Spain’s Alejandro Cañizares admitted he had few expectations in Australia before shooting a 63 to lead by the ISPS Handa Vic Open by two shots. Picture by GETTY IMAGES

ALEJANDRO Cañizares carded a stunning opening 63 to lead the ISPS Handa Vic Open by two strokes after the first round.

The Spaniard made 10 birdies on the Creek Course at 13^th Beach Golf Links – carding four in his first five holes.

He also finished with three in a row to reach nine-under par.

Alejandro Cañizares said: “I played really nicely. The Creek is a little more accessible than the Beach – most of the par fives are reachable, and I took advantage of that.

“I putted really well. I didn’t make many mistakes, and I hit the ball nicely with my irons.

“I didn’t have many expectations for this week because it’s a long way from home – you don’t know how you’re going to feel. But I was hitting the ball well and I’m working on the right things.

“With my category on the European Tour, you have to take advantage of the events you can play. I really like the golf courses here in Australia – the only problem is the jetlag, so I’m trying to beat that.”

The 37-year-old, who will play his second round tomorrow on the Beach Course, sits two shots ahead of the Australian quartet of Matthew Griffin, Jake McLeod, Travis Smyth and Justin Warren, who each carded seven-under par 65s.

Jake McLeod admitted a good result would help with points on the Race to Dubai.

“It’s the first tournament of the year for me,” said McLeod. “I’m just looking to dust off the cobwebs and see if I can make it until Sunday.

“I like the course. I know I can get out there and don’t have to think too much about it– just give it a rip and see how we go.”

European Tour members Aaron Cockerill, Min Woo Lee and Robin Sciot-Siegrist are among those in a share of sixth place on six-under.

Min Woo Lee, who played with McLeod, said: “Jake and I fed off each other and we holed some putts at the end.

“Jake played pretty solid all day and I just finished off really nice on the back nine.

“Early on I holed the first two putts for birdie. I kind of fell from there, but I regained a little bit of focus and the back nine was really special.”

Last year’s runner-up Brad Kennedy joins them on that number.

Kennedy said: “It’s nice to come here and start the year really. I’ve just had six weeks off and picked the clubs up last Monday and tried to see what I could do.

“I guess the expectations of last year have gone and it’s all about trying to see what we can do for this year.”

Meanwhile last year’s champion David Law opened his title defence with a four-under par 68 on the Creek Course.

•For live scoring in the second round of the ISPS Handa Vic Open click here.

Spain’s Alejandro Cañizares admitted he had few expectations in Australia before shooting a 63 to lead by the ISPS Handa Vic Open by two shots. Picture by GETTY IMAGES

Sagström overshadows Dame Davies

IN the women’s tournament South Korea’s Haeji Kang and Sweden’s Madelene Sagström share the lead on eight-under.

But it was Dame Laura Davies England most successful Ladies European Tour player ever, who rolled back the years on the Creek Course.

Ever the competitor, couldn’t help but laugh that her opening-round 67, her best round since 2018, was outdone by her playing partner Madelene Sagström’s 65.

“Still couldn’t win the group,” Davies laughed when interviewed after her first competitive round in six months.

It was her first competitive round since August, when she tied for 24th at the Aberdeen Standard Investments Ladies Scottish Open.

Davies, who has more than 80 professional victories to her name, including 20 on the LPGA Tour, revealed: “My mum wasn’t very well and I just stayed at home with her.

“Just kept entering tournaments and had to withdraw, withdraw because she wasn’t getting any better.

“It just worked out that I had six months off and now I turn up here not knowing what I’m doing.

“I’ve been on Tour 35 years and I didn’t have a clue what to do. It was a bit weird, but a good result.”

A good result, indeed. Playing in what she called one of her favourite tournaments, the 56-year-old from Byfleet, said her putting was some of the best of her illustrious career.

Davies gave much the credit to good friend and former LPGA Tour player Rebecca Artis, an Australia native, who is caddying for Davies on the swing Down Under.

“She’s a really good green reader. She does that AimPoint, which bamboozles me. I haven’t got a clue what she’s up to, but she got the lines right,” added Davies.

“If I keep striking it like that and she keeps reading it like that, we might have a chance making the cut and make the weekend and see what happens, which when I got here I wasn’t too sure about.”

Former American college golf star Haley Moore, who is making her LPGA debut as a professional this week, shares third place on seven-under.

The ISPS Handa Vic Open sees men’s and women’s tournaments take place concurrently on the same golf courses at 13^th Beach Golf Links for equal prize money.

Competitors who played their first rounds on the Beach Course will play their second rounds on the Creek Course, and vice versa, with all the action taking place on the Beach Course over the weekend.

The 36-hole cut will reduce both tournaments to the top 60 and ties, with a further cut taking place after Saturday’s third round to the top 35 and ties from each competition for the final round.

•For live scoring in the second round of the ladies’ ISPS Handa Vic Open click here.

The post Alejandro Cañizares shakes off the jet lag to lead ISPS Handa Vic Open by two shots appeared first on Golf North.

Lucas Herbert stressed he has not arrived back home in Australia to celebrate his recent win in Dubai after playing in Saudi last week, as he prepares for the ISPS Handa Vic Open.
Picture by GETTY IMAGES

LUCAS Herbert is eyeing more silverware at the ISPS Handa Vic Open this week, just a fortnight after winning his first European Tour title at the Omega Dubai Desert Classic.

Herbert is from the city of Bendigo, approximately 125 miles from 13th Beach Golf Links – the host venue of the Vic Open since 2013.

The 24-year-old is looking forward to enjoying support from family and friends this week.

But Herbert insists that the champagne is on ice after his play-off victory against Christiaan Bezuidenhout at Emirates GC two weeks ago.

Herbert, who had been tipped by some pundits to be the next Australian winner in 2019, said: “I don’t turn up to any tournament just to enjoy it. You want to win every event you tee it up in.

“I’m definitely not here this week for a bit of a party with my friends.

“I’ve got next week off and then I’m playing two in a row and then I’ve got a pretty nice stretch off.

“I know in the back of my mind I’ve got some celebrating to do coming up, but right now it’s business time – and we’re going to go and do the things I need to do to play well.

“My game’s good. I played well this morning, so it’s just a case of trying to shake off a bit of jet lag from the travel in Saudi Arabia last week.

“The course is good. I’ve been here enough times to sort of know what’s going on, where they like to put all the pins and how it kind of plays.

“You get pretty much any wind direction out there, so having like a lot of experience is going to be really helpful if the weather behaves, or not, over the weekend.”

Herbert will be joined in the first two rounds by 2018 Dubai Desert Classic champion Haotong Li and three-time European Tour winner Marcus Fraser.

“I think game’s getting there, there are just little bits and pieces I need to put it together, I need to be sharper, said Haotong Li.

“Especially on this course. There’s a lot of fade shots so you have to hit keep your ball lower and hit more fairways. If you do that you’re going to have birdie chances.

“This is my first time playing in a tournament like this, but I think it’s a great idea and to grow the game and let more people realise golf can be a little bit different.

“It’s going to be an interesting week, but I’m enjoying it so far,” added the 24-year-old China pro who is looking for his third European Tour win, and his first Down Under.

Li, who broke through from the Asian Tour after winning the 2016 Volvo China Open, made his third appearance as a professional on Australian soil in 2011, and is making his Vic Open debut this week.

The ISPS Handa Vic Open sees men’s and women’s tournaments played concurrently on the same golf courses for equal prize money.

The first two rounds are played on the Beach and Creek Courses at Barwon Heads, with all the weekend’s action moving to the Beach Course.

All four days will be played played with men’s and women’s alternating groups.

The 36-hole cut sees both tournaments reduced to the top 60 and ties, with the top 35 and ties making a second cut which takes place after the third round.

The men’s event is co-sanctioned by the European Tour and ISPS Handa PGA Tour of Australasia, while the women’s event is co-sanctioned by the Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) and Australia Ladies Professional Golf (ALPG).

•Play gets under way at 7.10pm UK time on Wednesday, February 5. To follow live scoring in round one click here.

The post ISPS Handa Vic Open: Lucas Herbert heads home but not ready to celebrate just yet appeared first on Golf North.

David Law the defending champion in the men’s event at the ground-breaking ISPS Handa Vic Open, which returns to Australia’s 13th Beach Golf Links. Picture by GETTY IMAGES

SCOTLAND’S David Law is relishing the opportunity to defend a European Tour title for the first time in his career as he returns to Australia for the ISPS Handa Vic Open.

The 29-year-old produced a sensational finish last year at 13th Beach Golf Links, with an eagle on the par five 18th hole putting him one stroke ahead of runners-up Brad Kennedy and Wade Ormsby.

Returning to Barwon Heads, Law is hoping to recapture the form which saw him win a European Tour title in his rookie year after graduating from the European Challenge Tour.

Law said: “It’s good to be back and it’s a special tournament for me, it brings back great memories. It’s good to know that I can do that.

“It’s obviously a special way to win a tournament – I just need to give myself the opportunity more.

“That’s the main thing I speak about with my coach Alan McCloskey. He says I need to get my game to the stage where I’m given the opportunity to do that more often.

“I was a rookie on tour and winning so soon after getting my card was quite a big change to my lifestyle and my mindset.

“I came out here really just wanting to compete and then all of a sudden I had won, it was quite a big change.

“It was good experience going to new courses and tournaments that I had never been to before,” said Law reflecting on his first year on Tour.

“I don’t think people understand how tough that is.

“Some people take to it straight away, but I played on the Challenge Tour for five, six years, I think.

“So I was used to going back to the same places. I find that aspect of it quite tough – it’s been up and down, but it’s good.

Law was reasonably confident of his chances of making a good defence Down Under this week saying his game was “pretty good” in the early weeks of 2020, even if his results have not been what he has been hoping for.

“I’m kind of showing bits of form,” said the pro who claimed the Scottish Amateur Championship twice in 2009 and 2011, having also claimed the double by winning the Scottish Boys in the first of those successful seasons.

“Results-wise hasn’t been great,” added Law. “I think I’ve made four of the six cuts, but I haven’t done particularly well result-wise.

“I’m not really scoring all that great, but I think the form is actually pretty good. I’m not far away from playing well.”

Law will play the first two rounds in the company of one of last year’s runners-up in Ormsby, who recently won the reschedule Hong Kong Open.

DAVID LAW CLAIMS MAIDEN WIN AT VIC OPEN

They will be joined by Kiwi Ryan Fox, who won the 2019 ISPS Handa PGA Tour of Australasia Order of Merit.

The ISPS Handa Vic Open sees men’s and women’s tournaments played concurrently on the same golf courses at 13th Beach Golf Links for equal prize money.

The first two rounds are played on the Beach and Creek courses before play returns to the Beach course for the weekend.

A 36-hole cut will see both fields reduced to the top 60 and ties, and a further cut after the third round reduces each field to 35 and ties.

All rounds are played in alternating men’s and women’s groups.

The men’s event is co-sanctioned by the European Tour and ISPS Handa PGA Tour of Australasia, while the women’s event is co-sanctioned by the Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) and Australian Ladies Professional Golf (ALPG).

•To follow David Law in the first round click here for live scoring click here.

2019 ISPS Handa PGA Tour of Australasia Order of Merit winner Ryan Fox, from New Zealand

The post David Law reflects on Vic Open triumph confident he’s heading in right direction appeared first on Golf North.