A history of repeat Australian Open winners at the Australian Golf Club could be the magic recipe for Cameron Davis to add to his 2017 success after a stunning start to the tournament in Sydney as Cameron Smith’s struggles continued.
While he opened his campaign with a brilliant nine-under 63 across the road at The Lakes, with the dual-gender event being played across the two layouts, his next three rounds will all be at The Australian where golfing legend Jack Nicklaus won the event three times and more recently Matt Jones won twice.
Davis, the world number 43, took full advantage of perfect early morning conditions to burst out of the blocks, with four birdies and an eagles in his opening nine holes propelling him to six-under.
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He added another three birdies on his way to the clubhouse, without a single bogey, to finish alone on top of the leaderboard which left him eight-shots ahead of Smith who closed with a bogey, one of three in a ‘frustrating” one-under par opening round.
“I think it could have been a few less, to be honest. I kind of missed a couple of putts there towards the end of the round when I started to feel all right,” Smith said.
“A little bit frustrating, but it was better.
“I think there’s definitely something to build on there, for sure. I didn’t feel as kind of anxious and uncomfortable I guess.”
Davis reflects on record start | 01:51
Masters champion Adam Scott also battled, a final-hole birdie leaving with an even-par opening round.
American Patrick Rodgers, ranked 92 in the world, fell just short of matching Davis, shooting an eight-under 64 to sit second, with West Australian Hayden Hopewell a shot further back as was Scotland’s Connor Syme.
Davis said the familiar surrounds of the Australia gave him a nice feeling, given it’s also so close to home for the PGA Tour winner who plies his trade in the US.
“It’s so fun coming back here, being able to see the places where I hit some shots that were really crucial during that [final] round [in 2017],” Davis said.
“It’s also just a lot of fun because it’s a home game for me. This is as close as I’m ever going to play to home, growing up about 30 minutes north of here. So friends and family are going to be here. It’s a lot of fun. I love coming back home.”
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Playing together in front of massive crowds for a Thursday morning, Australian PGA winner Min Woo Lee and superstar Smith, coming off a shock missed cut in Brisbane, traded birdies with nine between them.
Lee finished on five-under, two shots behind Davis, as his hot-form continued with an opening 67.
But for Smith, the troubles which plagued him in Brisbane were present again and he mixed his four birdies with three bogeys, including one on his final hole, as he battled to an even-par round of 71 which included putting his tee shot on his second hold of the day into the water.
Smith only made two birdies total across his two wobbly rounds at Royal Queensland last week and confessed on Wednesday to being short of confidence, and battling a technical issue with his swing.
Wild weather on Wednesday forced organisers into a last-minute rule change for the opening two rounds, adopting a preferred lie local rule for fairways allowing players to pick up and replace any shots which landed on the fairway.
The rule was enacted so that players can clean their balls, and is often used at the grassroots level but not in the elite game.
AUSTRALIAN OPEN MEN’S LEADERBOARD
(Australian unless stated)
9-under – Cameron Davis
8-under – Patrick Rodgers (USA)
7-under – Hayden Hopewell, Connor Syme (Sco)
Meanwhile a 16-year-old amateur from Sydney who had to “run for my life” after nearly missing her tee time bolted to the early Australian Open lead as heavy rain hit the opening day.
Rachel Lee, who had to come through qualifying this week to get a start in her first national open, confused her start time but put that stress aside to shoot an opening round six-under 67 at The Lakes, including a staggering eight birdies, to outshine a star-studded field.
She closed her round with back-to-back birdies in pouring rain to secure and had a one-shot lead over Jiyai Shin, her hero, for most of the opening day before world No.68, Jenny Shin, made a final hole birdie to join Lee on top of the leaderboard in the afternoon session.
“I thought I was at 8.38 not 8.28 and I’ve learnt my lesson, so I won’t do that again hopefully,” Lee said of her pre-round stress out.
“I was, I was putting and then my coach (Steve McRae) just said, “Rachel, you’re on the tees”, so I just ran for my life.
“I mean, I did try my best out there, shots were solid, putting was solid and everything was pretty good out there for me.”
Lee found herself one-shot ahead of her hero, former world No.1 Shin who was impressed with the teenager’s ability when they played a practice round together.
“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.”
Rising Australian star Steph Kyriacou said she used her intimate course knowledge to open with a four-under 69, with superstar and world No.5 Minjee Lee a shot further back.
“I’m actually a member here, so I’d have to say here, but I have played The Aussie enough times to know my way around,” Kyriacou said.
“I was pretty nervous on the first and it took me a few holes to settle in, but then as it kind of goes on, everyone’s just walking along and the nerves eased down, but it still wasn’t like normal. A bit of adrenaline too.”
Lee staged a terrific comeback having slipped to two-ove earlier in her rollercoaster round before carding a massive six birdies on her final nine holes in her three-under round of 70 and she was in fourth place as the afternoon rounds continued in wet conditions.
AUSTRALIAN OPEN SCORES
Round 1 (Australian unless stated)
6-under – Rachel Lee (a), Jenny Shin (Kor)
5-under – Jiyai Shin (Kor)
4-under – Steph Kyriacou, Ashlei Buhai (Sth Af)
3- under – Minjee Lee, Ella Scaysbrook (a), Sukapan Budsabakorn (Thai)
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