Australian Open Golf 2023: Scores, updates and leaderboard from opening round
A 16-year-old who skipped school to play in the Australian Open stole the show on a day where an Aussie contender was brutally denied a course record.
Rachel Lee had to fill out an absence note to play in the Australian Open on Thursday. We’re thinking that the teachers at Endeavour Sports High in southern Sydney won’t be kicking up a stink.
Not after Lee fired a six-under par 67 to take the opening round lead over a stellar field at the Australian Open. After all, the 16-year-old had bigger fish to fry than year 10 mathematics.
While her schoolmates were tucking into their recess, Lee was in the throes of conquering a cracking field that included Minjee Lee and former world No.1 Jiyai Shin (68).
“It is a sports school so it is much more flexible,” Lee said after her opening round.
“I still have to catch up on school work but I don’t really think about it right now. I definitely didn’t worry about it. Very exciting, very honoured.
“It was really good to play among my heroes here.”
No judgement here. Lee’s bio says she likes listening to comedy and playing the flute in her spare time and she was certainly on song on Thursday.
Lee, still an amateur whose favourite player happens to be tournament favourite Lee (68), made the most of the favourable early conditions as she fired eight birdies and two bogeys on the first day of the national championship.
The heavens opened as she reached the final hole of her first round but by then, a soaked Lee was well and truly in the zone and drained another birdie to put an exclamation point on her breakout performance.
“I just want to get out of the rain, so a quick tap in and then yeah,” Lee said.
“I mean, I did try my best out there. Shots were solid, putting was solid and everything was pretty good out there for me.”
The only time Lee looked frazzled was at the start of her day when she mixed up her tee time. Lee was on the putting green when her coach Steve McRae told her she was due to start her round.
“I was putting and then my coach just said, ‘Rachel, you’re on the tees’,” she said.
“So I just ran for my life. I was really excited so I didn’t have much nerves. I guess it is the Oz Open so I had a bit of pressure.”
Lee’s talent hasn’t been secret. She started playing golf after attending after-school care and was instantly mesmerised. She qualified for the Open after beating a field of pros at Ryde Parramatta on Monday and then left some of the world’s best players in her wake.
One of them was another of her heroes - Shin. The pair played a practice round together in the leadup to the event and to say Shin was impressed would be an understatement.
“I’m surprised at how strong she is,” Shin said.
“She has a great opportunity to see what she needs to learn to get to the next level, especially with the men and women playing together here.”
Lee walked away from that meeting with renewed confidence and belief in her game.
“So it was very nice and I learnt heaps from her,” Lee said.
“She was telling me to challenge myself and shape shots. I used them quite a fair bit today and it worked out really well.”
So well, she finds herself atop the leaderboard at the Australian Open. The challenge now will be to stay there. She may be only 16, but she is here to win.
“Yeah, obviously,” she fired back.
“I have seen it but I don’t want to think too far ahead.”
FICKLE WEATHER ROBS DAVIS OF COURSE RECORD
As if golf isn’t already a cruel enough game, Sydney’s fickle weather robbed Cameron Davis of a share of a historic course record at the Australian Open while his namesake Cameron Smith plonked two balls into the water in a rough start to the tournament.
Davis was on fire in his opening round at The Lakes, making the most of the favourable early morning conditions to shoot a flawless nine-under 63, that included seven birdies and an eagle.
His unblemished scorecard equalled the course record John Senden set in 2011 but didn’t count because officials had given players permission to use preferred lies after the course was drenched by heavy rain the day before.
Missing out on the record didn’t phase Davis in the least though, because he’s got bigger fish to fry so wouldn’t trade his sizzling start for anything.
“I made a couple of more nice putts to get that score keeping on going down but it was a really solid round of golf,” he said.
“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.”
A Sydney local, Davis has already got his name engraved on the Stonehaven up after he won the 2017 tournament held at The Australian, which is co-hosting this year’s edition with The Lakes.
Starting on the back nine with the course bathed in morning sunshine, Davis got the ideal playing conditions to rip it up and he did just that, going through his first five holes in five-under before the weather started to turn foul and scoring became more difficult.
“Honestly, I had no idea what to expect. I was sort of expecting the wind to start picking up, it never really did. The direction it was going made some holes tough, but a lot of holes a little bit easier.
“The start here was key. You want to make the most of good conditions out here, because there is the opportunity to go low, so I’m very happy with the start and now it’s just about finding rhythm out there.”
Davis’ sparkling round was eight strokes better than Australian golf’s other Cameron, last year’s British Open champ Cam Smith.
Reduced to tears after he missed the cut at the Australian PGA in Queensland last week, Smith brightened up his blemished card with four birdies after two of his mistimed swings ended in watery graves.
“There’s definitely something to build on there, for sure,” Smith said.
“I didn’t feel as kind of anxious and uncomfortable I guess. There’s a couple of really
tough shots out there, particularly tee shots, so it was good to just commit.
“I hit a couple in the water, but it was nice to just feel that commitment and actually try and hit the right shot. Job done.”
DAVIS RACES OUT OF BLOCKS, SMITH STRUGGLES
Cameron Davis is on track for a sensational first round at the Australian Open after bursting out of the gates on a perfect, sunny day in Sydney’s eastern suburbs.
The 2017 Stonehaven Cup winner, Davis reeled off four birdies and an eagle within his first eight holes after beginning on the back nine at The Lakes.
He then picked up another two birdies on the fourth and seventh holes to hold the early lead at eight-under with two holes still to play.
Scotland’s Grant Forest, playing at The Australian golf course nearby, snatched the early clubhouse lead when he signed for a six-under 65, steaming home with five birdies in his last eight holes.
Last week’s Australian PGA champion Min Woo Lee, playing The Lakes, was ideally positioned at five-under after carding a flawless 67 while his playing partner Cameron Smith posted a 71 after struggling to get hot.
Still erratic but looking better than when he missed the cut at the PGA last week, Smith mixed four birdies with three bogeys.
Early morning marquee groups @TheLakesGC 🤩#AusOpenGolfpic.twitter.com/e8RrxSxc5R
— Australian Open (@AusOpenGolf) November 29, 2023
South Korea’s Jiyai Shin was the early leader in the women’s tournament, getting to four-under with three to play at The Lakes.
Minjee Lee, the favourite to win the women’s event, was at two-under with one hole left after a rollercoaster round that included seven birdies but also three bogeys and a double.
Japan’s Ayaka Sugihara provided a highlight reel moment when she made a hole-in-one at the 144 metre 11th, finding the cup with a sweetly struck seven-iron.
The top players were greeted by big galleries and morning sunshine when they arrived at the courses in Sydney’s eastern suburbs after heavy rain the previous day forced organisers to allow players to clean and replace any balls that were muddy.
AUS OPEN LOOMS AS ULTIMATE TEST OF NERVES AND PATIENCE
Whoever wins either of this week’s Australian Opens will have earned their share of the $3.7 million prizemoney the hard way because the tournaments are shaping up as the ultimate test of golf.
For the second year in a row, but the first time in Sydney, both the men’s and women’s tournaments will be played simultaneously – at two separate courses.
That means the eventual winners not only have to better their opponents, but also have to navigate their way around two neighbouring, but very different championship layouts.
Located right next to each other in Sydney’s posh eastern suburbs, The Australian and The Lakes are both pristine golf courses that can’t be underestimated because they are stacked with unique challenges – from water hazards to fast, slippery greens and seaside winds that change direction without a moment’s warning.
“Both golf courses are in super shape, they are immaculate,” said Nick Dastey, the general manager of tournaments at the PGA Tour of Australasia.
“The conditioning of both golf courses is incredible. They make you want to play golf, but they present a lot of challenges.”
Under the unique format of the twin tournaments, Thursday’s and Friday’s first and second rounds for men and women will be played at both courses, with everyone switching venues after the opening day.
The final two rounds will all be played at The Australian, with the top 60-placed men and 32 women making the weekend cut.
With rain and wind forecast for the rest of the week, the greens should soften up, making the course play longer and placing more importance on accurate approach shots.
“It’s a little bit different to last year’s (Australian) Open, on the (Victorian) Sandbelt where the grass is very similar across both venues,” Dastey said.
“There’s a fair bit of difference in both these golf courses, not just grasses but just the general set up and how wind can affect both golf courses. They can play quite difficult.”
Both courses are unusual in that they don’t finish with regulation par-four holes, with the last at The Lakes a tantalising par-three and the final hole at The Australian a par-five that is historically the easiest hole of all.
“That can create some fantastic finishes, the ability to make an eagle at the last hole to win the tournament or make a birdie to tie,” Dastey said.
“Of course all the par-fives present the best chances to the players (to make birdies) but both courses have very tricky starts and I think the par-threes are where the tournament will be won and lost.”
Cam Davis, who won the Stonehaven Cup when it was played at The Australian in 2017, said that while both courses can be tricky to play when the wind blows, he still expects the eventual winners to finish in the red numbers.
“It’s a good, strong test all the way around here and if you can keep yourself out of trouble, pars are never going to hurt you here,” Davis said.
“But I think you’re still going to need to shoot some good scores this week to get yourself up the top.”
The one thing everyone agrees is that the key to winning will be for players to remain patient.
. When the Australian Open was held at The Lakes in 2018, the first three holes played the hardest of all.
But the four par-fives are all located between the eighth and 17th holes, so there are chances later on.
The opening stretch at The Australian is also tough but the run home is full of opportunities, setting the stage for a grandstand finish.
“The Aussie Open, the tournament that means so much to all Australians,” said Adam Scott.
“It has a great history and one I’ve been lucky enough to win, but also had a lot of close calls.
“Playing quite nicely at the moment. I’d like to get myself in the mix and try and win a second Aussie Open this week.”
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