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Australian legend Robert Allenby has taken no time to adjust to life on the over-50s circuit, firing an opening round of 3-under 67 to sit two shots off the lead at The Senior Open Championship at Sunningdale Golf Club in England.
It was a strong start for a number of Aussies in Europe overnight with Bryden Macpherson sitting in a tie for fifth in his first round on the European Tour in Europe in more than seven years while a change of caddie did the trick for Sarah Kemp at The Aumundi Evian Championship in France, two shots off the lead in a tie for eighth.
Although it has been 20 years since he was last at the venue, Allenby’s history at Sunningdale came in handy for his Champions Tour debut, an eagle at the par-5 14th the highlight as he trails 2011 Open Champion Darren Clarke and South African James Kingston by two strokes.
Level with Allenby at 3-under and in a share of sixth place is fellow Australian Peter Fowler who began his opening round with two straight birdies, picking up shots at nine, 14 and 17 to go with bogeys at eight and 15.
One stroke back is Victorian David McKenzie who was fighting for top spot on the leaderboard until a double bogey at the par-4 17th saw him finish the day at 2-under 70 and in a share of 14th.
The Evian Championship is the fourth of the women’s major of the year and some improved results with the putter and a familiar face on the bag has Sarah Kemp well placed to record her best finish in a major.
The 35-year-old’s best result in a major to date is a tie for 37th at the 2014 Women’s PGA Championship but an opening round of 4-under 67 puts her two strokes off the lead and in a tie for eighth.
With her regular caddie unavailable, Kemp enlisted the services of her wife Lisa Cornwell and the pair proved to be a potent combination, combining for three birdies, one bogey and an eagle at the par-5 ninth, her final hole of the day.
“She caddied for me in a couple US Open qualifiers, a couple of tournaments in Australia and an LET event in France so it’s not our first rodeo, which is nice,” said Kemp.
“She knows how I work. She’s really just trying to keep me calm.
“She got the carry bag, so I made it easy for her. I did scare her with how hilly the place was, but to my surprise she said, ‘It’s actually not as bad as you made out.’ I was like, All right, I should have brought the big bag.”
West Australian Minjee Lee and Kiwi Lydia Ko are one shot back of Kemp in a tie for 11th at 3-under with Katherine Kirk, Su Oh and Stephanie Kyriacou all in need of a good second round after posting 2-over 73 in Round 1.
Playing the Cazoo Open at The Celtic Manor Resort in Wales on a sponsor’s invitation, two-time PGA Tour of Australasia winner Bryden Macpherson made a triumphant return to mainland Europe with a round of 4-under 68 to sit three shots off the lead.
Not since the 2014 Open Championship has Macpherson played a European Tour event in Europe and hopes a strong performance this week will continue a career resurgence that has seen him climb almost 900 places in the Official World Golf Rankings this year.
“It’s been a little bit up and down ever since,” said Macpherson of his progression since winning the 2011 British Amateur.
“I’ve shown some flashes of showing up as a real golfer but now I’m a bit more set in my ways, I know what I’m doing a little bit more.
“Hopefully this will be the start of something nice.”
South Australian Wade Ormsby brushed off the disappointment of just missing out on his first Open Championship to match Macpherson’s 67 to share fifth place with Maverick Antcliff (69), Brad Kennedy (70), Scott Hend (71) and Deyen Lawson sitting inside the cut-line after one round.
On a day of hot scoring in the US Jamie Arnold’s opening round of 6-under 66 was only good enough for a share of 15th after one round at the Korn Ferry Tour’s Price Cutter Charity Championship while Lucas Herbert is tied for 17th after Round 1 of the PGA TOUR’s 3M Open in Minnesota.
Cameron Smith is ready to attack the weekend of The Open Championship after a second-round surge moved him to T17 at Royal St George’s.
Overnight leader Louis Oosthuizen (-11) has a two stroke lead after shooting a five-under 65 on Friday, followed closely by 2020 PGA Championship winner Collin Morikawa (-9) and the 2017 Open champion Jordan Spieth (-8).
It was a historic day for the South African who broke the 36-hole scoring record at The Open with a 64-65 start.
The record, and the lead, was set up by a scintillating birdie-birdie-eagle run on 12, 13 and 14 and the 2010 Open champion acknowledged was humbled to achieve such a feat.
“Yeah, to have any record at the Open or part of any record at the Open is always very special,” Oosthuizen said.
“I probably played a bit better yesterday in the conditions we were playing in, but today we got really – I would say lucky sort of the last nine holes. It was as good a weather as you can get playing this golf course.
“All of us took advantage of that. I think in our three-ball we had a 64 and two 65s, which you don’t really see around a links golf course.”
While the afternoon was Oosthuizen’s, the morning belonged to Morikawa.
The American threatened to equal the Royal St George’s course record (63) as four birdies from 8 through 12 propelled him to the lead in his first appearance at The Open.
Par on 18 meant he had to settle for a six-under round of 64, but the world number four is not too phased by numbers.
“I did not know 63 was the low out here. I just kind of came out and played golf,” Morikawa said.
“For me, hopefully we can just create memories and create lifetime memories that hopefully Sunday comes along and we can talk again.”
Argentine Emiliano Grillo (-6) also threatened the course record as he birdied five of the last seven holes to match Morikawa’s 64.
“I think I’ll take 64 for any round in a major. I think I’ll take 64 any day even playing with my friends,” Grillo said.
Smith (-4) enjoyed the opportunity to play in the morning, as he spent less time in the rough and more time capitalising on birdie chances.
The Queenslander had a shaky start with a birdie at 2 in between bogeys at 1 and 3.
However, he quickly settled and back-to-back birdies on 8 and 9 gave him momentum heading into the back-nine.
Despite bogeys at 15 and 18, birdies at 11, 14, 16 and 17 made sure that the Australian number one has the leaders within reach.
“It was a bit the same I guess as yesterday. Bit of a rusty start. Couple bogeys there at the start. Just hung in there,” Smith said.
“That wind for me, every time I get that left wind I seem to miss the fairway or put myself out of position. Something I have to work on.
“No, it was really solid. Lots of good iron shots today. Couple of close ones which was nice to see. Obviously the putter was pretty decent as well.”
Birthday boy Adam Scott was the only other Australian to make the cut after his bogey-free round.
The 2013 Masters champion began the day at 3-over par, but quickly found himself above the cut line with birdies on 4, 6 and 7 before knocking in a long birdie putt at 17 turned the number next to his name red.
“I just played better today. I didn’t execute [yesterday]. I had the same game plan,” Scott said.
“I basically hit the same clubs off all the tees today, but it was a strong 20 mile an hour wind yesterday and I was a little bit off so I looked pretty average.
“You know, today was much easier wind and I was swinging a little better. Once you hit a few fairways the confidence comes and frees you up.
“You know, it’s that kind of course. It can – you can look like a champion when you knock it straight down the middle with driver and look like a fool when you’re laying up in the rough with a 5-iron.”
Marc Leishman (+2) made three back-nine birdies while putting with a wedge in a last-ditch effort to make the weekend, but he ultimately finished one shot below the cut line.
Irish Open champion Lucas Herbert (+3) found himself behind the eight-ball early in the afternoon with bogeys on 2 and 3 and he did not recover.
Scottish Open champion Min Woo Lee’s afternoon round was highlighted by an eagle at the par-5 7th, but his Open debut ended at three-over par.
Six other Australians also missed the cut.
Matt Jones (+3) and Jason Scrivener (+4) both carded three bogeys and two birdies to finish the second round one-over par.
Jason Day was in a difficult spot after a first round 75, and a double bogey on 1 and a bogey 2 left him with too much work to do.
Three-under on the back-nine clawed Day back to five-over for the tournament.
Brad Kennedy was in contention for the weekend as he began the day one-over par, but six bogeys in his round meant he finished alongside Day at five-over.
Open debutant Aaron Pike had four birdies, six bogeys and a triple-bogey on 2 in a round of five-over 75, while qualifier Deyen Lawson struggled early on his way to shooting 77.
Round 2 Leaderboard
T17 Cameron Smith -4 69 67
T40 Adam Scott -1 73 66
MC Marc Leishman +2 75 67
MC Min Woo Lee +3 74 69
MC Lucas Herbert +3 70 73
MC Matt Jones +3 72 71
MC Jason Scrivener +4 73 71
MC Jason Day +5 75 70
MC Brad Kennedy +5 71 74
MC Aaron Pike +9 74 75
MC Deyen Lawson +17 80 77
South Australian Stephanie Na has taken a big step towards a breakthrough Symetra Tour title after earning a share of the Round 1 lead at the Danielle Downey Credit Union Classic in New York.
One of five players to post 4-under 66 at Brook Lea Country Club, Na was bogey-free through her first 18 holes, picking up birdies at holes two, nine, 11 and 13 to be sitting atop the leaderboard heading into Round 2.
The 2008 Australian Amateur Stroke Play champion, Na’s best finish on the secondary Symetra Tour is a tie for second at the Symetra Classic in 2019, finishing 29th on the moneylist to just miss out on promotion to the LPGA Tour.
Kiwi Julianne Alvarez also made a promising start to the tournament with a round of 2-under 68 with Hira Naveed and Julienne Soo a shot further back in a tie for 31st.
It was a difficult day for Gabi Ruffels who sits in a tie for 90th after an opening 2-over 72.
Also seeking promotion in 2022, Brett Drewitt has made a strong start to the defence of his title at the Memorial Health Championship on the Korn Ferry Tour.
Currently 23rd on the Order of Merit, Drewitt is just one shot off the lead at Panther Creek Country Club after a round of 6-under 65. Starting from the 10th tee, Drewitt went out in 31 featuring an eagle at the par-5 16th and added a lone birdie at the par-5 sixth to sit one behind Charlie Wi, TJ Vogel and John VanDerLaan.
Kiwi Steven Alker is one shot further back after a 5-under 66 with Brett Coletta the next best of the Aussies after an opening 1-under 70.
With the big names in action at The Open Championship two veterans are leading the way for the Australians at the PGA TOUR’s Barbasol Championship.
Greg Chalmers’ round of 6-under 66 puts him in a tie for 12th just two strokes behind leader Brian Stuard, Cameron Percy just one shot further back after a round of 5-under 67 to be tied for 21st following the opening round.
Callaway staffer Min Woo Lee won the Scottish Open with a walk off birdie on the first playoff hole. The 22-year-old Australian and rising star now has two European Tour wins, and he’s quickly climbing up the world rankings. Here’s what’s in his bag:
What’s in the Bag:
Epic Speed Driver (9°) – Fujikura Ventus Red 7X
Epic Speed Fairway Wood (15°) – Fujikura Ventus Red 8X
X Forged Utility Iron (18°) – Project X LS 7.0 Shaft
Apex TCB Irons (4-PW) – Project X LS 7.0 Shafts
JAWS MD5 Wedges (52°, 54°, 60°) – Nippon Pro Modus3 120 X Shafts
Odyssey White Hot OG #1 Putter
Chrome Soft X Golf Ball
His Driver: Lee hit clutch drives on Sunday with his Epic Speed. Our Epic Drivers continue to win on Tours around the world, and they’ve already earned three major victories in 2021.
His Golf Ball: Lee is using a Chrome Soft X Golf Ball, which he controlled beautifully in the rainy conditions this weekend. His fellow Callaway staffer Thomas Detry also reached the playoff with a Chrome Soft X Ball. Callaway was the #2 Golf Ball Brand at The Scottish Open with 29 in play.
First was the $US40 million Colorado ranch.
Next was the $US55 million sprawling Florida estate.
Now, in the latest indicator that he is downsizing ahead of his return to Australia, Australia’s Greatest Golfer Greg Norman is auctioning off hundreds of personal items of golf equipment from his storied ‘Golf Room’ for charity.
A personally used and signed TaylorMade R11s driver is currently attracting the highest bid at $US393 and there are a multitude of items any Aussie golf fan would love to have on display in their own golf room at home or added to their golf bag.
Personalised staff Tour golf bags, a host of putters used by Norman himself, wedges and a Royal Melbourne Golf Club driver made specifically for Norman by legendary club maker and 1921 Australian Open champion Arthur Le Fevre are all part of the collection that will raise money for The First Tee program.
“I officially closed my storied Golf Room this year and decided the best option was to use memorabilia to raise money for charity,” the two-time British Open champion said in a post on Instagram.
“Happy to see that many of my clubs, golf bags and putters from my career will find happy homes.”
Only Tiger Woods has been No.1 in the Official World Golf Rankings for longer than Norman’s 331 weeks as he accumulated 88 professional victories throughout his Hall of Fame career.
To bid on any of the auction items visit www.thegolfauction.com/catalog.aspx.
Sydney’s Stephanie Kyriacou is headed for a final round showdown with Finland’s Sanna Nuutinen on the Ladies European Tour as fellow Australian Lucas Herbert established a two-shot lead at the halfway mark of the European Tour’s Dubai Duty Free Irish Open.
The outright leader after day one, Kyriacou was joined at the top by Nuutinen after Round 2 and the pair put on an impressive display of scoring in the third round, both carding 7-under 65s to reach 13-under to open up a four-stroke lead with one round left to play.
Winner of the Geoff King Motors Australian Ladies Classic at Bonville early last year, Kyriacou got off to a superb start on day three, rolling in four consecutive birdies on holes three through to six to make the turn in 32.
The 2020 LET Rookie of the Year made another four birdies on the back nine, only dropping a shot on 17 to finish the day tied at the top.
“I was having fun out there; I was holing some long putts which is always enjoyable,” Kyriacou said post-round.
“We both played really well so it was anyone’s game the whole day. It will be interesting tomorrow.
“I haven’t thought about what it would mean but it would be great to get my first professional win.”
Out in the second group of the day in the opening round, Herbert had to sit, watch and wait as the morning groups in round two moved past his day one score of 8-under par.
A birdie on the opening hole was a positive start but a double bogey after he found the water on the third hole put him three strokes behind England’s Dale Whitnell.
After a two-putt birdie on the par-5 fifth Herbert then picked up five shots in six holes from the eighth en route to a 5-under 67 to be 13-under after 36 holes and two strokes in front of England’s Andy Sullivan and Scot Grant Forrest.
“It was a little frustrating but I also felt like I did pretty well to scrap 67 out of that,” said the 25-year-old.
“I holed some really nice putts and then missed some where I probably thought that was a good chance to make.
“The double on three didn’t help as well so for a round that hopefully is not one of the better ones of the week, I felt like I did really well to get a lot out of it and put myself into a very good position going into the weekend.”
Seeking to add a second European Tour title to his Omega Dubai Desert Classic win last January, Herbert said he will think back to that week over the final two rounds.
“It’s definitely something that comes with a win, where you know you’ve proved to yourself that you can win. You can hit shots under pressure and actually win,” said Herbert, top 20 in his two most recent starts on the PGA TOUR to be ranked 91st in the world.
“I’ll be taking a lot of experience from that into the weekend and try and draw on that confidence as well.”
West Australian Min Woo Lee (68) briefly held a share of the lead on day two before ending the day tied for ninth at 8-under, Jason Scrivener (69) left to rue some missed opportunities with the putter as he too enters the weekend in a share of ninth.
For graduates of the PGA Membership Pathway Program and their indentured professionals, 2020 presented some challenges that didn’t come with a roadmap to navigate.
In Victoria in particular, various periods of lockdown meant that there was a physical disconnect between Associates and their workplace, but Director of Golf at Kingston Heath went out of his way to ensure that Lachlan Kenny and the golf operations team were actively engaged throughout.
“During lockdown Justin was always very active in making sure that we had something to do or could be involved with any changes or processes made from an operational perspective and also club perspective,” explains Kenny, who completed the PGA Membership Pathway Program at the end of 2020.
“Whilst everyone was locked up so to speak, we were working quite diligently throughout that lockdown period.
“From a support point of view, he always made sure that all of us had the ability to stay connected which was a massive boost.”
The mentorship that is a feature of the PGA of Australia’s Membership Pathway Program was crucial in Kenny’s career development.
His father Andrew has been the General Manager at Pelican Waters on the Sunshine Coast and Heritage Golf and Country Club in Melbourne and his family are close friends with former ISPS HANDA PGA Tour of Australasia player Heath Reed.
When Kenny moved to Melbourne to advance his playing career he sought the counsel of Ben Bunny at Ranfurlie Golf Club and found a mentor in Burrage at Kingston Heath who would provide clarity around his career prospects within the golf industry.
“Heath always taught me to work hard and if I was going to give something a go to give it my all,” Kenny explains.
“Ben Bunny at Ranfurlie was always a shoulder to lean upon and run ideas past, especially while I was looking at playing. He was a great coach and definitely helped with my coaching to membership.
“Justin has been at Kingston Heath for 18 years and really invested his time into me, ensuring that if I had any questions or concerns to voice that to him.
“That’s where the communication side really came to life with myself. If there was an issue, rather than stewing on it, to talk it through. He was always very supportive with any ideas or challenges that we had in the workplace and how we could work through those.
“Those three as PGA Members were definitely big mentors for myself.”
Recognising that staff turnover at Kingston Heath is minimal, Kenny and Burrage began evaluating opportunities elsewhere when a twist of fate opened the way for a return to where Kenny’s traineeship had begun.
Another Melbourne lockdown delayed his start date by a week but the doors open again Kenny will be employed as the Golf Operations Manager at Settlers Run Golf and Country Club.
“Throughout the last year I worked out that I wanted to transition out of playing and into club management and golf operations,” said Kenny, who began the Member Pathway Program at Settlers Run before moving to Kingston Heath with the club’s full blessing.
“Towards the end of my traineeship I sat down with Justin and we talked through the avenues I wanted to work into and openly discussing areas that I can work into outside of Kingston Heath.
“I knew from a little way out that a move was necessary and he was fully supportive of talking through the pros and cons of each avenue that I wanted to go down.
“The opportunity came up at Settlers Run where I originally started my traineeship and I jumped at it.”
Courtesy of his mentors along the way, Kenny now understands how he wants to impact the facilities he works at throughout his career, starting at Settlers Run.
“Whatever which operation you are in, a level of attentiveness and service has no price,” says Kenny.
“It’s all down to effort and making sure that members and anyone attending the club feels welcome. “I’ll still learn how to deal with people management but it’s taking ownership of everyone’s accountability to ensure that anyone waking through the door is going to have an enjoyable experience.
“Hopefully that will help to grow the game of golf.”
Sydney’s Stephanie Kyriacou has taken an early lead in her quest for a second Ladies European Tour title, firing a first round of 6-under 66 to lead the Big Green Egg Open by two strokes over England’s Lily May Humphreys.
On a damp and drizzly day at Rosendaelsche Golf Club in the Netherlands, the 2020 LET Rookie of the Year got off to the best possible start when she opened her round with a birdie at the 10th hole.
After dropping a shot to take her back the level par, Kyriacou made birdies on four of her next six holes and despite dropping another shot, closed out her round with three further birdies to reach 6-under par.
Kyriacou, who won the 2020 Geoff King Motors Australian Ladies Classic Bonville while still an amateur, was pleased with her day’s work.
“It was good. I think I had a little bit of luck but I did also hit some pretty good shots,” the 20-year-old explained.
“I had a couple of short putts, which I holed, and I managed to sink a couple of long ones, which turned out to be 6-under par.
“I like the look of the course. I think I hit a fairly straight ball, so I guess I have a little bit of an advantage but there was also a little bit of luck because if you miss the fairway, it can be like cactus there.”
Humphreys comes into the tournament fresh off the back of her maiden professional win, and sits two strokes behind Kyriacou on 4-under.
Four golfers are a shot further back on 3-under par with Spain’s Maria Hernandez, Wales’ Lydia Hall, Austria’s Christine Wolf and Netherlands’ Dewi Weber all carding a first round of 69.
The next best of the Aussies is Whitney Hillier (74) in a tie for 48th while Kristalle Blum (79) and Amy Walsh (81) have some work ahead to make the cut.
West Australian Jason Scrivener has revealed the influence of renowned performance coach Dave Alred in elevating him into the world’s top 100 players as he edges closer to another major championship first.
Australia’s highest finisher at the US PGA Championship in May, Scrivener is one of seven Aussies in the field for this week’s Dubai Duty Free Irish Open at Mount Juliet Estate that also boasts Rory McIlroy, Tommy Fleetwood, Shane Lowry and Martin Kaymer.
After spending the start of the 2021 season in the United States Lucas Herbert returns for the European summer with Maverick Antcliff, Scott Hend and Min Woo Lee all seeking to continue their recent good form at the €3 million event.
Currently 10th in the Race to Dubai standings, Scrivener is awaiting official confirmation that he is exempt into The Open Championship in two weeks’ time in what will be his debut appearance at golf’s oldest major.
At the completion of a disrupted 2020 season Scrivener was ranked 219th in the Official World Golf Rankings but a runner-up finish at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship in his first start for the year sent the 32-year-old on an upward trajectory inside the top 100 that he accredits to his work with Alred.
The man behind Luke Donald’s ascension to world No.1 and Francesco Molinari’s 2018 Open Championship victory, Alred also works with Australian professionals Brad Kennedy and Travis Smyth and had an immediate impact on Scrivener.
“He’s changed the way I prepare for events and the way I practise has changed a lot,” revealed Scrivener, currently 99th in the world rankings.
“I started working with him in early December and that was a big change for me. He came over to Perth and spent a few days and I put a lot of work in before Abu Dhabi, probably the most productive work I’ve ever done.
“He was very important in the lead-up and that’s been the biggest change for me, getting so much more out of my practise.
“I knew it was going to pay off eventually, I just didn’t really expect it to happen so quickly.”
Such a strong start to the season set up Scrivener’s year and gave him the flexibility to pick and choose his events.
He received a late call-up to the PGA Championship where he finished tied for 23rd and has solidified his position towards the top of the Race to Dubai standings with a third-place finish at the Made in Himmerland tournament and a tie for sixth at the Scandinavian Mixed two weeks ago.
With wife Simone expecting the couple’s first child in August, being in control of his schedule is particularly beneficial in 2021.
“It has changed a few things,” Scrivener said of his success early in the season. “Getting into a few of the bigger events, WGCs and majors, that’s always nice.
“For us Australians travelling overseas at the moment, it’s just a nightmare. Having the freedom to skip events and take longer breaks has been really nice.
“We’re expecting a baby in August so I’m going back after the Open and then have a long break again.
“Obviously you want to take advantage of the opportunities so I still want to keep playing and push forward but for sure it’s a relief being able to plan the rest of the year.”
Elsewhere in Europe this week two young Aussies are looking to establish themselves after a challenging start to their professional careers.
Victorian David Micheluzzi will play his first tournament on foreign soil in 16 months at the Challenge Tour’s Kaskáda Golf Challenge in the Czech Republic while South Australian Kristalle Blum – winner of The Athena tournament in February – makes her Ladies European Tour debut at the Big Green Egg Open in the Netherlands.
Round 1 tee times AEST
European Tour
Dubai Duty Free Irish Open
Mount Juliet Estate, Thomastown, Co Kilkenny, Ireland
5.40pm Maverick Antcliff, Jake McLeod, Adrien Saddier
5.40pm* Lucas Herbert, Laurie Canter, Victor Dubuisson
6.40pm Scott Hend, Mike Lorenzo-Vera, Shaun Norris
7pm* Wade Ormsby, Fabrizio Zanotti, Adrian Meronk
10.40pm Jason Scrivener, Marcus Armitage, Dean Burmester
10.50pm* Min Woo Lee, Lorenzo Gagli, Haydn Porteous
11.30pm* Ryan Fox, Chris Paisley, Haotong Li
Defending champion: John Catlin
Past Aussie winners: Brett Rumford (2004)
Top Aussie prediction: Lucas Herbert
TV schedule: Live 10pm-3am Thursday; Live 7pm-10pm Friday; Live 1am-3pm Saturday on Fox Sports 503; Live 10pm-2.30am Saturday on Fox Sports 505; Live 8.30pm-3am Sunday on Fox Sports 503.
PGA TOUR
Rocket Mortgage Classic
Detroit Golf Club, Detroit, Michigan
8.55pm* Cam Davis, Bo Van Pelt, Seamus Power
9.15pm Jason Day, Nick Taylor, Jason Dufner
9.35pm Matt Jones, Brendon Todd, Ted Potter Jr
10.35pm* Rhein Gibson, Ryan Brehm, Davis Thompson
2.10am Aaron Baddeley, Cameron Percy, Chase Seiffert
2.40am* Danny Lee, Chez Reavie, Brice Garnett
Defending champion: Bryson DeChambeau
Past Aussie winners: Nil
Top Aussie prediction: Matt Jones
TV schedule: Live 5am-8am Friday, Saturday; Live 3am-8am Sunday, Monday on Fox Sports 503.
LPGA Tour
Volunteers of America Classic
Old American Golf Club, The Colony, Texas
11.37pm Katherine Kirk, Marina Alex, Dani Holmqvist
11.48pm Sarah Jane Smith, Tiffany Chan, Esther Lee
Defending champion: Angela Stanford
Past Aussie winners: Nil
Top Aussie prediction: Katherine Kirk
TV schedule: Live 7am-10am Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday on Fox Sports 505.
Ladies European Tour
Big Green Egg Open
Rosendaelsche Golf Club, Arnhem, Netherlands
4.22pm Whitney Hillier, Elina Nummenpaa, Madelene Stavnar
4.44pm Stephanie Kyriacou, Christine Wolf, Marianne Skarpnord
8.52pm* Amy Walsh, Harang Lee, Ainil Bakar
10.20pm Kristalle Blum, Anaelle Carnet, Sideri Vanova
Defending champion: Inaugural event
Past Aussie winners: Nil
Top Aussie prediction: Stephanie Kyriacou
Challenge Tour
Kaskáda Golf Challenge
Kaskáda Golf Resort, Brno, Czech Republic
5.10pm Josh Geary, Matthew Baldwin, Stanislav Matus
6.10pm Dimitrios Papadatos, Tyler Koivisto, Jens Dantorp
9.40pm David Micheluzzi, Lars Keunen, Federico Maccario
11.10pm Deyen Lawson, Joel Girrbach, Elias Bertheussen
9.40pm* Blake Windred, Lukas Nemecz, Christopher Sahlstrom
Defending champion: Antoine Rozner (2019)
Past Aussie winners: Nil
Top Aussie prediction: Blake Windred
Champions Tour
Dick’s Sporting Goods Open
En-Joie Golf Club, Endicott, New York
Aussies in the field: Stephen Leaney, David McKenzie
Defending champion: Doug Barron
Past Aussie winners: Nil
Top Aussie prediction: Stephen Leaney
TV schedule: Live 2.30am-4.30am Saturday on Fox Sports 507; 10.30am-12.30pm on Fox Sports 503; Live 5am-7.30am Monday on Fox Sports 507
The equal-best round of the day has given Victorian Andrew Martin a two-stroke buffer at the top of the leaderboard as a chasing pack of young guns and Tour winners formed at the $70,000 Ian Weigh Toyota Rockhampton Pro-Am.
Martin’s round of 8-under par 64 was matched only by 2019 champion Matthew Millar and gives him a 10-under par total with one round to play, Nathan Barbieri (66), Michael Wright (67) and Adam Blyth (67) sharing second at 8-under.
Millar, Aaron Wilkin (69) and first round leaders Damien Jordan (71) and Josh Armstrong (71) are all tied for fifth at 7-under par, one shot clear of 2019 Gippsland Super 6 champion Tom Power Horan (65) and recent adidas Pro-Am Series winner James Grierson (68).
One-over through 15 holes on Thursday, Martin closed out his opening round with three consecutive birdies. Winner of The Players Series Sydney in March, the 36-year-old picked up where he left off on Friday with two more to start round two and added further birdies at five and eight to make the turn in 33.
Three more on the trot from the 10th hole and back-to-back birdies at 15 and 16 continued Martin’s surge and opened up a handy advantage going into Saturday’s final round.
“It is a good feeling to back on top of the leaderboard again,” said Martin, who equalled the world record for most eagles in a round in the final round of his win at Bonnie Doon Golf Club.
“My swing has been a bit rusty of late but today it started to work for me.”
A runner-up on three occasions before breaking through with a win two years ago, Millar began his second round from the 10th tee and seven shots off the pace but quickly started chipping away at the deficit.
He played the back nine in 4-under but it was a stretch of five birdies in six holes from the third hole that puts him three back of Martin and with a chance to successfully defend his title.
“I’ve played this event so many times – had some seconds and had a win on the last occasion – but you’ve usually got those four rounds in which to get there,” Millar said of the adjusted tournament format in 2021.
“Unfortunately yesterday has given me a lot of work to do rather than keeping pace near the front.
“Hopefully I can have another blinder tomorrow and not be too far away.”
A 4-hybrid to five feet at the 200-metre par-3 11th got Millar off on the right foot on Friday, using a better day with the driver to attack flags and generate plenty of birdie chances.
“It was nice to be back driving the ball the way I normally do, hitting it in a lot of fairways,” said Millar, whose longest birdie putt of the day was a 20-footer he holed at the par-4 sixth.
“Yesterday I hit a couple of loose ones that didn’t match up and ended up in a bit of strife.
“I hit a lot of good iron shots today too so a pretty solid day all round.
“The greens are holding quite well and the course is in good shape so it’s very scoreable out there.
“Conditions haven’t been that challenging so it’s very gettable if you’re hitting a few good ones and rolling some in.”
The top 50 players and ties after 36 holes now advance to Saturday’s third and final round with the top-16 plus ties after 54 holes to contest the one-day Ian Weigh Toyota Invitational on Sunday worth $15,000.
Round 3 will commence at 6.50am on Saturday with the leaders teeing off from 12pm.
