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.

The post Min Woo Lee matches Minjee with ISPS Handa Vic Open title at 13th Beach Golf Links 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.

Lucas Herbert made six birdies and an eagle on his way to a five-under 67 in the first round of the Australian PGA Championship, at RACV Royal Pines, in Queensland. Picture by GETTY IMAGES

LUCAS Herbert carded six birdies and an eagle at RACV Royal Pines Resort to share the first round lead at the Australian PGA Championship with compatriot Brett Rankin.

The pair are two of nine Australians inside the top 14, joined by five New Zealanders on three-under par or better on Queensland’s Gold Coast.

After two birdies and an eagle on his first three holes, 24-year-old Herbert rallied again after three dropped shots.

Herbert, who recently recovered from a wrist injury, made four gains on his back nine, including three on his final four holes from the sixth to the ninth, to sign for a five-under 67.

“It was an interesting day,” said Lucas Herbert. “I usually set myself targets, numbers-wise, but I didn’t today.

“I let everything go and enjoyed being out there. The course is in great shape, I just enjoyed being out on a nice golf course with one of my best mates on the bag.

“That was on my mind, I didn’t feel like I got off to a great start, but then I didn’t feel like I fell too far backwards because I wasn’t concentrating on that either.

“My iron play was pretty good. That’s improved quite a lot in the last few weeks. Good flight in the wind out here, it was a bit breezy on the back nine,” Herbert added.

“It was solid. I didn’t throw shots away with silly doubles, if I stop throwing shots away I’ll go alright.”

Herbert finished 107th on the Race to Dubai in 2019, having been 47th in his rookie season in 2018, which included five top fives – the best a runner’s-up finish in the Portugal Masters.

The big-hitting Aussie and fellow countryman Rankin sit one stroke ahead of five others, including Herbert’s fellow European Tour members Nick Cullen, Min Woo Lee and Wade Ormsby.

Min Woo Lee, who narrowly missed out on keeping his card in his rookie season on the European Tour, said: “I think early on I didn’t really take the opportunities because there’s a big crowd – and I’m not really used to it.

“But yeah, it’s pretty special, added Lee, the younger brother of LPGA star Minjee Lee.

“It’s massive. I hit a lot of good shots – some got rewarded, some didn’t get rewarded, but I felt like I played pretty good and I’m pretty proud of the way I finished.

“It was pretty calm this morning, so hopefully tomorrow morning I can go out there and shoot a low score,” added Lee, who became the first Australian to win the US Junior Championship, in 2016.

The Lees became the first brother and sister to claim USGA junior titles after MinJee’s victory in the 2012 US Girls Championship.

Fox in top 10 with eyes on Order of Merit

NEW Zealand’s Ryan Fox could secure the ISPS Handa PGA Tour of Australasia Order of Merit crown this week.

The Kiwi, who leads by almost AU$75,000 from Zach Murray. Fox, won his maiden European Tour title at the ISPS Handa World Super 6 Perth in February,

Fox – the longest driver on the European Tour in 2019 – shares eighth place on three-under. He said: “I’m pretty happy.

“It’s playing a bit tougher than previous years. The course has settled in a little bit and it’s a little bit firmer out there. You can end up in some pretty bad spots.

“I played really solid tee-to-green. Got up-and-down on a couple of bad shots I hit and made a couple of putts – I probably left a couple out there as well.

“But I’m very happy with three-under,” added Fox.

Adam Scott lurks with Cink three shots back

MAJOR champions Stewart Cink, winner of The Open at Turnberry 10 years ago, and Adam Scott, who won the Masters in 2013, share 15th place on two under.

Scott, the highest-ranked player in the field, but who is looking for his first win since the 2016 WGC Cadillac Championship, at Doral, said: “I played good today.

“Unfortunately, I really mishit that drive on 13 and it cost me two. Other than that it was stress-free, but it wasn’t easy out there.

“I had a lot of in-between numbers. When it’s windy here you have to be careful, you don’t want to be chipping short-side around here.

“The grain is too much to deal with. I wish I could have that swing on 13 over again.

“All in all, I feel good about that round,” added Scott, who has 10 wins on the European Tour and five more Down Under.

Joining Scott and Cink on that number are Challenge Tour graduates Calum Hill, from Scotland, and Lancashire’s Jack Senior.

Qualifying school graduates Aaron Cockerill and Johannes Veerman, from Canada, and the United States respectively, and France’s Damien Perrier, are also two-under after the first round – three behind Lucas Herbert and Rankin.

•For live scoring in the Australian PGA Championship click here.

The post Lucas Herbert bounces back to share Australian PGA lead with fellow Aussie Rankin appeared first on Golf North.

Ryan Fox has the chance to wrap up the PGA of Australia Order of Merit with a good finish to 2020 at the Australian PGA Championship at the Gold Coast’s RACV Royal Pines Resort. Picture by GETTY IMAGES

NEW Zealander Ryan Fox tees it up at the Australian PGA Championship this week – in a battle of the bombers – with his sights set on a strong start to his 2020 European Tour campaign.

The Kiwi is making his first European Tour appearance of the new season at RACV Royal Pines Resort on the Gold Coast.

Fox is hoping to carry his encouraging form from the end of 2019 into the new year.

The 32-year-old also leads the ISPS Handa PGA Tour of Australasia’s Order of Merit by AU$75,000, knowing that a strong performance this week would see him win the season-long rankings in the Southern Hemisphere.

Fox, who is officially the biggest hitters on the European Tour, said: “It has been a much nicer end to the year.

“If you take the Open out at Portrush, it was a very lean patch in the middle. I was pretty desperate there for a while, even when I came back from a break after the Open it was still a bit of a struggle.

“It was nice to find a bit of form in the back part of the season,” added Ryan Fox, who turned pro in 2012 and has three wins Down Under in total, as well two on the European Challenge Tour.

“The Dunhill Links was the start of it for me, shooting a 64 in the first round – even though I didn’t finish it off – it was the start of feeling better on the golf course.

“Although I haven’t quite put it together, the last six or eight events there’s been some much better golf and a lot of positives to take out of that,” added Fox, whose maiden European Tour win came in the ISPS Handa World Super 6s in Perth, in February, which earned him AU$245,413.

“I’m in a pretty good position on the Australasian Tour money list, so it’s a chance to lock that up – that goes over a calendar year.

“If I can do that, it’s a good start to the 2020 season for me,” said Fox, who has earned AU$295,029 in four events, and is trailed by Zach Murray.

Fox added: “There’s a lot to play for this week. It’s a course I’ve played a lot, I know it fairly well and have had a couple of decent results in the past – so I’m looking forward to a good week.”

Fox will start this year’s tournament in the company of twice-defending champion Cameron Smith – fresh from playing in the President’s Cup team for Ernie Els’ Internationals at Royal Melbourne – and American starlet Cameron Champ – the latest big-hitter to come out of US college golf.

•For tee times in the first round of the Australian PGA click here.

Hill looks up to Rookie MacIntyre

LOOKING to build on an encouraging start to his rookie year on the European Tour, Scotland’s Challenge Tour graduate Calum Hill is teeing it up in Australia for the first time in his career, this week.

Hill will follow up results of 13^th and T17th at the Alfred Dunhill Championship and AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open respectively.

The Kircaldy-raised golfer will draw up the successes of Hero Indian Open winner Stephen Gallacher and David Law, who won the ISPS Handa Vic Open, in February. while Robert McIntyre, was named 2019 European Tour Rookie of the Year last month.

“I’ve never been to Australia before,” Hill admitted. “Coming here, I’ve had a great first impression, so I’m looking forward to getting started.

“I can’t complain with my start to the year. I had a chance in Mauritius but didn’t do well on the final day.

“As long as you can keep giving yourself chances throughout the year, I’m sure one of them will turn up,” added Hill, who won twice on the Challenge Tour in 2019, having graduated from Western New Mexico University, in 2016.

“It’s fantastic having a group of Scottish guys, with Stevie (Gallacher) as the experience and some of the younger guys coming through who are around my age too.

“To have Stevie win, Bob do great and Davey win, it’s good to see. My team are great at guiding me and showing me what I need to be doing.

“Of course the Rookie of the Year Award is on my mind, it has to be. If you’re not looking at that – especially coming from the same management group as Bob.

“You hope to achieve similar to what he has done, if that happens then you’re laughing. Fingers crossed.”

The 25-year-old, who is attached to Gleneagles, finished second on the Road to Mallorca rankings and is currently 16^th on the 2020 Race to Dubai rankings.

Nicolai is ‘better than Rasmus’

BIDDING to follow in his brother’s footsteps as a European Tour winner is Nicolai Højgaard, whose twin Rasmus won the AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open two weeks ago.

That victory saw Rasmus become the third-youngest winner in the Tour’s history at the age of just 18 years and 271 days.

That wn put him behind Italian Matteo Manassero, a winner at just 17, in 2009, and New Zealand’s Danny Lee, who was 18 when he won the 2009 Johnnie Walker Classic, in Perth, while still an amateur, in the European Tour history books.

The Højgaard twins represented Europe at the 2018 Junior Ryder Cup before turning professional at the start of 2019 – having helped Denmark win the Eisenhower Trophy at the 2018 World Amateur Team Championship.

If anything, Nicolai is regarded as the better player of the two, having risen to No. 5 in the World Amateur Golf Rankings.

Nicolai’s best result so far of his burgeoning European Tour career was a runner-up finish to Sergio Garcia at the KLM Open, in September.

Højgaard, who was unable to earn a full European Tour like Rasmus, at the Qualifying School, in November, said: “It would be cool to follow up my brother, but sometimes it just comes out of nowhere.

“I saw last season it can happen suddenly. I’m hoping for a good week here, I’m not focusing on the result. I’m trying to improve my golf – this is a kick-start to the season so it would be nice to have a good finish.

He admitted Rasmus winning was “a big motivator, for sure.”

Højgaard added: “I’m really happy for Rasmus, but I really want to do the same.

“I’m trying to not get carried away with his result and trying to focus a bit more on myself.

“If I finish second here, it’s still good. I don’t have to compare myself to him all the time. I’m happy for him, but hopefully I can follow that up this week.”

Cameron Smith is bidding for a hat-trick of successive wins in the 2019 Australian PGA Championship at RACV Royal Pines Resort this week

Reasons for Australian PGA date switch

THE Australian PGA Championship is topping off a huge three weeks of golf in Australia – following the Emirates Australian Open and The Presidents Cup.

Gavin Kirkman, chief executive of the PGA of Australia, said: “The Australian PGA Championship has been embraced by the players and sports fans for its fun atmosphere.

“We feel it is important for it to be the final tournament of the year for us to deliver that experience expectation.”

The Australian PGA Championship week began with the Greg Norman Medal dinner on Tuesday night, where the highest achievers in the Australian golf industry were heralded for their accomplishments.

The fun continues with the MyGolf Kids Day on Wednesday, and the 16^th Hole Marquee party.

Switching to a later date in the 2019 schedule has opened up the opportunity for people to enjoy Christmas celebrations at the golf tournament.

Additional festive activations have been added to the entertainment and corporate hospitality line-up in 2019.

While the ISPS HANDA PGA Tour of Australasia and European Tour players battle it out on course for the Joe Kirkwood Cup, the Australian PGA Order of Merit race will also come to a conclusion.

The winner of the Norman Von Nida Medal will be awarded following the Australian PGA Championship’s conclusion on Sunday night.

The ISPS Handa PGA Tour of Australasia Order of Merit provides a plethora of opportunities to the winner, including full status on the European Tour, a start at The Open – and entry into the World Golf Championship tournaments.

Kirkman added: “We have seen some thrilling conclusions to the Australian PGA Championship and the Order of Merit in recent years, and feel the atmosphere created on the Gold Coast is the perfect setting for them to be celebrated.

“This was one of the motivating factors in the change of date.”

When the 2019-20 schedule was originally released in the autumn of 2018, the 2019 Australian PGA Championship was set to be played from November 28 – December 1, until the switch to this week’s date was announced back in March.

The post Ryan Fox one of the big guns looking for fast start to 2020 season at Australian PGA appeared first on Golf North.

South African George Coetzee tied for the lead in the Frenh Open with Ryan Fox after they both shot a six-under par 65. Picture by GETTY IMAGES

GEORGE Coetzee and Ryan Fox opened up a one-shot lead at the top of a congested leaderboard after the first round of the Amundi Open de France.

South African Coetzee fired his lowest opening round of the season to set the target at six-under par with his round of 65.

The four-time Euorpean Tour winner said: “It was almost perfect. Played really well. Just dropped one on 17, but I can’t complain.

“It’s nice to be in the mix again. It’s been kind of a hard, long year, but it feels like the game is coming along nicely,” added Coetzee, whose last win came in Tshwane Open, in March last year.

“ I think you find which holes you can attack when you get to the green. There’s no real aggressive game plan on this golf course.

“Just keep the ball in play and give yourself opportunities, and there’s obviously a couple of holes where you’ve got to be careful,” added Coetzee, who has won the Sunshine Tour Order of Merit three times in the last four years.

Fox matched Coetzee in the afternoon as the New Zealander also carded seven birdies and a single bogey to join him at the summit.

“I’m pretty happy,” said Fox. “This is a golf course that can kick you pretty quickly. I played really solid today. Holed some putts.

“I played those tough holes, that closing stretch, really well. I could have potentially grabbed a couple more on those last four, which is always a bonus – but very happy to walk away with a 65 around here.

“You’ve got to drive it really well. For the most part I did a really good job of keeping it in play,” said Fox, whose sole Euorpean Tour win came in the ISPS Handa World Super 6 in Perth, in Feburary.

“A couple holes I hit poor tee shots and I managed to scramble and make pars from there, which is nice,” Fox added. “But yeah, you just keep yourself out of trouble.”

Benjamin Hebert – currently the leading French player on the Race to Dubai – delighted the home fans at Le Golf National with a birdie on the last to sit one shot off the lead alongside American Kurt Kitayama and Scotland’s Richie Ramsay.

Benjamin Hebert said: “I putted very well today. I’ve worked on my putting since the start of the week.

“I had a private lesson with David Orr, who is a big putting expert. We changed some stuff and it works very well. So, I’m pretty happy.

“I feel good support from the French public. We have only one tournament a year, so it’s very important for us to represent this week.”

Ramsay has been fighting issues over spending time away from his young daugher over the past couple of seasons – the 35-year-old Scot only secured his card in the last event of 2018, and has spoken about possibly retiring at 40, or at least taking a whole year out of the game.

“It’s obviously a fantastic golf course. A little bit different this year. A bit colder, a bit softer, so the course is playing quite long,” said Ramsay whose best result of the season is tied for sixth in the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth.

“It’s a joy to play a golf course like this, because it just tests the whole part of your game and mentally, obviously there’s a lot of water out there, so you have to be very committed to your shots,” Ramsay added.

Victor Perez became the latest player from France to win on the European Tour when he took the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship title last month.

And the Dundee-based Frenchman is just two shots off the lead at four under, alongside South African trio Darren Fichardt, Jaco Van Zyl and Justin Walters, plus Belgium’s Nicolas Colsaerts, Denmark’s Nicolai Hogaard and Kalle Samooja, from Finland.

•For live scoring in the French Open click here.

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South Africa’s Justin Walters has been battling a calf injury and lost his father earlier this year but shot a superb 63 at St Andrews to lead the Alfred Dunhill Links after the first round. Picture by GETTY IMAGES

JUSTIN Walters found his form in spectacular style at St Andrews to take a one-shot lead after an emotional first day of the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship.

The South African has faced plenty of adversity on the golf course during the 2019 Race to Dubai, battling a calf injury over the summer and failing to register a top 20 in 23 starts on the European Tour.

The 38-year-old also sadly lost his father this year but revealed after carding a stunning 63 around the Old Course he felt his presence as he fired his lowest round on the European Tour for six years at the Home of Golf.

Walters said: “I haven’t shot anything under 69 or 68 in a long time. To do it here at St Andrews, and the emotions I’ve been through the last few months, it’s just so special.

“I’ve been swinging really well all-year mostly, from about US Open when I qualified, and I got to the Irish Open and tore my calf really badly.

“Really struggled to get right again for a while, and I finally got over that, and then I lost my dad.

“It was quite hard. I just kind of decided not to feel sorry for myself, really, and kind of dust myself off and coming in here, it has a healing quality,” said Walters, who is coached by West Hove’s Ryan Fenwick.

“I don’t know, it’s hard to describe. I was here with my dad when we lost Mum, and just thought I was back with him.”

His nine-under total handed him a one-shot lead over New Zealander Ryan Fox, Spaniard Adrian Otaegui, Frenchman Victor Perez and Wiltshire’s Jordan Smith.

The famous pro-am event features a star-studded line-up, with many of the world’s best golfers playing alongside celebrities, businessmen and women and family members, over three stunning venues – St Andrews Old Course, Kingsbarns Golf Links and Carnoustie Golf Links.

Fox, Smith and Perez joined Walters at St Andrews, while Otaegui carded his 64 at Kingsbarns.

Fox said: “I played really solid and for the first time in a while I saw some putts go in and hit some great shots coming down the stretch.

“It was just nice to take advantage of those fairly benign conditions out there.

“It’s a cool format to get to play these three golf courses, and they look after us so well this week.

“I love pro-am formats, and I’ve played with Shane Warne the last couple years and we get along really well.

“We’ve had a lot of fun out there, become good friends because of this event.”

Essex’s Matthew Southgate recorded the lowest round of the day at Carnoustie with a 65 to sit at seven-under alongside Cheshire’s Paul Waring, Scot Richie Ramsay, South African Jaco Ahlers, Finn Tapio Pulkkanen and Norway’s Kristoffer Reitan.

Southgate, who seems to save his best for links golf, said he was “chuffed to bits.”

“It’s a dream come true really for me. I’ve waited a long time to go down that last hole with that feeling. A really, really special day for me.

“I fell in love with the game again, which is great. Everybody has ebbs and flows in their career with that.

“The last four weeks has been really good for me and I’ve got stuck into practise like I’m 17 again, which is great and enjoying every minute of it.”

A week after the likes of Paul Casey and Justin Rose spoke about their memories of being inspired by watchign their heroes play in the PGA Championship at Wentworth, local Hero Ramsay, who was the first European to win the US Amateur in a century back in 2006, revealed St Andrews had the same effect for him.

Ramsay, who shot 65 at Kinsbarns, said: “You always look at it and think, if I want to win one tournament, the Scottish Open, the Dunhill are the ones that are right there because I used come down here when I was seven or eight and watch the guys play in the Dunhill Cup.

“It’s cool for me to play in it and just proud that I shot a good number today,” added Ramsey, who was sixth last week at Wentworth.

“I’ll iust try to keep the foot down because there’s so many good players this week. The main goal is to get in the mix on Sunday going into the back nine.

“Old Course St Andrews, back nine on Sunday, those ingredients are just too good. That would be a dream to be there and have a chance to win,” added Ramsay, whose only top five this year came in the Betfred British Masters on Hilside’s Lancashire links, back in May

Frenchman Perez is currently seventh on a list of players with the best strokeaverage on links courses since the beginning of January 2017 – and revealed why he has become so proficient by the sea.

Perez said: “I live in Dundee. My girlfriend goes to dental school here. I’ve lived here for the last year and a half.

“Being around and playing links all the time when I’m not in tournaments definitely makes a big difference.

“It’s just being used to the bounce and used to the greens,” said the 27-year-old who has two wins on the European Challenge Tour.

“I don’t think you can play enough links golf, and it definitely played to my advantage today for sure.”

Lee Westwood made his second hole-in-one of the season and third of his illustrious European Tour career as he holed a six-iron from 189 yards on the eighth at Carnoustie for the 26th hole-in-one of the 20129 Race to Dubai.

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