Is Su Oh on the verge of an LPGA Tour breakthrough?

Su Oh – photo Henry Peters

Victorian, Su Oh, has taken over as the leading Australian at the BMW Ladies Championship and in doing so has opened the door for a possible breakthrough LPGA Tour victory with a third round of 67 at the event in Busan in Korea.

Oh finds herself in a share of 4th place but only two shots from the joint leaders Seung Yeon Lee and Somi Lee.

Oh has been twice runner-up in LPGA Tour events in 2019 but the crucial breakthrough has eluded her thus far in her four years on the LPGA Tour.

“It’s been a while since I’ve been only like a couple shots back,” said Oh. “I think same game plan. I think go out there; it’s not going to be easy. I think it was nice to play the last few holes with a little bit of nerve to sort of see how it feels, because at the start, I was like nowhere near it.

“Tomorrow I think it’s just going to be the same. Hopefully keep the nerves under control and see how it goes.”

Fellow Australian, Minjee Lee, who was within two shots of the lead herself leading into today’s third round could only manage a round of 73 and is now back in 19th place at 7 under par and seven shots from the lead.

Hannah Green is the other Australian in the field but is well back in 55th place.

New Zealander Lydia Ko is tied for 12th at 8 under par and five shots off the pace.

/by

Minjee Lee stays in touch in Korea

Australia’s Minjee Lee is just two shots from the lead at the halfway stage of the BMW Ladies Championship in Busan in Korea and, although unable to maintain the early pace she set on day one, she is within striking distance of the leader, Danielle Kang.

23 year old Lee recovered from a slow start to her second round to record a 2 under par 70 at the LPGA International layout in southern Korea and is in a share of 4th place.

The leader, Kang, won last week in Shanghai and continued her impressive run of form with a second consecutive 67 to lead by one over Hee Won Na and Seung Yeon Lee.

Lee’s fellow Australian Su Oh is just two shots further back and tied for 10th after she too was round in 70 with Hannah Green in 64th place in the event which has no cut.

New Zealander Lydia Ko is tied for 24th.

/by

Jake McLeod finds timely form in Portugal

Jake McLeod – file photo

European Tour rookie, Jake McLeod, has a big task at this week’s Portugal Masters if he is to avoid a trip to the European Tour school in November but he has made a very good start to the second to last event in which he is eligible to play on the 2019 European Tour season.

The 25-year old Queenslander has, however, made a fine start to the event and after the opening round he finds himself in a share of 2nd place and two shots from the lead of South African Louis De Jager.

McLeod began the week in 159th place in the Race to Dubai Rankings, needing to be inside the top 110 by season’s end if he is to retain the European Tour status he earned through his performance on the Australasian Tour in 2018.

McLeod has improved to 116th on the projected rankings but clearly has more work to do and has only this week and next week’s WGC HSBC Champions to do in which to do so.

“It’s quite wide off the tee, so you can get up there and really give it a rip,” said McLeod of the layout at Vilamoura on the Algarve Peninsula which he is playing for the first time this week.

“But it can be quite penalising around the greens if you miss in the wrong spots – they’re running quite fast this week. I found myself on a lot of the good sides today – hopefully I can keep doing that.

“This season has been pretty average, so I’ve come out here and I’ll have a bit of fun and probably go to Q School unless I get the win.”

McLeod’s 6 under par round of 65 was bogey free and, although he will have the more demanding afternoon conditions to contend with on day two, it was an impressive start after a run of indifferent form in his debut season at this level.

Nick Cullen was the next best of the Australians after his round of 70 has him in 57th place, Dimi Papadatos was round in 71, New Zealander Ryan Fox and Min Woo Lee 72, Deyen Lawson 73 with Sam Brazel and New Zealand’s Michael Campbell 76.

 

/by

Has Tiger Woods staked a Presidents Cup claim?

Tiger Woods – Getty Images

What a day for golf in Japan today. Not only did Tiger Woods play his first PGA Tour event there for many years but he takes a share of the opening round lead with a brilliant round of 6 under par 64 at the PGA Tour’s Zozo Championship which came after beginning the day with three consecutive bogeys.

Woods drove it in the water at the first, the trees at the second and then three putted to third to be well behind the eight-ball. But he recovered with nine birdies in his next 15 holes to take the lead on his own before being joined by Gary Woodland.

“I’m just trying to turn it to even par at the turn, that’s just basically my goal, and I was able to squeeze one more out of it,” said Woods.

“After the start, the ball striking was better. The putting was really good. I was hitting a lot of good putts and the ball’s rolling tight, which was nice.”

Woods shares the lead with current US Open champion, Woodland, but in another boost for huge crowds that flocked to the Accordia Golf Narashino CC in Chiba near Tokyo, Japan’s golfing superstar Hideki Matsuyama is just one shot off the lead.

Woods is of course under scrutiny over the next couple of weeks to see if his game is up to the possibility of him picking himself for the US Presidents Cup side and whether he does or does not make that decision his form today suggested that he would make a worthy inclusion.

Matsuyama is two shots ahead of a trio tied for 4th and tomorrow the fervor that will prevail amongst the Japanese fans, weather permitting, will be worth the admission price alone.

The issue, however, is a pending storm expected to arrive mid morning on Friday and organisers have brought tee times forward to try and offset some of the potential disruption to the schedule.

The three Australians in the field have made horror starts, Jason Day and Adam Scott tied for 58th at 3 over and Marc Leishman 78th at 6 over.

 

/by

Minjee Lee takes lead in Korea

Minjee Lee – file photo Ladies European Tour

Australian, Minjee Lee, has snatched the opening round lead at the BMW Ladies Championship in Busan in Korea, the 24-year old Perth golfer producing a round of 6 under par 66 to lead the LPGA event by one over three Koreans and an American.

Danielle Kang, Jeongeun Lee 6, Seung Yeon Lee and world number one Jin Young Ko are in the group in second place.

Lee’s fellow Australian, Su Oh, is two shots from the lead in a share of 6th place, New Zealander Lydia Ko is at 3 under and tied for 13th, while Lee’s fellow West Australian, Hannah Green, is at 1 over and sharing 52nd place.

Lee who has played sparingly in recent months finished 50th in last week’s LPGA event in Shanghai but with the benefit of that run behind her she has shown impressive improvement to put herself in position to challenge for her first title since her LA Open victory earlier in April.

Other than an event in Korea two weeks ago, Lee has not played a tournament since the CP Women’s Open two months ago.

/by

Golf Betting thoughts for October 24th

Jin Young Ko – the favourite at home

This week events under the spotlight include the inaugural PGA Tour’s Zozo Championship in Japan, the BMW Ladies Championship in Busan in Korea and the Portugal Masters on the Algarve Peninsula of Portugal.

Click to listen

 

/by

Powerful Cameron Champ joins Australian PGA field

Photo – Cameron Champ

The field for the Australian PGA Championship received a significant boost today with the news that one of the rising stars of the PGA Tour, Cameron Champ, will tee it up at RACV Royal Pines on December 19th.

24 year old Champ, already with two PGA Tour titles to his name in just 13 months as a PGA Tour member, won the second of those events just three weeks ago when successful at the Safeway Open in his home state of California.

While Champ has already proven himself as a winner on the PGA Tour it is his notoriety as one of the game’s longest hitters that will be of huge appeal to those attending Royal Pines.

Champ, a former Walker Cup team member comfortably led the driving distance stats on the PGA Tour in his rookie season in 2019 with an average distance of 317 yards and in the early stages of the new PGA Tour season he sits just behind Tony Finau.

Champ will join a field that includes 2013 winner and Australia’s leading ranked player, Adam Scott, and 2017 and 2018 champion Cameron Smith, both of who have been in fine form of late with Smith finishing 3rd behind Justin Thomas in Korea last and Scott 5th at the Japan Open last weekend.

 

/by

Lucas Herbert’s strong weekend at Open de France.

Lucas Herbert – file photo

After finishing just one shot inside the cut line at the Open de France, Australia’s Lucas Herbert produced a powerful weekend to improve 41 places over the final 36 holes to finish in a share of 14th at Le Golf National near Paris.

It was one of Herbert’s better finishes in 26 events of the 2019 season in Europe and improves him to 98th position in the Race to Dubai Ranking and will ensure he safely retains his status for Europe next season.

Herbert finished seven shots behind the winner, Nicolas Colsaerts of Belgium, who finished one shot ahead of Denmark’s Joachim B. Hansen.

South African George Coetzee finished another shot back in 3rd place although he will rue a triple bogey at the 15th hole of round four, especially given he would eventually finished just two from the lead.

New Zealander, Ryan Fox, who led the event after an opening round of 65, eventually finished 22nd, Jason Scrivener was 26th, Deyen Lawson 40th and Jake McLeod 71st.

Scott Hend in 52nd place and Ryan Fox 57th remain as the leading Australasians on the race to Dubai rankings although both will need to be inside the top 50 if they are to play the season ending event in Dubai.

/by

Jones, Kennedy and Scott 5th in Japan

The winner Chan Kim – courtesy of Asian Tour – file photo

American Chan Kim has today won his fourth Japan Golf Tour title but his most significant with a one-shot victory at the Japan Open at the Koga Golf Club in Fukuoka.

Kim came from eight shots off the 54-hole pace to record a final round of 67 and despite preparing for a potential playoff after finishing his round he would win by one.

The story of the day, however, was the almost incomprehensible demise of the seemingly unassailable leader, Koki Shiomi, who found a away to drop nine shots at his last five holes to finish four shots from the lead and in a  share of 10th place.

29-year old Kim finished one shot ahead of Japan’s Horikawa and South African Shaun Norris.

Kim’s last round 67 over the demanding layout saw him move from 17th heading into the final round to sweep to the narrow win but he was helped in his cause by Japan’s Mikumu Horikawa who dropped shots at his final two holes to finish one behind.

The Australians challenge was headed by Brad Kennedy, Adam Scott and Brendan Jones who tied for 5th place just three shots from the winner.

Scott recovered from a horror opening round of 76 to work his way back into the event, his final round of 69 completing an impressive comeback.

Jones had his chances to win his first Japan Open title but bogeys at two of his last three holes cost him badly.

For Kennedy it was his best finish in the Japan Open, bettering his tie for 6th in 2014.

The Japan Tour now plays the Zozo Championship in Chiba although only a few in this field will get the play the tournament which is essentially a PGA Tour event.

 

 

/by

Cameron Smith shares 3rd place in Korea

Cameron Smith – file photo – Bruce Young

Justin Thomas held off a spirited challenge from New Zealander, Danny Lee, to win his second C.J. Cup @ Nine Bridges on Jeju Island in South Korea and in doing so took his number of PGA Tour titles to 11.

Thomas and Lee were locked in battle for much of the final round, matching strides until a birdie by Thomas at the 14th followed by consecutive dropped shots by Lee at the 15th and 16th saw the margin three in Thomas’s favour and although Lee clawed one back the 17th he was unable produce a miracle he needed at the last to draw level.

Thomas birdied the final hole to win by two although Lee’s eagle attempt lipped out allowing Thomas the luxury of three putts to win from 50 feet but he needed only two.

It was impressive from both the leading two players especially given the manner in which they separated themselves from the rest of the field for much of the round.

Lee finished two shots clear of Hideki Matsuyama, Gary Woodland and Cameron Smith who closed with rounds of 65, 66 and 69 respectively on day four to narrow the gap late in the day.

Lee earns just over US$1 million for his impressive week while Smith earns close to US$500,000.

Cameron Smith appeared to be losing touch with a top five spot but he played his last three holes in four under par to move into a share of 3rd.

Smith has finished 3rd, 7th and 3rd in three appearances in the event.

Matt Jones was the next best of the Australians when he finished tied for 20th.

Scores

 

/by