Min Woo Lee, who claimed his first European Tour victory in just his 19th start in the ISPS Handa Vic Open, joined sister Minjee Lee, who has won the women’s title at 13th Beach Golf Links twice in the last six years. Picture by GETTY IMAGES

MIN Woo Lee made history as he stormed to his first European Tour victory at the ISPS Handa Vic Open, on the same golf course where his sister won her first professional title six years ago.

Lee joined his older sister Minjee on the roll of honour at 13th Beach Golf Links with a final round of 68 to become the first brother and sister to claim the same title.

The 2016 US Junior Amateur Champion finished two strokes ahead of New Zealander Ryan Fox on 19-under par thanks to his final round of four-under.

Min Woo Lee said: “My sister and I winning the same tournament, it’s pretty special. I’ve got bragging rights now so it’s even better.”

Sister Minjee who finished two shots off a play-off in the women’s event, added: “I was super, super proud of him.

“It was really cool to just even be here with him, and even watch him the last two holes.

“Just to see him play, I haven’t really seen him play that much, so to be able to have a win here is really cool.”

And Min Woo Lee was equally happy. “I’m pretty proud of the way I played,” he said clutching the trophy.

“I thought coming in I had a really good chance because I was hitting it really good.

“But I think I impressed myself with the game this whole week. Hopefully I’ll have more of these over my whole career.

“I felt really comfortable just because if I did exactly the same as I did yesterday, I felt pretty hard to stop.

“I started off really hot out the gate and was pretty comfortable those last few holes. I got a bit nervy, but I’m pretty proud of the way I finished.

“I hit one shot at a time. It’s a cliché, but it’s just that,” added Lee “You can’t really worry about anything else.

“I hit it so well, I’d give myself nine-out-of-10 for ball-striking this week,” said the new champion, who admitted his sister’s two Vic Open victories had driven him on all week in a show of sibling rivalry.

“Coming into today I knew I could just stay calm and just hit every shot the same as the last three days.

“I was pretty calm until, you know, the last hole. I wasn’t nervous, just on my toes a little bit.

“I thought it’s a par five, straight downwind, the ball’s not going to curve much off the tee – stripe one down and I thought I had it in the bag from there.”

Minjee won the women’s ISPS Handa Vic Open – which has been played concurrently at Barwons Head for the last eight years – as an amateur in 2014.

She claimed the USGA Girls title in 2012, and they were the first brother and sister to claim the USGA junior championships.

It was two years ago this week that Lee gave the world notice of his talent by reaching the quarter-finals of the ISPS Handa World Super 6 Perth as an amateur.

He only just missed out on keeping his tour card at the end of 2019 having made back-to-back top fives early in the season after his debut in the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship.

Lee picked up a cheque for €162,915 as the winner and moved to 41st on the Race to Duba.

•For full results in the Vic Open click here.

Order of Merit winner Ryan Fox believes his final round 64 was the best so far of his career

Fox run for 2nd title – ‘best golf yet’

RYAN Fox made his charge for a second European Tour victory on the back nine in the ISPS Handa Vic Open.

The Kiwi birdied the 16^th hole and carded his second eagle of the day on the 18^th for an eight-under par 64, setting the clubhouse target at 17-under.

Min Woo Lee – making just his 19th European Tour appearance since turning pro at the start of 2019 – started the day three strokes clear of playing partners Marcus Fraser and Travis Smyth.

Twenty-one-year-old Lee, who won seven amateur titles in Australia between 2013 and 2018, showed no sign of nerves as he birded three of his first four holes, including a chip-in on the first.

The Australian maintained his composure as winds gusted up to 30mph on the Bellarine Peninsula, with 10 consecutive pars before his fourth birdie of the day on the 15th hole.

Lee dropped to 18-under with a bogey on the 17th, but finished with aplomb as he birdied the 18th^h for a tournament-record score of 19-under par – and a special victory on home soil.

Fox, who won the ISPS Handa World Super 6 in Perth last year – and claimed the PGA Tour of Australasia Order of Merit in 2019 – said: “That was probably the best round I’ve played in a tournament.

“I would not have thought 64 was out there at the start of the day. I think the only saving grace with this wind direction is you either play a hole straight down or straight into.

“I made a couple of eagles, which was nice. I hit a lot of shots inside of 15‑feet and made a couple of those, which is not really what you expect to do.

“I never really felt like I was under any pressure out there which, in conditions like this, that’s always nice.

Frenchman Robin Sciot-Siegrist matched Lee’s final round of 68 to finish in a share of third place with Australians Fraser and Smyth on 14 under, while Jake McLeod took sixth place on 12-under.

Challenge Tour graduate Sciot-Siegrist said: “I think I learned from yesterday. I thought I got angry quite quick.

“The conditions were tough and I think today I tried to keep it cooler and things went my way. It was a great day, I’m happy to finish on that.

“Two top 10 in four tournaments, I’m really happy. I’m happy to put points really quickly on the board, because I need them.”

Manchester’s Florida-based pro Sam Horsfield, who was in the first group of the day with Geoff Ogilvy, and women’s competitor Peiyun Chen, moved to seventh on 11-under, alongside fellow European Tour member Sami Valimaki, from Finland.

•Minjee Lee, who won her second women’s ISPS Handa Vic Open title in 2018, finished two strokes behind Hee Young Park, who overcame Hye-Jin Choi and So Yeun Ryu in a four-hole play-off to win her first LPGA title in more than six years.

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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.

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Stacy Lewis returns to Australia for the ISPS Handa Women’s Vic Open – her first trip Down Under since 2014, and two years after her maternity leave. Picture by TRISTAN JONES

TWO-time major champion Stacy Lewis last teed it up Down Under in 2014, when she tied for sixth at the ISPS Handa Women’s Australian Open.

It was the start of a season-of-a-lifetime for Lewis, who captured three victories and became the first American to take home all three season-ending awards since Betsy King in 1993.

Much has changed for Lewis since 2014, two years before her marriage to Gerrod Chadwell and four years before the birth of her daughter Chesnee.

It was never easy to make the 16-hour flight from the United States to Australia and leaving her family at home for two weeks made getting on that plane even more bittersweet.

Ever the competitor, Lewis knows that by doing her job on the golf course, she’s setting an example for Chesnee and the next generation of female golfers.

Stacy Lewis said: “My last concern at night is thinking about my golf score that day.

“Just helps put things in perspective of what’s important and kind of motivated me with my things off the golf course, kind of what I’m doing of trying to give more opportunities to women and to little girls.”

The young mum’s last win came at the 2017 Cambia Portland Classic before sitting out much of 2018 on maternity leave.

Lewis added “I want things to be better for my daughter and I don’t want her to have to answer the same questions that we’re talking about today.

In 2018, Stacy Lewis made headlines beyond the sports world when she announced KPMG – the professional services company that Lewis has represented since 2012 – was honoring her full contract through her maternity leave.

That moment sparked other companies to fulfill contracts through the recent LPGA Tour Baby Boom.

There are some 15 active Moms on Tour, with two players expecting in 2020 – and further heightened the value that Smucker’s brings to the Tour’s Child Development Center.

So it makes perfect sense that Lewis feels that this week’s ISPS Handa Vic Open – which has men and women competing together on the same courses for the same prize money – is a boon for sports equality.

“I hope this tournament sends a message across the world to let’s do more events like this,” said Lewis.

“I’ve had a lot of fun this week so far. I played a practice round with three guys yesterday and just doing it a little different than I normally do it.

“But I think we need more events like this. Obviously, we’ve got some of the top females here, but we need more of the top guys here to step up and say, you know, this is important.

“It just sends such a great message for supporting men’s and women’s golf.

“One of the guys I played with yesterday talked about how us coming on board has elevated their purse as well. So I think it’s a win-win for both tours.”

Ogilvy supports Stacy Lewis stance

Australian Geoff Ogilvy has long met Stacy Lewis’ challenge to step up, having been an ambassador for gender equality in sports for years.

The 2006 US Open champion pointed to the 2014 US Opens, played back to back at Pinehurst No. 2, as a prime example of how men’s and women’s sports can co-exist.

Just talking about the consistency of players like Inbee Park and So Yeon Ryu brought a slightly jealous smile to the face of the 42-year-old with 12 wins around the world to his name.

“It’s more than just guys in the world who play golf or play sport. I’m a golf tragic, so when I come to a golf tournament, I’m watching other people play just as much as I’m playing myself,” said Ogilvy.

“This week I found last year all I wanted to do was watch the women and how they went about it.

“Some of them are just machines, they just don’t hit bad shots and they hit hybrids on to the green 10 feet all day.

“When I hit a hybrid, I’m happy to hit it within 30 yards of the green. It’s just a different style, said the three-time World Golf Championship winner.

“There’s something to be learned from both sides and there’s enjoyment in watching both styles of play,” added Ogilvy, who played in Europe for two years before progressing to the PGA Tour in 2001.

The 2019 ISPS Handa Vic Open winners Celine Boutier and David Law

Vic Open creating a different mixed

MORE events like the ISPS Handa Vic Open – which was won last year by Scotland’s David Law and France’s Celine Boutier – are indeed on the horizon.

In June, the European Tour and Ladies European Tour will host the inaugural Scandinavian Mixed hosted by Henrik Stenson and Annika Sorenstam.

It will feature 78 men and 78 women competing for one purse.

The Jordan Mixed Open and the ISPS Handa World Invitational also inaugurated mixed competition in 2019, and Australia’s golf hero Karrie Webb pointed to the business upside such events make for potential title sponsors.

“I think going forward it could be a great model for companies that want to make sure that their money’s spent equally in sport,” said Webb.

“You can say that automatically if you have a men’s and women’s event for the same purse.

“You don’t have to justify that to your board or to your investors, you’re equally helping out men’s and women’s sport in one event.”

Why Karrie Webb is shifting her golf focus

Karrie Webb is cutting back on her playing schedule to enjoy life more.
Picture by TRISTAN JONES

SEVEN-time major winner Karrie Webb admits that she’s slowing down as she moves into her mid-40s.

The 45-year-old Australian made just nine LPGA Tour starts in 2019, choosing instead to focus on family and friends back home in her native Queensland.

“I just didn’t have the heart to put in the full commitment that was needed,” said Webb, who has 41 LPGA victories to her name – more than any other current player.

“I felt like I was missing out on life by playing a full schedule. So it’s been a good mix of the both,” Webb added.

Webb has moved her golf focus to her burgeoning golf-course architecture firm with business partner Ross Perrett.

She has also invigorated her work on grassroots development programs with Golf Australia.

Since 2008, Webb has sponsored a scholarship program that brings Australia’s two leading female amateurs to the United States for a week to experience a major championship.

Perhaps the most fulfilling moment of that program came in 2019, when past scholarship recipient Hannah Green captured her first major title at the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship.

And it certainly seems that of all Webb’s major wins, she might treasure Green’s victory even more.

“My give-back to golf, this is greater than what I actually personally achieved because I think when I’m doing that, that isn’t about giving back to golf, that’s taking from golf and doing something that I personally set out to do,” said Webb.

“But my give-back for what golf has given me has been as rewarding, if not more rewarding.”

The 13th Beach Golf Links at Barwon Heads on the Bellarine Peninsula, is made up of the Beach and Creek Courses, which will stage this week’s ISPS Handa Vic Open

HANDA VIC OPEN FORMAT AT 13TH BEACH GOLF LINKS

STAGED at 13th Beach Golf Links on Australia’s Bellarine Peninsula, men and women play on the same courses, at the same time, for equal prize money of $1.1 million.

For the second consecutive year, the ISPS Handa Vic Open is jointly sanctioned by the LPGA Tour, the ALPG, the European Tour and the ISPS Handa PGA Tour of Australasia.

A field of 144 men and 144 women – including Stacy Lewis – will play one round on each of the first two days across the Beach and Creek Courses.

After the second round, the field will be cut to the leading 60 players plus ties for both men and women.

A second cut will be made after the third round to the leading 35 players plus ties for both men and women.

The third and fourth rounds will be conducted on the Beach Course.

•For live scoring in the first round which gets under way on Wednesday night, on February 5, UK time click here.

The post Stacy Lewis in first return to Australia in four years – and with a mum’s perspective 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.

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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.