Min Woo Lee during today’s second round – image USGA
Min Woo Lee has made an outstanding move on day two of the 123rd US Open, his second round of 65 the best of the day and sweeping the into a share of 6th place and now just four shots from the halfway leader, Rickie Fowler.
Lee, playing in the relatively early morning conditions on day two, book-ended his round with birdies but in between there were four other birdies and a lone bogey at the 5th hole where he found trouble form the teen and could only advance to ball 65 yards and was left with a pitch from 115 yards to attempt a par save. It was not to be but he is nicely placed heading to the weekend of just his second US Open.
“Everything is working pretty good,” said the 24 year old from Perth. “My approach play has been pretty lacking over the last year or my whole career, so it’s quite nice to actually be in the positives I think the last two days.
“Hitting it well, driving it well, driving it a long way actually, which is nice on this course because it’s long. Just not making too many mistakes. When I do hit it in the rough, I need to take my medicine and just hit it out.”
When asked, Lee would say; “I really don’t know why I decide to play well in the majors and not other tournaments. Yeah, I think it’s a good thing. I don’t know if I just focus just a little bit more and just know that some of these grind-it-out pars are actually moving up on the field.
“I think when the courses are pretty easy at different tournaments, if you make a bogey, you feel like you’ve moved back 30 spots, and over here in a major it’s not too bad. Just to keep your head in the game, it can get away from you so quick. I think something to do with the mindset for sure.
There are some similarities between The Los Angeles Country Club and some of the fine courses of the Melbourne sunbelt and Lee agreed. “Yeah, it reminds me of Royal Melbourne and a few Melbourne courses. It’s pretty brown for an American course. I think that’s what I look back at. I’ve played at Royal Melbourne plenty of times, and I love playing shots and not just hitting a straight shot, which I’ve been struggling with because some of the courses are pretty straight and I need to hit it straighter.
“But it’s nice to actual shape shots into greens on some of the tee shots.”
Against an even stronger field earlier this year, Lee managed to finish 6th at the Players Championship so has the knowledge that he can contend at this level.
“I think that was one of the times where I really thought I could actually contend and be there, and I had a couple bad holes at THE PLAYERS but I really didn’t think I was far off. Still held it at the end, and yeah, that gave me a lot of confidence for the tournaments coming through.”
Cam Smith – image USGA
Lee heads the Australasians by two shots over Cam Smith who assisted his cause with a round of 67 to be at 4 under and tied for 10th and very much in contention for a tilt as his second national open following his success at the Open Championship 11 months ago.
“I feel as though I’ve been playing good golf now for a couple of months,” said the Queenslander. “Just feels really solid. It feels like I’m not doing much wrong. I just need those, like I said, those longer putts, one or two to drop every round and I’m right there.
“I have felt pretty comfortable all week. I actually probably had a bit of a worse warm-up this morning and wasn’t really looking forward to getting off the tee, but, yeah, it kind of just come around and, yeah, ended up getting the irons going, getting the driver going again and yeah it was good.
“I think as these fairways firm up a little I think they will probably play a little bit narrower.
“But generally they’re pretty wide fairways, especially for a U.S. Open. I’ve been driving the ball great. I think I just got to keep the ball in the fairway and just keep hitting it into the centres of greens.
“There’s a ton of greens around there where you can get in really bad spots and get out of position and you’re looking at 5 or 6 pretty quick.”
New Zealand’s Ryan Fox is the only other Australasian to make the weekend despite a second round of 74. He just made it on the cut mark but he had done well to play his last seven holes in even par to be around for the final 36 holes.
Lucas Herbert and Adam Scott (5 over) Karl Vilips and Jason Day (9 over) and Cameron Davis (11 over) all missed the cut of 2 over and rounded out the Australasians.
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Cameron Smith retains slim hope at US Open
Cam Smith – at the 15th today – image courtesy of USGA
A roller coaster closing nine of 36 in today’s third round of the US Open has likely cost Cam Smith a chance of adding the US Open to his Open Championship crown although a birdie at his final hole has kept open faint hope of something special in tomorrow’s final round.
When Smith walked to the 14th tee he stood at 5 under par for the championship and within six of Wyndham Clarke’s 11 under par lead but bogeys at the `14th, 16th and 17th holes had him back at 2 under and any remote chance in tomorrow’s final round appeared gone.
Smith, though, would hole a 25 foot birdie putt at the last and finished the day seven shots from the leaders, Clark and Rickie Fowler who in turn are one shot ahead of Rory McIlroy and although he will need something special himself tomorrow and some help from some of the world’s best ahead of him on the leaderboard, Smith remains alive.
“Yeah, lots of good in there,” said Smith when asked about the topsy turvy nature of the closing nine.
“I don’t think there was lots of bad, either. I think it was just the golf course was tough. The golf course is getting firmer and faster, as I expected, and going to take some really good play to get around even, and managed to hang in there for a while and get under par, and yeah, just a bit of a poor finish, I guess, the last five holes.”
When asked what he thinks needs to happen tomorrow Smith said; “Geez, probably one of the best rounds of my life. It’s going to have to take at least 5- or 6-, probably even 7-under, I think. The golf course is getting tougher, but there’s still lots of wedges out there. The leaders are there for a reason, as well. They’re obviously playing really good golf.”
Min Woo Lee struggled to a round of 74 and is one shot behind Smith and tied for 12th place after two late birdies kept his round respectable.
New Zealand’s Ryan Fox was round in 69 to be tied for 32nd at 1 over a very encouraging effort and he has a good chance to beat his previous best in four starts to date in the event of 41st in 2018.
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Rickie Fowler – co leader image USGA
Min Woo Lee produces day’s best 65 to share 6th place in Los Angeles
Min Woo Lee during today’s second round – image USGA
Min Woo Lee has made an outstanding move on day two of the 123rd US Open, his second round of 65 the best of the day and sweeping the into a share of 6th place and now just four shots from the halfway leader, Rickie Fowler.
Lee, playing in the relatively early morning conditions on day two, book-ended his round with birdies but in between there were four other birdies and a lone bogey at the 5th hole where he found trouble form the teen and could only advance to ball 65 yards and was left with a pitch from 115 yards to attempt a par save. It was not to be but he is nicely placed heading to the weekend of just his second US Open.
“Everything is working pretty good,” said the 24 year old from Perth. “My approach play has been pretty lacking over the last year or my whole career, so it’s quite nice to actually be in the positives I think the last two days.
“Hitting it well, driving it well, driving it a long way actually, which is nice on this course because it’s long. Just not making too many mistakes. When I do hit it in the rough, I need to take my medicine and just hit it out.”
When asked, Lee would say; “I really don’t know why I decide to play well in the majors and not other tournaments. Yeah, I think it’s a good thing. I don’t know if I just focus just a little bit more and just know that some of these grind-it-out pars are actually moving up on the field.
“I think when the courses are pretty easy at different tournaments, if you make a bogey, you feel like you’ve moved back 30 spots, and over here in a major it’s not too bad. Just to keep your head in the game, it can get away from you so quick. I think something to do with the mindset for sure.
There are some similarities between The Los Angeles Country Club and some of the fine courses of the Melbourne sunbelt and Lee agreed. “Yeah, it reminds me of Royal Melbourne and a few Melbourne courses. It’s pretty brown for an American course. I think that’s what I look back at. I’ve played at Royal Melbourne plenty of times, and I love playing shots and not just hitting a straight shot, which I’ve been struggling with because some of the courses are pretty straight and I need to hit it straighter.
“But it’s nice to actual shape shots into greens on some of the tee shots.”
Against an even stronger field earlier this year, Lee managed to finish 6th at the Players Championship so has the knowledge that he can contend at this level.
“I think that was one of the times where I really thought I could actually contend and be there, and I had a couple bad holes at THE PLAYERS but I really didn’t think I was far off. Still held it at the end, and yeah, that gave me a lot of confidence for the tournaments coming through.”
Cam Smith – image USGA
Lee heads the Australasians by two shots over Cam Smith who assisted his cause with a round of 67 to be at 4 under and tied for 10th and very much in contention for a tilt as his second national open following his success at the Open Championship 11 months ago.
“I feel as though I’ve been playing good golf now for a couple of months,” said the Queenslander. “Just feels really solid. It feels like I’m not doing much wrong. I just need those, like I said, those longer putts, one or two to drop every round and I’m right there.
“I have felt pretty comfortable all week. I actually probably had a bit of a worse warm-up this morning and wasn’t really looking forward to getting off the tee, but, yeah, it kind of just come around and, yeah, ended up getting the irons going, getting the driver going again and yeah it was good.
“I think as these fairways firm up a little I think they will probably play a little bit narrower.
“But generally they’re pretty wide fairways, especially for a U.S. Open. I’ve been driving the ball great. I think I just got to keep the ball in the fairway and just keep hitting it into the centres of greens.
“There’s a ton of greens around there where you can get in really bad spots and get out of position and you’re looking at 5 or 6 pretty quick.”
New Zealand’s Ryan Fox is the only other Australasian to make the weekend despite a second round of 74. He just made it on the cut mark but he had done well to play his last seven holes in even par to be around for the final 36 holes.
Lucas Herbert and Adam Scott (5 over) Karl Vilips and Jason Day (9 over) and Cameron Davis (11 over) all missed the cut of 2 over and rounded out the Australasians.
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Ryan Fox heads down under brigade early at US Open
Ryan Fox – image courtesy of USGA
New Zealand’s Ryan Fox leads the eight Australasians after day one of the US Open at the Los Angeles Country Club, Fox taking advantage of the early morning calm and soft conditions to record a round of 68 to be in a share of 14th position, his only real blemish coming when missing a five foot par putt at the 13th hole.
That was the good news for Fox, the bad news being that he trails the joint first round leaders, Xander Schauffele and Rickie Fowler by six shots after that pair had recorded the best ever rounds recorded at the US Open (62).
Fox is playing his 5th US Open but with three missed cuts and a best of 41st in the previous four, the event has not been good to the 36 year old to date.
Fox is, however, now a special temporary member of the PGA Tour after producing several good results in events thus far this season where he had gained starts via his great season in Europe last year and via his world ranking, and he is building confidence and experience at this level.
Cam Smith – during today’s first round – image USGA
Cam Smith appeared as if he might be the one to lead the down under brigade when he moved to 2 under through 10 but missed the fairway at the 13th, was forced to lay up and took bogey. He would hole a twenty footer for birdie at the 17th but then bogeyed the last when he again missed the fairway and green.
Smith finished with 1 under par 69, a score he would share with Min Woo Lee who also played late in the day.
Lucas Herbert finished with a round of even par 70, Cam Davis had 72, Adam Scott and Jason Day both had 3 over 73’s and amateur, Karl Vilips, who was even par through ten holes, eventually finished with 74.
At this stage, the cut appears as if it will fall around the 2 over par mark.
But the day belonged to Schauffele and Fowler whose rounds of 62 created history and opened up a two shot lead over Dustin Johnson and Wyndham Clark.
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Bosio leads five Australians into Women’s Amateur Match Play
Justice Bosio – file photo USGA
Five Australians have qualified for the match play phase of the Women’s Amateur Championship following the completion of 36 holes of stroke-play at the Princes Golf Club in Kent, Caboolture’s Justice Bosio the best of them when she finished in a share of 17th place and secured her place inside the top 64 to advance.
Bosio has been the runner-up at the Women’s Australian Amateur Championship in each of the past two years.
Also getting through were Gold Coaster, Lion Higo (31st), now a student at Pepperdine University in California, Perth’s Abbie Teasdale (49th) and South Australians Caitlin Pierce (49th) and Amelia Whinney (62nd).
The event now enters it’s knockout phase where the five Australians look to become the first Australian to win the event since Edwina Kennedy in 1978.
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Big week for Su Oh in New Jersey
Su Oh – file photo – form turnaround in New Jersey
Victorian, Su Oh, produced a stunning best of the day final round of 64 at the Shoprite LPGA Classic in New Jersey, sweeping the 27 year old into a share of 6th place and securing her best LPGA Tour finish in nearly two years.
Oh has played only one other LPG Tour event this season, finishing 61st after what had been a horror year in 2022 where she missed twelve of her last 13 cuts and in fact had been forced to play events on the secondary Futures Tour in order to keep her game in shape.
This finish and the accompanying US$43,000 will provide the three time runner-up on the LPGA Tour with a significant boost and her ongoing progress will be watched with interest.
Oh first joined the LPGA Tour in 2016 and has earned close to US$2.6 million in that time.
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Alker joint second as Stricker wins again
Steve Alker – file photo courtesy of USGA
Last year it was New Zealand’s Steve Alker who was the dominant force on the PGA Tour Champions, in 2023 it is Steve Stricker who has taken that role but Alker is hanging in there, producing one victory and now three runner-up finishes in eight stars this season.
Today, Alker again finished runner-up (this time in a share with England’s Paul Broadhurst) albeit five shots behind Stricker at the American Family Insurance Championship in Stricker’s home state of Wisconsin
Alker will add another US$191,000 for his week’s work, moving him to US$1,154,000 and to 3rd place on the Charles Schwab Cup table for the season behind only Stricker and Canada’s Stephen Ames.
Stricker, who now owns four victories along with four runner-up finishes in ten starts this season, is a massive US$1.4 million ahead of Ames.
Rod Pampling was the next best of the Australasians this week when he finished tied for 22nd.
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The Australasians at the US Open
The US Open trophy at the Los Angeles CC with the LA skyline behind – photo USGA J.D. Cuban
Seven Australians and one New Zealander will tee it up at the US Open at the Los Angeles Country Club on Thursday, the group attempting to be one of what would be only four Australasians to win this prestigious title.
David Graham, Michael Campbell and Geoff Ogilvy are the previous three and at least three of the seven could be considered chances at least to make it four.
Cam Smith heads the group in terms of world ranking and arrives in Los Angeles after a 9th place at the PGA Championship and an 11th place finish at the LIV Golf event in Washington DC in his most recent starts.
Smith’s record at the US Open is an interesting one. His 4th place finish on debut in the event at the 2015 US Open was the catalyst for him getting to the PGA Tour soon after but that aside, in six other starts he has a best of 38th with three missed cuts amongst the others.
Smith’s 9th place finish at the PGA Championship gives some hope to an improvement to his US Open record but he will need to improve on his overall 2023 form if he is to challenge for the title.
Jason Day’s current form is a bit hard to work out. His fine win at the AT@T Byron Nelson Championship in May has been surrounded by three missed cuts so while he displayed golf at close to his best in Dallas, his form since has been below what he would need this week to go one better than his two runner-up finishes.
Adam Scott finished 9th in his warm-up event at the Memorial suggesting things are on track for a good week.
Scott will play his 22nd US Open but with only three top tens including a best of 4th at Chambers Bay in the event thus far, he will need to be at his very best to beat his effort in 2015.
New Zealand’s Ryan Fox has played well in nine events to date in the US and now has the opportunity to play as many PGA Tour events as he can gain invites to.
This will be Fox’s 5th US Open but with a best of 41st in those starts he will need significant improvement if he is to do better. He is, however, a much better and more experienced player than ever before and, with the benefit of increasing confidence in the US, a good week could well be expected.
For Cameron Davis, this will, perhaps surprisingly, be his first US Open, not having a high enough ranking or been able to qualify in the past. The former Australian and World Amateur Champion, Australian Open Champion and winner on both the PGA and Korn Ferry Tours is a classy player building a great career in the US and he deserves his chance in this great event.
Davis’s form in recent times includes a 6th place finish at the Players Championship, a 7th place at the RBC Heritage event and, very importantly, an outstanding 4th place at the PGA Championship.
He displayed on the tough layout at the PGA Championship that he was up to this style of golf and his performance this week will be of much interest.
Lucas Herbert will play his fourth US Open having missed the cut on two previous occasions and with a best of 31st at Winged Foot in 2020.
Herbert has missed his last two cuts this year but prior to that was midfleld at the PGA and won in Japan so there is a bit to like about his form. Herbert could struggle to contend this week but his turn in majors might well come and before long.
Min Woo Lee’s best and only finish at the US Open was when 27th at Brookline last year. He also played well on debut at the Masters last year, suggesting the majors do not faze him.
Lee was 18th at the PGA Championship and a very impressive 6th at the Players Championship also on debut but there have been a few missed cuts thrown in of late. Lee is an amazing talent with skills destined to take him to the elite of the game but it may be a bit soon to suggest he can contend this week.
The final player amongst the Australasians is West Australian amateur, Karl Vilips, who gained his start at last week’s Final Qualifying. For Vilips it will be his first major appearance and while this will be a huge learning curve he has done exceptionally well to advance from the original 10,000 or so entries for this event to make the field of 156.
Vilips is a former Junior Presidents Cup player and a winner of the prestigious Southern Amateur and is currently attending Stanford University.
On paper at least it appears as if Cam Smith and Adam Scott provide the most hope for Australasians but Cam Davis might well be one to perform very well in his US Open debut.
Jordan Zunic finds form in Spain
Jordan Zunic file photo
Wollongong golfer, Jordan Zunic’s golfing career has been somewhat of a roller coaster since turning professional in 2014, a win at the 2015 New Zealand Open and a runner-up finish at the Australian PGA Championship perhaps the highlights to date but there have been plenty of dry spells also.
In eleven starts in 2023 there has been just the one top ten that coming in a smaller TPS event in Sydney but this weekend may well see that record improve significantly.
At the halfway mark of a Challenge Tour event in Europe, the 31 year old shares the lead with England’s Sam Hutsby, that pair opening up a three shot lead at the Andalucia Challenge in Spain.
In addition to his New Zealand Open win and near miss against Cameron Smith at the 2017 PGA Championship, Zunic has also won the Queensland Open and the NTPGA Championship so contending and winning is not unfamiliar to him but given his form thus far in 2023 his performance this week is both a surprise and encouraging.
Zunic puts his improvement down to recent work with his putter. “I had a good start today with a couple of birdies and my putter has been so hot over the last two days,” he said. “Putting is half of the game and it has been so nice to see them roll in recently. I’m very happy with how things have gone.
“This round has been a long time coming and I’ve done a lot of work on my putting in recent weeks. It’s nice to see that come to fruition and these greens definitely suit my eye.”
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Karl Vilips earns US Open start
Karl Vilips – file photo courtesy of USGA
Indonesian born but now US based West Australian amateur, Karl Vilips, will join seven other Australasians in the field for this year’s US Open following the completion of Final Qualifying over 36 holes at ten venues across the USA this morning.
Vilips, who is currently attending Stanford University in Northern California, earned one of the four spots available amongst 60 golfers at his venue in Maryland and will play his first US Open at the Los Angeles Country Club on June 15th.
Vilips finished tied for 1st at the Woodmont Country Club in Rockville after rounds of 68 and 70.
Vilips, a winner of multiple Junior World Championships, a winner of the Southern Amateur Championship, a member of the Junior Presidents Cup team and a quarter finalist at the 2019 US Amateur, amongst his many achievements in the game to date, is currently a key member of the Stanford Golf Team but now gets his chance on a truly international stage.
Other Australians at the same venue included Marc Leishman who finished in 8th place today and Travis Smyth who finished 22nd.
There were several other Australasians competing at other venues but only Vilips has played his way through the demanding qualifying process and earned the right to play the third major of the year.
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Final US Open Qualifying offers further hope
The US Open – over 10,000 entries narrowed to 156 – photo USGA
If you have ever fancied the idea of playing the US Open, just consider, if you will, the odds of even getting into the field and the respect due those who make it to the first tee at the Los Angeles Country Club on June 15th.
With over 10,000 original entries, the field will eventually be narrowed to 156 and with around 110 of those already eligible through various qualifying criteria, another 45 or so face the prospect of being amongst the 645 players at ten different venues across the USA on Monday June 5th, chasing one of those 45 or so further spots available in the field for the third major of the year.
Included amongst those 645 teeing it up in pursuit of a place in the field are 14 Australasians, including the likes of 2006 Champion Geoff Ogilvy, two time Australian Open champions Matt Jones and Aaron Baddeley and Marc Leishman.
The Australasians already exempt into the field are Cameron Smith, Jason Day, Adam Scott, Cam Davis, Lucas Herbert, Min Woo Lee and Ryan Fox.
Final Qualifying fields and scoring