Davis and 16 year old amateur, Lee, take early lead at Australian Open
Cam Davis plays his tee shot at the par 3 15th at the Lakes this morning – image Australian Golf Media
2017 champion Cam Davis burst from the gates on day one of the ISPS Handa Australian, racing to the turn in his opening round at the Lakes Golf Club in 6 under par 31 and building on that on his way to the clubhouse with a final nine of 32 for his round of 63 to lead by one at the completion of play over both the Lakes and Australian Golf Clubs.
Davis, who was a member of the Monash Golf Club in Sydney during his amateur days before settling in Seattle once established in the USA, looks to add to the Australian Open he won as a 22-year old in 2017 at the Australian Golf Club, and, tomorrow, he gets the chance to play the second of the venues this week and the venue which saw his remarkable win six years ago.
“I made a couple of more nice putts today to get that score heading down, but it was a really solid round of golf,” said Davis. “I know this place relatively well, so I felt like I had plenty of good memories in the bank to go out and play the course with. That’s by far the cleanest round I’ve ever had around here and without the wind, it was awesome to make the most of the conditions the way they were.”
When asked how this leaves him in regards to contending over the weekend especially given the rest of the week, for him, will be back at the Australian Golf Club, Davis responded;
“Well the start here was a key. You want to make the most of good conditions out here, because there is the opportunity to go low, so very happy with the start and now it’s just about finding rhythm out there.
“It’s a different golf course, different grass, probably different conditions today, as well for the rest of the week. So you’ve just got to start all over again pretty much and try and find your rhythm and if you do, get three rounds in a row now at the same place and get used to the sidelines and fingers crossed some more good play. I’d love to be right up there on Sunday.”
Davis leads by one over PGA Tour player and American Patrick Rodgers who has yet to win on the PGA tour but who has been four times runner-up in events and as a player inside the top 100 in the world, he clearly has the credentials of doing well as the week evolves.
“It’s been a while since I’ve played,” said Rodgers after his round of 64. “I’ve been taking advantage of the off-season over in the States and this was a perfect opportunity to come down here. I’ve been wanting to do it for a long time. I haven’t been down here since 2014 and had an amazing experience back then, so yeah, it’s great to be back and great to kick off some rust in a nice fashion in round 1.”
16 year old Rachel Lee – image Australian Golf Media
The women’s Australian Open had a surprise early leader in Avondale Golf Club member, Rachel Lee, who only just made it into the field via qualifying on Monday.
Lee nearly missed her tee time this morning after mistaking her 8.28 time for what she thought was 8.38 and she was only reminded while on the putting green by her coach that she needed to get to the tee.
Lee avoided the worst of the weather which hit briefly as she was finishing off her round but she and American Jenny Shin with rounds of 67, lead a high-class field including several major championship winners such as Minjee Lee, Jiyai Shin, Ashleigh Buhai and Hannah Green.
Interestingly Lee suggested a practice round with Jiyai Shin, earlier in the week, assisted her with some thoughts on how to play especially the Australian Golf Club which she tackles tomorrow.
“She was telling me to challenge myself and shape shots, I used them quite a fair bit today and it worked out really well,” said Lee.
Jenny Shin played late in the day and was amongst the last few groups to finish in the women’s field at the Australian Golf Club. Her bogey-free round of 66 was particularly impressive given she played in the afternoon conditions.
Former winner of this title and prolific winner internationally, Jiyai Shin, is alone in second place and one behind the leaders.
Another shot back is Sydney’s Stephanie Kyriacou and defending champion Ashleigh Buhai while Australia’s number one female golfer, Minjee Lee recovered from a slow start to finish with a round of 3 under par 70 and finds herself just three shots from the lead.
