Min Woo Lee extends lead at Australian PGA Championship


Min Woo Lee gets his round underway today – image Australian Golf Media

Min Woo Lee began round three at the Australian PGA Championship seemingly locked in a battle against one of his golfing idols over the final 36 holes, Adam Scott, but, in golf, the obvious does not always work out the way they are meant to and while Scott is not altogether out of things, Lee’s nearest rival for tomorrow’s final round is now Japan’s Rikuya Hoshino.

Hoshino stormed into contention with a third round of 64 to be just three shots behind the leader with West Australian Curtis Luck another shot back and alone in third place.

While Hoshino is not a recognizable name in this country, he is a six-time winner and five times runner-up on on the Japan Golf Tour and his round of 64 today, including a homeward nine of 29, suggests he might yet offer Lee a battle for his first flagship title in Australia tomorrow.

Lee has won the Vic Open as a European Tour event previously but this is the time-honored Australian PGA Championship and will be a significant feather in the 25-year-old’s cap.

Lee built on his overnight lead early and by the turn he was two ahead of Scott and three ahead of Curtis Luck and Lucas Herbert but three birdies on the way home stretched his lead to three as Scott and Herbert dropped off the pace.

Lee was delighted ahead of tomorrow’s final round. “Again I played pretty solid. A couple of mistakes but that happens and overall pretty happy with the way I went today.

“I expected to play pretty well this week. I have been hitting the ball so well all year and the results have been there. I stuffed up on 8 today but other than that I think everything has been up to par in terms of how I have been going.

“Tomorrow hopefully I can keep going. I can only control what I can do and tomorrow hopefully I end up happy with the way I played.

“I’m here because I have played aggressively all week and played to my game plan and that will be the same tomorrow.”

Luck and Lee played a lot in junior golf in Perth although their careers have taken different directions since.

Luck added a seven birdie third round of 66 to move into contention albeit four behind Lee.

“We completely grew up together and played all the time, and played all the same events growing up,” said Luck of Lee.  “So yeah, it’s going to be amazing.  I haven’t played with Min Woo – I haven’t even played with Min Woo in probably 10 years, let alone in a tournament, so I’m super looking forward to it.”

“He was always a great player, there’s no doubt about it and like a prospect out of WA.  I think we all knew that he was going to be good.  He’s always been a bit of a stud.”

Lee, Luck and Hoshino will play in the final group together tomorrow.

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Perth’s Kristen Rudgeley leads Open de Espana


Kirsten Rudgeley during the second round – image LET 

West Australian Kirsten Rudgeley is a surprise leader at the Open de Espana in Andalucia, the 22 year old moving two shots ahead of a group of five golfers heading into the weekend in the final event of the 2023 Ladies European Tour schedule.

The British-born but Australian raised since the age of 4, Rudgeley, currently 43rd in the Race to Costa Del Sol ranking in her rookie LET year with three top tens to her name, is playing her 20th event of the season. Her best finish this season came when 4th at the KPMG Women’s Irish Open.

“It was good, again I played really steady golf,” said Rudgeley. “I holed some good putts, missed some putts but that’s just golf and I’m just going to keep going and see what happens.

“The wind definitely wasn’t there this afternoon as much as it was yesterday, but some of those pins made up for it. If I walk past a leaderboard, I will have a look, but it doesn’t really bother me either way. I just play my own game and see what happens.

“I just play golf and you can’t do anything about it, so you just have to keep playing and see what happens. The target to make as many birdies as possible is always a good target, but we’ll see. I want to play golf, enjoy it and take it all in.”

Rudgeley is perhaps aided by having a family member of the bag this week.

“I have my uncle on the bag which is really nice, and we just went for a walk and chatted the whole way around. He knows absolutely zero about golf! I don’t think too much when I’m out there but it’s always good having family on the bag.”

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Min Woo Lee edges ahead of Adam Scott at PGA halfway mark


Min Woo Lee in action today – image Australian Golf Media

Min Woo Lee has grabbed the outright 36-hole lead at the Australian PGA Championship at Royal Queensland in Brisbane, adding a second round of 66 to his opening 64 to lead by one over Adam Scott whose round of 65 on day two was the equal-best of the day.

Lee’s began his second round one behind the overnight leader, Joel Moscatel of Spain, but with an outward nine of 32 he was ahead. His only dropped shot came at the 10th at which point he surrendered his lead to Scott who was playing in the group ahead but after birdies at his 13th and 15th holes he had regained the lead and held on to take an edge into the weekend.

Lee has already achieved much in the game winning a US Junior Championship as an amateur, winning twice on the DP World Tour, finishing an impressive 5th at this year’s US Open and gaining his PGA Tour card but he still took a moment to think ahead to the possibility of contending against Scott this weekend.

“It’s amazing,” said Lee.  “Only a few years ago I was dreaming of being in this spot, especially to play with Scotty.  It seems only like a few years ago I was in the Interstate Series watching him winning the Masters.  It is cool to have him as a friend and play in the final group. Anywhere you are in the final group of any tournament, it’s a pretty good achievement, so hopefully, I can keep it going.”

Lee was asked how he felt about playing against one of Queensland’s golfing sons over the weekend and whether the crowd will be split in terms of support.

“No, I don’t think it’s going to be split.  I think we’re excited to play some good golf in front of them and hopefully, we can get some roars in crowds.  I don’t know, I hope it’s not split like that.  I think I’ve got tremendous support over the last two days and last year, so hopefully it’s going to be like that tomorrow.”

Lee was asked his thoughts about the tough day experienced by Cam Smith who he played with over the opening 36 holes.

“That’s golf.  That happens.  Next week I’m sure he’s going to bounce back; it’s just what good players do.  That’s the good thing about golf, you have one bad week and the next week you can win.  I’m sure he’s going to have a good time hanging out with his family and friends in his hometown.  He’ll have a few drinks and loosen up for next week.

“It’s just golf and I’ve just got to take care of myself and my game.  It does suck for him to not play as good as he wants to, but it’s just what this golf course is.  You’re just off and your score can blow out like that.  It’s just a tough course.”


Adam Scott – image Australian Golf Media

Adam Scott played in the group ahead of Lee and was bogey free as he put himself in position to win potentially his third PGA Championship having won twice previously when the event was staged at RACV Royal Pines on the Gold Coast.

“I’m generally pleased with all areas of the game, but I feel like my game tee to green has been better, said Scott. “My striking feels better than it has been, feeling a bit more comfortable and also doing what I want it to do a bit more often.  So, that’s very pleasing for me, good for the confidence too going into the weekend.

When asked his thoughts on playing with Min Woo Lee in the final group tomorrow Scott responded; “I mean, I really don’t care who I play with.  I’m playing in the final group and I’m happy about that.

“I think I’m about where I need to be.  Even though the scoring was a bit tougher maybe today I guess.  Someone is going to get close to 20-under, so I’m just keeping pace with that kind of mark.

“You never know, it could get really windy and we’re not going that deep, but this is kind of the place that was identified earlier in the week, so I’m really happy with – I call it par – but that’s very good.

“Obviously I’m in good position, so I’m very pleased with how it’s going and the way I’m playing.  I feel like I can pick the course apart and hopefully not have to chance things too much, give myself lots of opportunities, because I’m putting well, and I’ll get a few to go.”

In third place is the highly talented New South Welshman John Lyras who has yet to win on the PGA Tour of Australasia but who has been twice runner-up including at this year’s New Zealand Open.

Lyras earned his Asian Tour card earlier this year and is getting progressively better as a professional but tomorrow he faces his biggest examination.

When asked how he might handle things over the weekend after being well enough placed at the halfway mark last year he said;

“I tell you what, I played with Min Woo last year, Round 3, it doesn’t work by just sitting there and letting things come to you.  There’s a point where you’ve got to step on it a bit and see how much you can take from the golf course.

“Obviously, you pick your chances right and you pick your battles.  I plan on doing a better job of that tomorrow and yeah, just being overall more aggressive and more trusting in the game.  You’re never going to play good golf by being ultra-conservative with your game plan or thought process.”

An injury during the middle of the year has slowed his progress but there is little doubting the quality of Lyras’ game when right.

“Yeah, I’ve had a rotator cuff tear that kind of came about in the middle of the year and started with some wrist injuries, had that looked at and persisted on. Once I got that right it kind of referred up into the shoulder and took me out of action.  So that’s been a work in progress.  I had to change a few things as well – gym work, swing stuff, feels, just to try and get it to the point where I wasn’t activating it too much in the golf swing, and supporting the club a bit more.

“So that’s been pretty hard, to try and make some changes like that and still be able to play the kind of golf I want to.  It’s definitely made me a lot more technical than I’d like to be, but this week we’re really trying to get back to a bit of artistic stuff and just see it, feel it and get the ball holding in the wind.  Just trying to feel it more in the hands this week than I have been and it’s proved fruitful so far.”

Another two shots back are Curtis Luck and Lucas Herbert who both completed their rounds amongst the morning field on day two.

Much of the talk on day two however surrounded the struggles of Cam Smith who finished the day with a round of 78 to go with his opening 73, the defending champion missing the cut by a massive nine shots.

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Curtis Luck rediscovers artistry at PGA Championship


The hole-in-one certainly aided Luck’s cause but his play was impressive nonetheless – image AGM

Admittedly aided by a hole-in-one at the 8th hole of his morning round on day two of the Australian PGA Championship, 27-year-old West Australian, Curtis Luck, took a share of the lead at the completion of his second consecutive round of 67, joining Lucas Herbert at the top of the leaderboard around midday on day two.

“It was obviously a rough start out there for me, so it was a bit of a grind early,” said Luck referring to a couple of early bogeys on day two.

“But I think basically from hole 16 through 9, just there I had good looks the entire way.  I think it would be fair on my part to say I could have actually ended up going a bit deeper.  Had a lot of putts ride over the edge of the hole, but having a hole-in-one and kick-starting it back on track when you’re 1-over in pretty tough conditions was what I needed. Just managed to stick with it and make a few more out there.

Luck, a former US and Asia Pacific Amateur Champion and West Australian Open winner as an amateur, played his way onto the PGA Tour a couple of years ago but in 2023, despite a strong finish to his season on the Korn Ferry Tour, he had not done enough to return to the PGA Tour in 2024.

Having witnessed first-hand, in my role as on-course commentator at the Asia Pacific Amateur Championship he won in 2016, the considerable skills and artistry he possesses, it is perhaps a surprise Luck has not done better in the US but his time will surely come and a strong showing this week might be just what he needs to get things moving in the right direction.

Despite his results, Luck feels there is improvement in his game referring to better driving as the catalyst.

“I think one of the things I’ve done better this year compared to previous years is my driving’s improved considerably.  I’m not costing myself as many shots off the tee as I have been in the last few years.

“My wedge play this week particularly has been unbelievable but I think playing out there on that Tour you sort of almost get a bit like, you don’t realise how good you’re wedging it because everyone seems to wedge it so good out there. Then I’ve come here and I’m like, actually, I’m wedging it amazingly.  Let’s keep it up.  So, yeah, wedge play’s just been really good so far this week.”

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Moscatel Nachshon’s early leads holds up

Marcatel Nachshon in action today – image Australian Golf Media

As play drew to a close on day one of the Australian PGA Championship at Royal Queensland it became clear that the brilliant morning round of 63 by Spain’s Joel Moscatel Nachshon would remain at the top of the leaderboard heading into day two.

Moscatel Nachshon was out in the morning field, but in the last few groups of that group, and avoided some of the very early breeze and light drizzle and so had almost perfect conditions. But even allowing for such, the 25-year-old produced a brilliant course record-equaling round highlighted by a stretch of five consecutive birdies in the middle of his closing nine.

“Yeah, it was nice,” said the leader.  “I didn’t even know which was the course record, we just play our golf and it was so nice to equal that record.  It was so fun today.”

Moscatel Nachshon only narrowly missed his DP World Tour card at the recent Q School but gained a start at Royal Queensland through a category where those just missing their tour cards were eligible.

“At the start of the first stage of Q School a guy from the DP World Tour told us that if we were making the cut, (after 72 of the 108 holes) we could play these events.  So was no doubt if I was making the cut to come over here and see Australia and play those tournaments here.”

Missing out on his full playing rights was disappointing for Moscatel Nachshon but he was and is philosophical about the outcome as he now has full playing rights on the Challenge Tour which he did not have previously.

“It’s hard but at the same time I was playing on a satellite tour and had some invites on Challenge Tour, so being able to plan a full schedule on Challenge Tour was a big thing for me even if I wasn’t having a DP World Tour card. I wanted to have it, but one shot in six days is nothing. So, it is what it is.”

When asked about the possibility of winning this week the leader was not getting ahead of himself.

“I mean, I know it, (what’s at stake) but as I said, we still have to play three more days of golf, so it’s a lot of tournament left.  In the Spanish Open one of my best friends was leading at one point.  He finished the first day third and you always think like he’s going to win, but there’s a lot of golf to play and a lot of good players.”

Moscatel Nachshon leads by one over Min Woo Lee and by two over NSW golfer John Lyras who finished joint runner-up at this year’s New Zealand Open.

Adam Scott is amongst a large group at 5 under but one of the pre-tournament favourites Cam Smith struggled to a round of 73 and will need perhaps a round of 67 tomorrow to make the weekend with the cut looking at this stage to be 1 or 2 under.

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Cam Smith’s slow start in Australian PGA Championship defence

Cameron Smith during his early morning round today – image Australian Golf Media

The defending and three-time Australian PGA Champion, Cameron Smith, has made a surprisingly disappointing start to the 2023 version of the event after his opening round of 73 left him ten shots off the early lead set by Spain’s Joel Moscatel Nachshon.

Smith, was off in the second group of the day from the 10th tee but struggled to take advantage of the relatively calm early conditions and after making the turn in even par 35 he was already falling well off the pace.

Dropped shots would come at his 16th and 17th holes, his round of 73 leaving the Queenslander needing a round of perhaps 3 or 4 under tomorrow to make it to the weekend and give his legion of local fans something to look forward to over the closing 36 holes.

Smith was clearly disappointed and upset given what were no doubt considerable expectations beginning the day.

“It was frustrating, upsetting,” said Smith.  “Yeah, I really couldn’t get anything going, just couldn’t get it close enough to the hole.  I felt like I’d hit a half-decent shot and it would go to 30, 40 feet and really not have a shot at birdie.  Yeah, it was just scrappy.”

Just when he was hoping for a strong finish to get his round under par he would bogey his 16th hole (the par five 7th), Smith blaming the need to push too hard, the cause of a bogey on one of the easiest holes of the day.

“I just tried to hit the driver off the deck.  That’s one of those things when you’re having a bit of a bad round, you try for a bit too much.  It should have been three wood to the front of the green there and a chip up the green, but when you’re trying to chase something, yeah, it was just a bad shot in and left myself in a really bad spot. Ended up making bogey there on probably what’s going to be one of the easiest holes today.  So yeah, frustrating.”

“I think this morning with the rain and the wind, the ball wasn’t going very far,” added Smith referring to the conditions over his opening few holes. “It was actually a little bit tough those probably first five or six holes, but then like you said, the wind really laid down and yeah, the greens are soft, so there’s no reason why you couldn’t have gone low from there.  It was just pretty terrible golf.”

Smith knows he has a lot of work to do if he is to have any hope of working his way back into contention and was asked if he needs to be aggressive to do so.

“I’d like to think I’m just in general a pretty aggressive player anyway, but a lot of stuff to work on this afternoon to feel comfortable.  It was getting to the point out there where it was just hard to really just commit to a shot. I felt like I was over the ball not knowing what I was going to do, which is a pretty bad place to be in on a golf course, especially when you’re trying to beat these guys.”

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Min Woo Lee heads early Australian assault at PGA Championship


Min Woo Lee – in action today – image Australian Golf Media 

Min Woo Lee led the early Australian charge for success at the Australian PGA Championship, the West Australian taking advantage of the relatively calm early conditions to record an opening round of 64 to be one behind the morning lead of Spain’s Joel Moscatel Nachshon at Royal Queensland.

Cloudy overhead conditions and the absence of wind saw Lee make his way to the turn in 34 but it was his closing nine of 5 under 31 which proved the making of the 25-year-old’s impressive start.

Coming off a year that has seen him record a best-ever finish in a major when 5th at the US Open, finish 6th at the elite Players Championship, play his way onto the PGA Tour in 2024 and win the Macao Open on the Asian Tour, Lee has elevated his standing to 45th in the world.

Lee has finished 4th in his previous two attempts at the Australian PGA Championship at Royal Queensland and when asked today how he felt both physically and mentally compared to his previous two appearances in the event he responded;

“I skipped South Africa just because I wanted to be fresh for these two events and I felt like my golf was in a pretty good position.  I kind of struggled the first week out trying to get things kind of going, but this year it’s been pretty solid, so I thought I’d start in Dubai and finish off these two.  But I feel fine now.  A bit of jetlag the last couple of days, but we can’t really do too much about that, flying from Dubai.

“I was actually pretty nervous (today), which I haven’t really felt in a while, just before the round, but that’s usually good for me.  I’d rather not get too comfortable.  But I felt really good out there and it’s awesome to have such a big crowd, especially at 6 o’clock in the morning.  It was solid.  I’m happy they came and supported us.

“This is probably the biggest crowd I’ve got all year.  Obviously, there’s exceptions at the Masters and Open but a regular event, it’s massive, you know Aussie.  There needs to be more sport in Aus and we all love playing in front of the crowd.”

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Adam Scott chasing return to winner’s circle on familiar territory

Adam Scott – in a light hearted moment at today’s media conference – image AGM

Adam Scott’s long association with Royal Queensland is just one of the motivations and reasons he has for producing a winning performance at this week’s Australian PGA Championship.

“I’ve been a member here at RQ since I was 11, so it’s always fun to come back here and now playing a major Australian championship here is fantastic,” said Scott at today’s pre-event media conference.

“It would be a really nice feeling to win this championship at my home track.  So, a lot of strong memories here of playing junior pennants and pennants for RQ.  A lot of training sessions here with the Queensland State team over the years, and of course, got to spend a lot of time with Charlie Earp as a young aspiring golfer, which was incredible.”

Scott played his first PGA Championship as a professional here when the event was played here for two years in 2000 and 2001 before being taken to Hyatt Regency Coolum on the Sunshine Coast then to RACV Royal Pines on the Gold Coast and returning to Royal Queensland in early 2022.

Scott is also keen to contend and possibly win the Australian PGA Championship for the third occasion having won in 2013 and 2019 at RACV Royal Pines on the Gold Coast.

“There’s a lot of incentive to play really well, not just for my own pride and expecting myself to play well in front of my home crowd, but for the confidence of just winning something.”

“It has been nearly four years since Scott last tasted victory at the Genesis Invitational on the PGA Tour and he is keen to get that winning feeling once again.

“I obviously haven’t found it that easy to win the last couple of years and the couple of times I’ve been close, I’ve come out on the wrong side, so I’d like to get back in that winner’s circle.”

“For a while there I was putting a few victories on the board down here, but it’s been a few years, so I’d like to win a couple more.”

Even at the age of 43 Scott feels more than capable of contending with golfers considerably younger than himself.

“I mean, the good thing for me is I’m healthy still at 43 and moving well.  I’m trying to just put all the pieces of the puzzle together.  I think the game’s moved quite quickly the last few years and I think I’ve been a bit slow to react in some areas, so like with the equipment, I’m just putting it all together and hopefully we’ll get it right and we’ll have it tested and ready to go.

“But I feel like I’ve got all the game to win more and wrap up a few more wins down here, for sure.”

In recent years Scott has built his scheduling on peaking for the majors but in 2023 his performances at that level were well below his best with 29th at the USPGA Championship being his best.

“Yeah, it was disappointing for sure.  I made a big decision back in March to change some equipment, which obviously is not the ideal time to do it, because it’s about to be the middle of major season but the frustration of feeling like I was not using stuff that’s really relevant to how the modern game is played and it was feeling too hard for me.

“I had to play too perfect to contend and I felt like I’m a better player than having to play perfect to contend, meant in the right way, like the best players in the world contend when they’re not playing perfect as well.

“So I made some changes and it took a while to kind of settle into some of those.  I really struggled with my iron play this year.  If you look at the stats, everything’s great except my iron play was the worst of my career and there were some positives on drive side and the short game side and the putting side, but the iron play dragged me down and made me pretty average.

“Like I said before, I’ve looked at the irons and the ball to address that.  I’m not making excuses, I just didn’t play well enough either, but I have been juggling a little more rather than being set and consistent, which is where I’d like to be and what I’d like to be doing going into the start of next year.”

Given Scott’s considerable standing in the game it was perhaps inevitable he would be asked about the still-to-be-decided association between LIV Golf and the PGA Tour and like most others he is still in the dark as to what the outcome might be.

“It’s really hard to know if the deal’s going to go through or not. As everyone knows, there’s four or five other interested parties investing in the PGA Tour like PIF, so management have a lot of work to do to get some final deals on the table so the board can have a look at it and see if there’s a deal that is good for everyone at the Tour.”

Scott is in the first group off from the 10th tee on day one.

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Robert MacIntyre chasing a return to Augusta National


Robert MacIntyre faces the media today – image Australian Golf Media 

Having never had the opportunity to hear Scotland’s Robert Macintyre speak, other than in television interviews, I was looking forward to today’s media conference at the Australian PGA Championship and I wasn’t let down by the 27-year-old’s beautifully understated manner.

The two-time winner and three-time runner-up on the DP World Tour and one of the stars in Europe’s year’s defeat of the Americans at the Ryder Cup in Rome has been a regular to Australia throughout his amateur and professional career, family in Melbourne making the trip just that much more special.

Currently 56th in the world ranking, one of the motivations for his appearance in this event and next week’s Australian Open, both jointly sanctioned between the PGA Tour of Australasia and the DP World Tour, is to elevate himself inside the top 50 by year’s end, guaranteeing himself another trip to the Masters where, as a left-hander, he has a great chance of building on his already impressive record at Augusta National.

“Yes, I get to see family and I’m chasing top 50 in the world,” said Macintyre when asked the motivation for coming to Australia so late in the year.

“If I can achieve that in the next two weeks I get in The Masters come April, so, I’ve got a lot to play for.  There’s a lot on the line and I also get to see some family within that.  For me, the biggest thing is getting to Augusta come April.

“I mean, I had a great opportunity in Qatar four weeks ago, I had a great opportunity in Dubai last week and I didn’t finish the way I wanted to. My wedge play has been, to be honest with you, abysmal.

“Last week on Sunday I dropped four shots inside 140 yards, on the Sunday.  There are four shots, there’s eight World Ranking points that would have taken me up to say 52nd in the world.  It’s such fine margins.

On the possibility of finishing inside the top 50 by year’s end and stamping his ticket to the Masters?

“I think if I win this week it’ll be very close.  I’m not sure, I’ve not seen what the world ranking points are going to be, but I’m sure it’s – I mean, it should be more than 10.  It should be, I’m guessing, 14, 15 with the new structure, 14, 15 with the new structure, which isn’t much, but it would be enough to get across that line.”

Macintyre now has a PGA Tour card courtesy of finishing inside the top 10 of the DP World Tour money list not otherwise exempt for the PGA Tour.

His schedule is going to change significantly but he is already looking ahead to just that.

“Yeah, so I’ve actually just signed my first rental property in the US. When I started playing golf, started playing professional golf, I never – I knew I was decent, I knew I was at a certain level. I’ve dreamed of playing certain events, winning certain events.  Did I believe it was going to happen – no.  To be honest, I didn’t.  It was just a dream; you dream as a kid.

“Things have started to happen and it’s been incredible but it’s moving fast.  I’m 27 year old, I’m not that young anymore but it is moving fast. I like home comforts. I’ve got my whole family, friends, I’m from my hometown.  I’ve not really got anyone outside of that and me and my girlfriend will move to Orlando in January and try and work things out and kind of wing it as much.”

The PGA Tour’s gain is definitely the DP World Tour’s loss, his first DP World Tour event not likely to be until the Scottish Open in July depending on how things go in the US.

“Potentially Scottish Open is probably (my first) – it’s so hard.  Only the best, best players in the world can juggle two tours and with everything going on in the PGA Tour and things, I think when you’re first starting out, you’ve got to go all in.

“Obviously, the European Tour is giving you that safety net.  It’s almost an invitation to go all in in the PGA Tour.  You obviously have to play your minimums to be eligible in case you don’t have a good year on the PGA Tour, that you can get your fallback.”

On the issues faced by left-handers and whether some courses suit better than others MacIntyre responded; “There’s one of these when I go back to Augusta, because I feel like the odds are stacked with you more than against you.  The majority of golf courses I feel are designed by ex-right-handed golfers, so the way they shape the greens are almost the opposite of Augusta.

“I’ve played it (Augusta National) twice now and finished something like 12th and 25th and I see it in my eyes.  It’s a dream that’s – one of my life goals was to play the Ryder Cup and win the Ryder Cup.  I achieved that.

“I’ve got another few goals, but one of them is to win a green jacket and I think I can do it. People around me think I can do it.  The hardest part is getting there.  Once you get there, you’ve got every chance of doing it. Yeah, it would be a lifelong dream.”

First things first however, and having produced such a good season in Europe and with such an incentive of Augusta and that he has made his way to the PGA Tour, then the performance of MacIntyre at Royal Queensland this week will be watched with interest by a large group of golf fans and not just Scots.

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Amy Yang elevates standing with Tour Championship win


Amy Yang – understated success as an LPGA Tour player – image Getty Images 

The CME Group Tour Championship win today by 34-year-old South Korean Amy Yang, her 5th on the LPGA Tour but her first on American soil, comes nearly 18 years after her playoff victory as a 16-year-old amateur at the Australian Ladies Masters at Royal Pines on the Gold Coast.

Such was the convincing nature of her win back in 2006, that many felt Yang would advance quickly to the elite of the game after turning professional later that year as the then-youngest member of the Ladies European Tour.

It has taken time to do so but this win in such a prestigious and lucrative event and against such a strong field takes her to another level in the female game and will do wonders for her as she looks to finally win a major title in 2024 after so many near misses.

Interestingly, her win today made her the oldest player to win on the LPGA Tour this season.

Yang’s connection to Australia and more especially the Gold Coast goes further however than just her spectacular victory all those years ago. Yang moved to Australia as a 15-year-old and attended Robina State High School where she has been one of the success stories of that school’s golf programme.

Yang was coached early in her time on the Gold Coast by Lawrie Montague who guided her to her Royal Pines success and then David Nable during her latter stages as an amateur and in the early stages of her professional career.

After winning twice on the Ladies European Tour, the status for which she earned as a result of her win on the Gold Coast, Yang finally earned full LPGA Tour status for the 2009 season and has held that status ever since.

While not winning as often as many felt she might, Yang had career earnings of close to US$12 million prior to this week where she has added another US$2 million as the first-place cheque for this week’s CME Group Tour Championship in Naples, Florida.

Yang is now the second-highest career earner amongst the South Koreans on the LPGA Tour, behind only Inbee Park.

21 times she has been inside the top ten (12 of them top 5’s) in major tournaments highlighting a capacity to play the big events well but perhaps unable to finish off the events as well as she might.

Yang, perhaps attempting to right that wrong, sought out assistance from mental coach Paul Dewland as she fought to focus on the present rather than the outcome.

“Yeah, at one point I was really stressed about my golf game and really didn’t know what to do. I thought maybe it’s a good time to see a mental coach and listen to what he thinks.

“Previously I worked are other mental coaches before and they were teaching me about stay positive and all this stuff. Paul was different. Paul was different.

“He encouraged me to accept all the negative stuff and help me with what things I can control and what things I cannot control.”

Today she discussed her nerves as she battled Nasa Hataoka and Alison Lee down the stretch and while her three-shot winning margin might suggest a relative ease of victory, she was engaged in a closely fought battle until birdies at her final two holes saw her draw clear.

A hole out for eagle from the fairway at the 13th assisted her cause but her win and the lucrative US$ 2 million first prize was not only richly deserved but well received by those who see her as one of the ‘good guys’ on the LPGA Tour.

“I still can’t believe I did it,” said Yang. “So great to have, and I am feeling honoured to have my first win in the U.S., especially CME Group Tour Championship, yeah.

“You know, not until I made the birdie putt on the 17th. You know, Nasa is such a great player and showed a lot of like good performance out there and I was feeling really nervous.

“You know, really like I had no idea where this was going. All I could do was just stick to my game and trust it.”

Yang has battled confidence and injury issues in her lengthy (17-year) professional career, in fact, two years ago she was wondering if she would be able to continue after suffering tennis elbow caused by a newly found interest in rock climbing.

“Maybe almost a year,” said Yang referring to her injury and the activity. “But towards the end I got really into it. I thought it was very fun so I overdid it. My forearm started hurting and it got up to tennis elbow.

“Back then, maybe like a year or two. Like I couldn’t hit the ball through. I couldn’t hit through the ball. I lost a lot of distance and scared about going for it and it took a while. I’m fully back now.”

Minjee Lee finished as the best of the Australians when she shared 8th place and earned another US$98,000, taking her season’s earnings to US$1,650,000.

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