hopefully I can enjoy it a little more than last week.

“She was very special to me and my mother. She never got to come and watch me play golf unfortunately so hopefully I can do myself proud this week and do her proud.”

Six players in the afternoon wave are one-under on their rounds with Australian PGA champion Jed Morgan one-over through two holes.

Click here for live scoring.


Defending champion Michael Sim believes the new golf course at Nudgee Golf Club will be the great leveller as the Queensland PGA Championship field searches for ways to stunt the impact of Australian PGA champion Jed Morgan.

Morgan (pictured, left) and Sim (pictured, right) shared centre stage on Wednesday as Nudgee officials unveiled the new Kurrai Course for the first time, the James Wilcher design named in consultation with the local Turrbal people and which means ‘sunset’.

The Kurrai Course is a dramatic departure from Royal Queensland Golf Club just down the road with its narrower fairways and new greens requiring a more strategic approach to how players navigate each hole.

Although in awe of Morgan’s record-breaking 11-stroke victory on Sunday, Sim believes the style of the golf course plays into his favour.

“Seeing the course yesterday, it’s different,” said Sim, who played nine holes on Tuesday and then all 18 during Wednesday’s pro-am.

“Last week you could pretty much hit driver on every hole and this week will be more placement. And that’s golf. Not every course is suitable for every golfer and I think this course is a bit more suited towards me.

“A lot more irons where last week you almost couldn’t lose a ball off the tee. It was a matter of tee up driver and hit it as hard as you can whereas this week it’s a totally different course, more placement (from the tee) and then play into the greens from there.

“It’s going to take a lot of patience. You’re going to have to play to the corners of the doglegs and keep out of the hazards, play to the middle of the greens and sink your putts from there.”

Much was made of Morgan’s home-course advantage last week as he equalled the Australian PGA record of 22-under par.

It was also the site of his 2020 Australian Amateur title – the only player to win both titles at the same venue – but the 22-year-old with the world at his feet is adamant he can adapt to what will be asked of him at Nudgee.

“The greens are very unorthodox. They’re something that I’ve never seen before. I’ve seen similar ones at Royal Queensland, they’re a bit more bowl-like slopes, these are a lot sharper slopes,” Morgan suggested.

“You’ve definitely got to hit it into position a lot more off the tee whereas last week we had paddocks to hit into. This week we’ve got more of a runway strip.

“Your idea of being a professional golfer is being able to compete week to week regardless of how you performed the week before.

“That’s what you’ve got to do every week. Week to week you’ve got to niggle with your game a little bit and adapt to the situation.

“You’ve got to keep finding ways to perform because that’s what makes players so great.”

If anyone understands the situation Morgan suddenly finds himself it is Sim.

The No.1-ranked amateur in 2005, Sim had played his way onto the PGA TOUR by 2007 before stress fractures in his back caused a constant disruption to his professional career.

He has won a total of seven tournaments during his career and this week gets to do something for the first time; defend one.

It’s been almost two years since Sim defeated great mate Scott Arnold in a playoff at City Golf Club in Toowoomba for the second of his two ISPS Handa PGA Tour of Australasia titles yet this week marks the first time he has had the opportunity to defend one.

“I was thinking about it during the week. I’ve won seven tournaments now and this is the first one I get to defend,” Sim explained.

“I missed one through Covid and another couple in the States because I graduated to the main tour so this is a new experience for me so looking forward to getting going tomorrow.”

Sim’s title defence will begin at 11.15am on Thursday alongside Dimi Papadatos and resident Assistant PGA Professional Matthew Guyatt while Morgan has been drawn with fellow Royal Queensland member Jake McLeod and reigning PGA Tour of Australasia Order of Merit winner Brad Kennedy.

Just as Morgan came to the fore on home turf last week, Nudgee members will hope to see former Pennant players Elvis Smylie, Shae Wools-Cobb and James Macklin perform strongly, albeit on a course which they too will be unfamiliar.

First groups are off at 6.15am Thursday morning and entry is free for spectators.  


A fresh start and some fond memories. That’s the formula Adam Scott will implement as he seeks to recapture his winning ways in 2022.

Few players have been affected more by the disruption caused by the Covid-19 pandemic than Scott.

Shortly before the world was put on pause Scott had won the Australian PGA Championship and Genesis Invitational in consecutive starts and climbed back to No.7 in the Official World Golf Rankings.

He has gone winless in the two years since and will start his 2022 campaign at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship ranked No.51 in the world, the first time he has been outside the top 50 since August 2018.

The 41-year-old has spoken openly about the personal difficulties he has had managing life on tour with his young family the past two years but is approaching the new year with a positive mindset and a new starting point.

Scott has not played in the Middle East since 2009 when he was the defending champion at the Commercialbank Qatar Masters but with two victories in the region the Queenslander is hoping to tap into some former glories and start anew.

“A change in the schedule, a fresh start, it all feels really good for me,” said Scott, who will also play the Dubai Desert Classic for the first time in 20 years next week.

“It was a frustrating year and that was following on from getting a bit better balance given the circumstances everywhere around the world.

“A big change for me is joining the DP World Tour and starting my year here. It’s been a lot of years since I played here in the Middle East but I’ve had some success winning in this region a couple of times in the past.

“It’s been a long time since I’ve played on the DP World Tour and it’s nice to be back out here in the Middle East at this time of year.

“A new venue here at Yas, it’s going to be a great week, the course is fantastic and I’m looking to get the year off to a hot start.”

Given a greater alignment between the DP World Tour and PGA TOUR the opportunities to play across both tours is far more feasible than it has been in recent times.

The Scottish Open, Barbasol Championship and the Barracuda Championship will now count towards both moneylists and provide players such as Scott with greater flexibility in building their schedule and finding the perfect balance between their work and personal lives.

“I’ve worked really hard on many things in the game, things that affect my game around me and having that balance right and just staying really positive,” added Scott, whose unveiling of a full beard threatened to blow up the internet on Tuesday.

“There’s obviously been so many challenges for everyone the last few years and not letting that get you down and remembering that every time you get to the golf course is a great opportunity.”

Nine Aussies are teeing it up in the final event of the Asian Tour’s extended season, the SMBC Singapore Open at the spectacular Serapong Course at Sentosa Golf Club while Jason Day and Brett Drewitt are the sole Australians playing The American Express tournament on the PGA TOUR.

Round 1 tee times AEDT

DP World Tour
Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship
Yas Links, Abu Dhabi, UAE
2.40pm*             Adam Scott, Bernd Wiesberger, Nicolai Hojgaard
2.50pm*             Min Woo Lee, Guido Migliozzi, Robert MacIntyre
3pm      Scott Hend, Dale Whitnell, Scott Jamieson
3.20pm Wade Ormsby, Shubhankar Sharma, Jack Singh Brar
3.40pm*             Ryan Fox, Callum Shinkwin, Søren Kjeldsen
6.45pm*             Maverick Antcliff, David Law, Joost Luiten
6.55pm*             Jason Scrivener, Paul Waring, Andrea Pavan

Defending champion: Tyrrell Hatton
Past Aussie winners: Nil
Top Aussie prediction: Min Woo Lee
TV guide: Live 8pm-12am Thursday, Friday; Live 7pm-12am Saturday; Live 6pm-12am Sunday on Fox Sports 503

Asian Tour
SMBC Singapore Open
Sentosa Golf Club, Serapong Course
11.10am             Ben Eccles, Naoki Sekito, Nicholas Fung
11.10am*           Travis Smyth, Charlie Wi, Panuphol Pittayarat
11.30am             Daniel Fox, Tirawat Kaewsiribandit, Taehoon Ok
3.20pm*             Zach Murray, Micah Lauren Shin, Karandeep Kochhar
3.30pm Matthew Griffin, Sanghee Lee, Pavit Tangkamolprasert
3.30pm*             Todd Sinnott, Trevor Simsby, Eunshin Park
3.40pm David Bransdon, Gunn Charoenkul, Bio Kim
3.40pm*             Ben Campbell, Natipong Srithong, Richard T. Lee
4pm      Andrew Evans, Yuto Katsuragawa, Prom Meesawat
4pm*    Jake Hibbinbottom, Danthai Boonma, Khalin Joshi

Defending champion: Matt Kuchar
Past Aussie winners: Frank Phillips (1961, 1965), Ted Ball (1964), Terry Gale (1978), Peter Fowler (1987), Paul Moloney (1993), Steven Conran (1995), Ken Druce (1999), Adam Scott (2005, 2006, 2010)
Top Aussie prediction: Travis Smyth
TV guide: Live 4pm-8pm Thursday, Friday; Live 2pm-6pm Saturday, Sunday on Fox Sports 503

PGA TOUR
The American Express
Pete Dye Stadium Course, La Quinta, California
Nicklaus Tournament Cse
3.50am*             Jason Day, Justin Rose
4.30am*             Brett Drewitt, David Lipsky
4.40am Danny Lee, John Huh    

Defending champion: Si Woo Kim
Past Aussie winners: Bruce Devlin (1970)
Top Aussie prediction: Jason Day
TV guide: Live 7am-11am Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Monday on Fox Sports 503

Korn Ferry Tour
The Bahamas Great Abaco Classic
The Abaco Club on Winding Bay, Great Abaco, Bahamas
Aussies in the field: Aaron Baddeley, Rhein Gibson, Curtis Luck

Defending champion: Jared Wolfe
Past Aussie winners: Nil
Top Aussie prediction: Rhein Gibson


South Australian Wade Ormbsy’s hopes of winning the Asian Tour’s Order of Merit for the 2020/21/22 season have been dashed following a tie for eighth at the Singapore International.

Ormsby slipped to second in the standings after he shot four-over for in the penultimate event of the season to finish eight shots behind winner, and new Order of Merit leader, South Korean Joohyung Kim.

The Tour’s season-ending event will also be held in Singapore this week, but Ormsby will not be taking part.

Instead, he will be teeing it up in the DP World Tour’s Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship and he will be trying to put the disappointment of Singapore behind him.

“Fast start today, didn’t finish it off, it always hurts,” Ormsby said on Instagram.

“We go again next week, eyes forward.”

In Hawaii, Cam Davis was the best of the Australians finishing in a share of 27th.

The Sydneysider needed something special in the final round as he began the day six shots off the lead after three consecutive four-under par rounds, but an even-par round of 70 slid him down the leaderboard.

Marc Leishman finished one shot back from Davis after he put together a consistent week, while Cameron Smith and Matt Jones both missed the cut after producing record-breaking performances at the Sentry Tournament of Champions.

Meanwhile, the Korn Ferry Tour is under way for the first time in 2022 with Aaron Baddeley (T16), Harrison Endycott (T23) and Curtis Luck (T75) all completing their opening rounds this morning.

Results

PGA Tour
Sony Open
Waialae Country Club, Honolulu, Hawaii
Winner Hideki Matsuyama 66-65-63-63—257     $US1.35m
Won in a playoff
T27        Cam Davis 66-66-66-70—268      $49,250
T36        Marc Leishman 67-68-68-66—269           $35,700
T55        Brett Drewitt 68-67-69-69—273 $17,400
MC        Cameron Percy 67-70—137
MC        Matt Jones 70-68—138
MC        Cameron Smith 67-71—138

Asian Tour
Singapore International
Tanah Merah Country Club, Singapore
Winner Joohyung Kim 72-73-69-70—284              $US180,000
Won in a playoff
T8          Wade Ormsby   72-74-76-70—292           $19,600
T39        Ben Eccles          72-78-73-74—297           $6,028
T48        Travis Smyth      75-75-76-73—299           $4,600
MC        Daniel Fox          76-79—155


Grace Kim’s front-running quest for the Karrie Webb Cup has been fortified by the level emotions and short game expertise of former US Open champion Geoff Ogilvy.

The young Sydneysider absorbed both as big lessons from her 36 holes playing beside the former PGA Tour star at the Fortinet WPGA Championship at Royal Queensland today.

Kim (69-68) took over as a one-stroke leader from Su Oh (66-72) after Friday’s second round, but she admits she is in heavy learning mode every day as a rookie pro of just four-months’ standing.  Kim grabbed four birdies in her three-under-par 68 when the breeze was down in the morning to reach five under par overall.

LPGA Tour regular Sarah Jane Smith (71-68) made it a tight race-in-three at the top with five birdies of her own in her excellent Friday round to sit three-under and outright third at the halfway point.

Ogilvy (72-73) will miss the cut in the men’s event but his poise still left a significant mark on the 21-year-old Kim watching him from close range.

“I think the biggest lesson is just to be calm and collected on the course,” Kim said.

“Geoff might not be that happy with himself (after his round) but I thought he did really good to just keep in the game and not go too emotional.

“I think towards the end of my (amateur) career I definitely was a bit too emotional with my shots. It was nice to see, even with his career, he’s still able to stay in the present, one shot at a time.

“And his short game…wow. I wish I had a short game (like that).”

Ogilvy’s two rounds included just two birdies yet any number of par saves with elite up-and-downs using little three wood bump-and-runs, pitches to the pin and chips out of the rough.

Kim is renowned as one of the straightest hitters in the 24-strong women’s field this week, but good positions off the tee are only part of taming a tough course.

“Yes, you’ve got to be strategic around this course but I let a couple (of shots) slip putting with a few loose pars,” Kim said.

The 21-year-old from Avondale Golf Club in New South Wales has readjusted her prediction on a winning score having seen how tough Royal Queensland can play with the firm greens, tricky bunkers and the breeze.

“Honestly, seeing how hard the course is I’m not expecting anything too low. Probably between 10-to-15-under I think would be solid for the girls,” Kim said.

Her biggest event as a pro is invaluable preparation for a mid-year jump to the United States when she hopes to gain a good number of starts on the second-tier Symetra Tour.

“I’ve got the majority of the Aussie tournaments coming up, I’ll play all The Players Series and then hopefully head to the US around mid-April or May and start my Symetra schedule,” she said.

Oh followed up her 66 on Thursday by rolling in Friday’s first birdie from off the green on the second hole.

It was an uncharacteristically ragged round from there. She three-putted for par on the seventh and took a bogey on the par three 11th when her three-quarter swing tee shot ran off the back of the green and left her a tricky chip from the rough.

Oh found testing cross-winds hard to judge at times. “I really couldn’t get much going,” she said. “You don’t have to be far off here to miss the green and I probably missed two short putts.

“It’s a scoreable golf course if you get the right shots into the green so I’ll just sort of see what I get and if I have a birdie chance then I better get them on the weekend.”

Smith was in the groove from the outset with three birdies back-to-back from the third with well-made putts after pinpoint irons.

Gold Coast’s Karis Davidson (70-71) saluted the memory of the late Jarrod Lyle on Yellow Day with bold socks and shirt in that colour.


Victorian Su Oh burst on to the scene by winning Karrie Webb’s signature event as an 18-year-old and is now setting the pace for the trophy named in her honour.

Oh glided in six birdie putts during an impressive five-under-par 66 on Thursday to set the pace at the inaugural Fortinet Australian WPGA Championship at Royal Queensland.    

She shrugged off a tricky breeze, a breakfast tee time and the firm, grainy greens by riding the groove she found from the moment she stepped up at 6.45am.

A pinpoint short iron to under half a metre on her opening hole, the 10th, and a sure right-to-left putt on the next gave her a birdie-birdie springboard.

Oh has been a fixture on the LPGA Tour in the United States for six seasons since her breakout moment when winning the 2015 Volvik RACV Ladies Masters on the Gold Coast in just her second pro event.

The Masters was the event won eight times by the great Karrie Webb, whose name now adorns the trophy being played for by Oh in the 24-strong women’s field at RQ.

“It’s such a honour to be playing for the Karrie Webb Cup. I don’t really want to think about that too much because I still have three days to go but it (winning) would mean a lot,” Oh said.

Oh was delighted with her round but dismissed any theory she is a rare Melburnian who loves Queensland’s grainy greens because of her 2015 success.

“That’s funny. I was thinking about that. I actually don’t like grainy and I don’t like the heat so I’m glad I shot a good score today. A second win in Queensland would be quite nice,” Oh said.

She doesn’t like early starts either but got a pleasant surprise when joining Min Woo Lee and Blake Windred on the 10th tee at 6.45.

“I was coming to the course and they were checking credentials at five o’clock in the morning and I was like, surely there’ll be nobody here,” Oh said.

“I got to the tee and the tee was surrounded. It was really nice to see. Having the men and women playing together hopefully it helps to bring the crowd.

“Maybe everyone likes to get up earlier before the heat here or something. I can tell you in Melbourne, people would not be out there at 6.45.”

Oh thoroughly enjoyed playing beside Min Woo Lee (68) having so often played with his sister Minjee Lee on the LPGA Tour.

“He’s really impressive, short game, pitch shots, bombs it as everybody knows,” Oh said.

“The guys play a different game so it’s sort of nice to see what kind of shots they’ve got. Sometimes I’m like, I hit it a lot straighter than them so it’s also kind of nice to know.”

Oh felt for Steph Kyriacou and Sarah Kemp, who were both late withdrawals from the event because of COVID concerns.

“I just feel really bad for them. I think Steph maybe wasn’t feeling that great so hopefully she’s okay,” Oh said.

Sydneysider Grace Kim (69) pitched to inside two metres on the second hole to grab the first of her four birdies to sit second in the women’s event.

Gold Coast’s Karis Davidson (70) had six birdies but scarred her scorecard with five bogeys and rued pulling a three-metre birdie putt on the final hole.

Jointly placed at one-under-par with Davidson were Julienne Soo (70) and amateur Sarah Wilson (70).


Geoff Ogilvy is not sure how his rusty game will respond to his pleading at Royal Queensland this week. But he’s going to have fun trying.

Ogilvy, the 2008 Fortinet Australian PGA Championship winner and one of Australia’s all-time greats, no longer tours as a professional after 20 years in America.

He is focused on his three children, his golf course architecture business, plays a few local tournaments and recently ran a tournament in Melbourne for his own charitable foundation, which fosters opportunities for young golfers.

Yet when he wandered on to the driving range in Brisbane this week, there was some déjà vu rising to the surface.

“It’s a bit like riding a bike,” he said. “I was sort of a bit uncomfortable and I don’t know, just not that comfortable at home for some reason, but as soon as I got on the range yesterday, it was like, ‘I remember this, this is what I do’.

“The short game is usually the question mark when you come back after a long break, but I don’t know, as I said, no expectation.”

Ogilvy is 44, an elder statesman of the game in this country.

Recently he was talking to Lucas Herbert about playing his first Masters at Augusta National, and he offered some advice; the same suggestion that he would put to Min Woo Lee (who is also on debut at Augusta this year) if he were asked. Get to Augusta National early.

“You’re going to be a fan of the Masters and you’re going to be open eyes,” he said.  “It’s like going to Disneyland for a kid the first time you go there. 

“I think you’ve got to get that out of the way, but you’ve got to allow yourself that, because you’ve been waiting your whole life to get there, so you’ve got to go do that.

“So my advice to him, and as it was to Lucas, I said if you can get there early, maybe call Cam (Smith) or ‘Leish’ (Marc Leishman) or ‘Scotty’ (Adam Scott)  or someone and say, ‘are you guys going the week before the tournament?  Can I come and tag along, show me the ropes a little bit?’

“Get it all out of your system. Drive down Magnolia Lane, go in the pro shop, buy all the merchandise, go behind the trees on 13, feel the shot that Phil (Mickelson) hit, do all that stuff.

“Get that stuff out of the way, so that when you come back a week or so later for the Masters that you’ve got that out of the way and you can play a golf tournament.”

Ogilvy’s Sandbelt Invitational in Melbourne recently had a bit of an Augusta feel about it, and he is passionate about the future of tournament golf in Australia. He thinks that in some instances, we have had it wrong.

“I think there’s been far too much focus on prize money and big name players,” he said. “I mean no one really minds who goes to play in the Australian Open tennis. The Melbourne Cup’s the biggest horse race in the world and nobody cares what horses are running, they want to go anyway.

“I think we’ve sat down on Tuesday and Wednesday press conferences for the last 20 years in Australia and say, ‘Isn’t this a shame Geoff, there’s no one playing here this week?’ Who’s going to come and support the tournament when we tell them don’t come because there’s no good players?

“I think all pros are great players. I think we need to focus on building great events, sort of build them from the ground up again. We’ve had this sort of all or nothing approach, that unless it’s a big massive event with the top 10 players in the world, it’s not worth having.

“I think if we can sort of go back to the basics, fundamentally sell events, just put them all on, give somebody the chance to play, build them up, build them up, build them up gradually, and the big name players will gradually come.

“I don’t think you need them for a great tournament. People come to golf tournaments for a couple of reasons. One is because they want to see people hit draws with drivers and people who can do stuff that they can’t do – and everybody here can do that.

“Everyone here is impressive to a club golfer, if you ask me, and two, you go for the contest. It doesn’t matter if it’s the 1000th player in the world versus the 900th best player in the world for one and two, the contest is the contest and that’s exciting – guys holing putts and hitting good shots and coming up with the stuff under pressure.

“I was at the Ashes Test the other day.  It wasn’t really who won or lost that, it was just how good it was to watch and I think all elite sport, including golf, is like that.

“If you have a great contest, it’s appealing to watch and I think if we can focus on that rather than who’s not there, I think we can rebuild and create an unbelievable tour.

“Golf’s a massive sport in Australia, people love it. You’ve just got to give them a reason to come, not give them a reason not to come.”


Sarah Kemp’s form surge in 2021 gives her a strong shot at the trophy named in honour of her great friend at the WPGA Championship at Royal Queensland this week.

Whoever holds aloft the Karrie Webb Cup for the first time on Sunday will have a personal story to tell after this new women’s tournament is run side-by-side with the Fortinet Australian PGA Championship.

Australia’s greatest female golfer has inspired, helped, sponsored with a scholarship or been a confidante to nearly all of the 24 women golfers in the field. 

Kemp, 36, certainly feels the special connection playing for a trophy named after Webb. 

“Webbie’s awesome. When I was growing up, she was World No.1. I remember getting my LPGA Tour card and she was one of the first people to email me,” Kemp said. 

“We’ve been lucky enough to have a pretty good relationship and we have a few Queensland-NSW bets throughout the year that embarrass myself and embarrass her which is good. 

“It’s great to be playing for a trophy that’s got her name on it. I’d love to win.” 

Before the 2014 Australian Ladies Masters at Royal Pines, Webb had to cope with a blue, black and white Cronulla jersey rash for nine practice holes with Kemp. 

Kemp’s Cronulla Sharks had beaten Webb’s North Queensland Cowboys in the NRL finals a few months earlier so there was a bet to be squared up. 

Kemp made a pleasing resurgence in 2021. She started last year with a strong joint fifth at the Gainbridge LPGA tournament in Florida where the only four golfers ahead of her were major winners. 

Two further Top 10s and her best-ever finish in a major, when 19th behind winner Minjee Lee, at the Evian Championship in France, were big positives. 

“There’s no better way to start the year than this tournament, especially playing at home. It’s absolutely perfect,” Kemp said. 

“My coach is here so he can see where my game is at before I head over to the States.”  

Kemp believes her most productive years on the LPGA Tour can still be ahead of her after more than a decade in the US. 

“I finished second on the LPGA and third, fourth, whatever. It would be awesome to get a win but I’m not putting too much pressure on myself,” she said. 

“I had my best year last year. I had a really good chat with Brad Kennedy yesterday. He’s 47 now and he talks about his last 10 years being the best of his career. So, I nailed him down and got some nuggets to take through my next 10 years.” 

Kemp is excited that top female players Su Oh, Steph Kyriacou and Co will partner with the men through the four rounds at Royal Queensland. 

“The Vic Open has been my favourite tournament ever. It’s so cool playing along with the guys, practicing with them and just hitting balls next to them on the range,” she said. 

“I played junior golf and amateur golf with a lot of the boys and I haven’t seen them in 10, 15 years so it’s nice to catch up. I hope we get more mixed events like this. 

“There’s no mindset change in these events with how the men play the course versus how the girls do. I’m still playing against the girls.”


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