This week’s ISPS Handa Women’s Australian Open is historic on many fronts. Let’s take a glance:
- The Royal Melbourne Golf Club is among the highest ranked courses in Golf Digest’s “World’s Top 100” that are used regularly on the LPGA. Ranked ninth in the latest worldwide ranking in 2014, Royal Melbourne falls second only to The Old Course at St. Andrews (seventh in Digest), a site for the Ricoh Women’s British Open every five years. Royal Canberra was the 2013 site and Victoria Golf Club the 2014 site of the Australian event.
- The 2012 tournament was the first women’s professional competition held at Royal Melbourne. American Jessica Korda, then age 18, won with a 25-foot birdie putt on the second extra hole of a LPGA record-tying six-player playoff. In recording her first LPGA victory, Korda beat Stacy Lewis, Brittany Lincicome, Julieta Granada, So Yeon Ryu and Hee Kyung Seo, all of whom finished at 3-under par, the lowest winning total in relation to par in tournament history. The men’s Australian Open has been held at Royal Melbourne 16 times, but not since 1991.
- Royal Melbourne will use a “composite course” which includes 12 holes from the more famous West Course and six from the East. The course will measure 6,750 yards and play to par 73, with a par-35 front nine and par-38 back nine. There are three par 5s on the back nine (Nos. 10, 14 and 17) and only three par 3s on the entire course.
- Royal Melbourne was one of World Golf Hall of Fame course architect Dr. Alister MacKenzie’s first acclaimed course designs (1926). He would later design Cypress Point Golf Club in Pebble Beach, Calif. (1928) and Augusta National Golf Club (1933) among others.
- The ISPS Handa Australian Women’s Open is one of four national championships on the LPGA schedule – U.S. Women’s Open, Ricoh Women’s British Open, Canadian Pacific Women’s Open and Australian Open.
American drought; South Korean streak
American golfers began the 2014 season by winning 10 of the first 19 tournaments and rallied to take the top seed in the inaugural International Crown tournament last summer. Since Mo Martin won the Ricoh Women’s British Open last July 13, only two of the last 17 winners have been Americans (Austin Ernst at the Aug. 31 Portland Classic and Christina Kim at the Nov. 16 Lorena Ocha Invitational).
Conversely, South Korean golfers have won the first two tournaments of 2015, and there have been nine South Korean winners since Martin’s victory at Royal Birkdale. That includes a win by rookie Sei Young Kim two weeks ago.
Another South Korean-born youngster, Su Oh, has been surging recently. Oh, an 18-year-old Australia resident turned pro this year. She finished second at the Victorian Open two weeks ago (after bogeying the final three holes) and first last week at the Australian Women’s Masters (after birdieing the final four holes) in her first two pro starts. Oh is in this week’s field, along with another promising South Korean Aussie teenager, Minjee Lee.
Ko takes the spotlight
Lydia Ko is the top draw for this week’s Australian Women’s Open, as she is entering her third week as the No. 1-ranked women’s golfer in the world and her proximity to the tournament site in Melbourne. A New Zealander since age 6, Ko’s hometown is just a four-hour flight from Royal Melbourne. In addition, with the absence No. 2-ranked Inbee Park and No. 3 Stacy Lewis this week, Ko will draw more attention.
Three years ago, when the tournament made its first stop at Royal Melbourne, Ko shot 74-76-72-73 as a 15-year-old amateur and placed T19, 3-over par and six strokes out of a six-person playoff. She finished third in 2013 (tied for the lead entering the final round) and T3 last year at other sites.
Webb continues career achievements
Defending ISPS Handa Women’s Australian Open champion Karrie Webb is closing on $20 million in career earnings – in her 20th season of LPGA competition. She needs $758,624 to surpass that figure, a plateau reached only by Annika Sorenstam ($22,573,192).
Webb, 40, has earned more than $758,624 in 13 of her 19 years on the LPGA and is also going for a sixth Australian Women’s Open title this week. She finished T56 at Royal Melbourne three years ago, shooting three consecutive 75s and a final-round 80.
Etc.
Morgan Pressel will be honored with the 2015 Charlie Bartlett Award during the Golf Writers Association of America’s Awards Dinner April 8 in Augusta, Ga. Given to a playing professional for unselfish contributions to the betterment of society, the award pays tribute to Pressel for raising more than $3.4 million to heighten breast cancer awareness in honor of her late mother Kathryn Krickstein. Stacy Lewis, the 2014 LPGA Player of the Year as voted by the GWAA, will also be honored at the dinner. … Melbourne is 16 hours ahead of the Eastern Time Zone. All rounds of the tournament will be broadcast live by the Golf Channel: 11 p.m.-2 a.m. (EST) on Wednesday, 11:30 p.m.-2 a.m. on Thursday, 11:30 p.m.-2 a.m. on Friday and 9 p.m.-2 a.m., on Saturday. … England’s Charley Hull has already shown her ability on the LPGA stage but this week marks her rookie debut as an LPGA member. Hull, 18, was the shared runner-up in last week’s Australian Ladies Masters. … Caddie ties: Three weeks ago, Brooks Koepka won his first PGA Tour title at the Waste Management Phoenix Open with Ricky Elliott serving as his caddie. The day before, Elliott’s best friend, David Jones, was on the bag for Na Yeon Choi’s victory in the season-opening Coates Golf Championship. … Watch out for defending champion Jessica Korda this week. She leads the LPGA in Greens in Regulation (81.3 percent) and is sixth in Scoring Average (70.2) while placing sixth in Driving Distance (264.3-yard average). When she won at Royal Melbourne in 2012, Korda averaged 274 yards off the tee, among the leaders in the field.
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