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2024 Aus Open Golf: American Ryggs Johnston now a first-time champion with the Stonehaven Cup amid Lucas Herbert’s struggles on the final day at the Sandbelt

by Sports Benches

There were a bunch of our Aussie players still right up there when it comes to the lead over the weekend for the Australian Open Golf at Melbourne’s Kingston Heath Golf Club aka the Sandbelt. But at the end of the day, an overseas player has won them over for yet another year & also loves our country – this time it’s Ryggs Johnston from Libby, Montana in the USA.

Ryggs thought he has lost it yesterday at times but that’s golf for you when playing in poor weather conditions, and he managed to recover that brilliantly before he kept that lead clear right through the very end – enjoy your Stonehaven Cup trophy along with the $290,000 bonus.

You gotta feel for Lucas Herbert who started off well & also kept the lead for the majority where he went into Day 4 with a small lead over Johnston. However, his series of mistakes including on the putting green made him wanting to pull his hair out, which was quite frustrating to hear.

It’s a shame that proved extremely costly after he fell down the pecking order from 1st-2nd to around shared 5th over the course of the final day’s afternoon.

Meanwhile, oh so close from Curtis Luck with his resurgence from just inside the shared Top 10 pack. It may not be enough to cut down Ryggs Johnston’s lead on time but good to see him finish 2nd by a three strokes gap though. So does Marc Leishman who also had a great weekend out alongside the improved Jasper Stubbs, even though it was a bit of a long shot following their shared third-placed finish by just four strokes behind at -14.

Also, shoutout to Kiradech Aphilbarnrat from Thailand off the back of his impressive day shift over in shared 5th alongside last weekend’s Australian PGA Championship winner Elvis Smylie, Harrison Crowe & last year’s Australian Open winner in Sydney Joaquin Niemann.

And last but not least, also great to see two Koreans take home both the women’s and the all abilities contest. This is the second time since 2013 that Jiyai Shin has won it that ended a two year feat from South Africa’s Ashleigh Buhai, with amateur Hyojin Yang in 3rd. They also couldn’t get enough of Simon Seungmin Lee, who has autism, also too good with  the All Abilities category title over Wayne Perske (scoliosis & also a former player) by 12 after the best of three yesterday.

So the two big weeks PGA Tour of Australia’s major tournaments are now over for another year. We continue to see more of our Aussies dominating the Australian PGA Championship where we always continue to see this coming but not so much when it comes to the Australian Open since the event was organised in an all-in-one package since 2022. For now, best of luck to all both here and overseas going into season 2025.

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2024 Australian Open Golf Day 1 & 2: Lucas Herbert still holding on top spot with a few other overseas players coming after him to keep their streak of recent winners

by Sports Benches

The 2024 Australian Open Golf Tournament has returned to Melbourne once again across Kingston Heath and the Victorian Golf Club after last year’s event was being held in Sydney. 

The good news is for a start that we have an Aussie leading the charge ahead of moving day tomorrow in the hope of getting the job done by final day Sunday thanks to Lucas Herbert, who started off well and is still hold on in a great position by four strokes at 14 under par, as this could be a long time coming since Matt Jones last won it as a Aussie back in 2019.

If that’s not enough, we got last weekend’s Australian PGA Championship winner Elvis Smylie making his way up the food chain in Tied 3rd, and that brilliant shift earlier today came from Kingston following a slow start yesterday at the Vic. 

Looks like he’s right on the money if he can stay that way throughout this weekend since the last two rounds will only be dedicated at Kingston, having seen the organisers already sought out the bottom half players who will no longer take further part now than Day 2. 

Should he win the Australian Open instead of Herbert, Elvis would be the next player to accomplish the Australian PGA major double since Robert Allenby back in 2005 & also Peter Leonard back in 2004 – how good would it be to see that happening at the age of 22.

Don’t forget there’s a slate of overseas players still wanting to make this tournament their own and we’ve continued to see that happen since this tournament was heavily expanded in 2022. 

There’s Ryggs Johnston still in 2nd after another brilliant shift to his good start also with fellow American Jordan Gumberg leading the way in Tied 3rd alongside Harry Higgs, as well as Oliver Lindell from Finland, Austrian Lucas Nemecz & don’t forget the Englishman in Matt Southgate.

Although you never know what could come if and when a few other Aussies and even Kiwis would be up for a great battle to try and steal the show as long as they can keep things up ahead of Sunday.

Elsewhere, Cameron Smith’s beef with the Sandbelt at Kingston continues this time on-course following a poor Day 2 earlier today from Tied 4th to now Tied 16th. The same goes to amateur Rintaro Nakano from Japan the other way round by surprise who was 2nd but now Tied 12th after he swapped from Kingston to the Vic. 

Plus, Min Woo Lee somehow survived the cut despite some knee issues as he’s currently on Tied 37th with still more work to do. And we won’t be seeing Anthony Quayle this weekend when he came off a good run a week ago from finishing just behind Smith and Smylie at the Aus PGA Championship in Royal Queensland to a bang average Aus Open show to forget. 

Now let’s hope this Aus Open 2024 edition will cap it off with a Aussie winner at last or yet another overseas player to saviour, which one would it be? It’s all happening at Kingston Heath’s Sandbelt as make sure you’re there to see it all if you can or there’s always Nine/9Now and Fox Sports/Kayo Sports on TV and online on the go.

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2024 Australian PGA Championship: Elvis Smylie def. mentor Cameron Smith for the Joe Kirkwood Cup after a terrific final day at the Royal Queensland Golf Club

by Sports Benches

What a day it has been to finish off the 2024 Australian PGA Championship by Queensland/Gold Coast local Elvis Smylie with the win for the first time at the age of 22 from the Royal Queensland Golf Club. 

He had an outstanding Day 1 to begin whilst holding top spot when Friday’s Day 2 play was ultimately abandoned due to heavy rain that led to a shortened three-round 54-hole contest rather than the usual four day 72-hole tournament going into the weekend.

Although he may had some close competition along the way from someone he looks up to in 2022 British Open champion & current LIV Golf star Cam Smith from there, having fell behind a bit following moving day yesterday & also ahead of the final day today. 

He kept up his game right through the final hole 18 nonetheless where not he regained the lead and then defeated Cam but he also managed to hoist the Joe Kirkwood Cup — another huge plus to see yet another different Aussie take home that ultimate prize as well.

Don’t forget he has a huge sporting family too albeit from Tennis via his parents in Liz and Peter but Elvis does what he does best and gotta say that golf is definitely his main thing, even though the way golf and tennis players swing the ball is quite similar alongside some hand-eye coordination without needing to run back and forth too much physically in golf. Don’t forget we can also hear Liz’s insights with her Tennis commentary on the world feed every January with the Australian Open as well as the lead-up tournaments in case you may not know – congrats to this amazing family right there after Elvis’s huge win!

Yes, Elvis also made his major debut also at the British Open a few months ago but couldn’t make the cut. However, time will tell if he can go on to hopefully make a big splash at some point like his mentor Cam.

Other than that, great to see a bunch of other Aussies making up the final leaderboard at least within the Top 6 – such as Marc Leishman and Anthony Quayle in Tied 3rd, David Micheluzzi in 5th and Cameron Davis over in Tied 6th.

One Aussie major PGA tournament done, one to go as we are off to Kingston Heath and the Victorian Golf Club for the Australian Open starting Thursday 28th November to Sunday 1st December 2024.

And thank you to the Royal Queensland Golf Club in Brisbane on putting up an amazing show for yet another year of Australian PGA Championship Golf.

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2024 Australian PGA Championship: Heavy rain leads to a shortened three-round contest but there’s still a few Aussies up front being led by Queensland local Elvis Smylie

by Sports Benches

We may not have seen Day 2 of the 2024 Australian PGA Championship unfortunately today due to heavy rain over at the Royal Queensland Golf Club up in Brisbane, but there will be two more rounds to make up a shortened round of three rather than four going into tomorrow and Sunday. 

The good news is though that a few of our Aussies are currently in front with QLD local Elvis Smylie leading the way at six under 65 ahead of a few front running Internationals like the Swiss Joel Girrbach & Victor Perez from France who are both sharing in Tied 2nd. 

Don’t forget there’s Cameron Smith, Jason Day, David Micheluzzi and Marc Leishman not far behind in Tied 6th with last year’s winner Min-Woo Lee over in Tied 14th, so lots can change over the next 36 holes in a race to hoist the Joe Kirkwood Cup. 

We still have a great track record of Aussies winning this tournament most of  the last decade in the hope of crowing yet another domestic winner, with American Harold Varner III being the last non-Aussie winner back in 2016.

And for everyone else, there’s not a lot of time left in order to beat the cut – so they  go all in to finish off whatever place they hope as highest as they possibly can for final day Sunday. 

This is still going to be one hell of a golf contest we don’t want to miss as long as there’s no more bad weather before we move over to Kingston Heath & Victorian Golf Club for the Australian Open starting later next week. 

It’s never been a better time now to tune in across Nine & Fox Sports between 12-5pm AEDT this weekend where we can only get to see some stunning golf including some star players from the globe who come in to play at our backyard twice a year.

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Joaquin Niemann’s outstanding show on the final day today has secured him the 2023 Australian Open victory via a two-hole Playoff shootout v Rikuya Hoshino

by Sports Benches

The 2023 Australian Golf Tournament is finally done and dusted just in time with rainy weather at the Royal Australian Golf Club in Sydney. First of all, we entered Championship day with our Aussie own Min Woo Lee and Japan’s Rikuya Hoshino as the joint leaders as they both battle it out upfront once again this time for the Stonehaven Cup. Now Hoshino has bounced back through the end to score a playoff shootout but not with Min Woo though as the 25-year-old from Perth did not have a great weekend out, even though he finished two strokes shy of third with a final score today at two over 72.

The same can be said with fellow Aussies Adam Scott & Lucas Herbert who sniffed around top spot earlier in the day for a while & they weren’t also bad too in the Top 10 alongside Min Woo, but both of them couldn’t keep up the consistency particularly at the back nine in Tied 4th & outright 7th respectively. Instead, Hoshino was met by a new challenger in none other than Joaquin Niemann Chile after he was simply outstanding today at five under 66.

So both Niemann & Hoshino were tied at -14 ahead of the two-hole Playoff shootout with Niemann keeping it straight, while Hoshino couldn’t get the ball land through the middle of the fairway as it ended up going wide either near the trees or the bunker. Yes, Hoshino is excellent at getting out of trouble, especially when he was lucky the first time around after Niemann missed that eagle put. However, Hoshino’s luck eventually ran out at the 2nd attempt when Niemann’s perfect eagle performance on Par 5 18 has all but confirmed the Chilean with the Stonehaven Cup trophy by just one stroke.

Great day by Niemann who had to wait for like two hours with some driving & putting practice before he had to play again at the 18th hole twice with Hoshino for the Playoff shootout. But his final day performance has been extraordinary with some sensational drives & shots along the way that saw him move his way up front as he deserves to win the 2023 Australian Open Golf tournament – well done!!

And on Hoshino, it’s hard to see him fall short once again like he was last weekend to Min Woo Lee at the Australian PGA Championship as no one likes to miss out the top prize in 2nd place. He has been an top player to watch though where Hoshino knows how to get into the game late during the final weekend rounds over the last two weeks & if he can keep the consistency all along from start to finish, then he’ll sure win sooner rather than later.

It was a fantastic two week show of major Australian Golf Tournaments this year as they’ve been brilliant hosts to all players both here & overseas across Brisbane for the Australian PGA Championship & Sydney over the last four days with the Australian Open. They will be back back bigger & better for the next one in 2024.

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It’s Min Woo Lee v Riyuka Hoshino Round 2 this time for the Stonehaven Cup trophy in 2023 Australian Open Golf ahead of Championship Day tomorrow in Sydney

by Sports Benches

While Min Woo Lee’s performances on Moving Day earlier today might not be as the same as Day 2 yesterday, but he’s still leading the 2023 Australian Open alongside Japan’s Rikuya Hoshino where they are both at -13 ahead of Championship day tomorrow to finish off the two weeks of major tournament golf here in Australia. But that’s not all as there’s couple of players going after them for the Stonehaven Cup such as Alex Fitzpatrick from England (-12) while American Patrick Rodgers (-12) never looked out of place so far right from the very start. Plus, don’t forget fellow Aussie Lucas Herbert who also done well today as he is just three strokes (-11) behind the Top 4 front runners over in outright 5th. Yes, it’s possible that we will see a strong Top 5-10 finish when it comes to our representation of Aussies in action. But it’s all about Min Woo v Hoshino again where his amazing final day performance last Sunday has saw him won the Australian PGA Championship at the Royal Queensland Golf Club in Brisbane. Will Min Woo get to pull off the same thing tomorrow and complete the double as the next Aussie to win this tournament since Matt Jones in 2019? Otherwise, will we see Hoshino get his revenge or a else different foreigner keeping the Stonehaven Cup away from the locals like Poland’s Adrian Meronk did last year come tomorrow arvo.

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2023 Australian Open Golf Day 1 & 2 Review: Cameron Davis off to a flying start but Min Woo Lee’s strong Back 9 yesterday has overtaken Connor Syme with a two-shot lead

by Sports Benches

The 2023 Australian Open Golf is back for another year this time in Sydney where the  first two days were held at two different golf venues (The Lakes Golf Club & Royal Australian Golf Club) since it’s a combined mixed event for the men’s, women’s and all abilities categories. It’s also good to see our Aussies lead the charge as well with Cameron Davis off to a great start as the opening day leader. Now he might have slipped away over the course of Day 2 yesterday, but there’s another Aussie who absolutely shines from difficult and extraordinary situations in none other than last weekend’s Australian PGA Championship winner Min Woo Lee. He too wowed majority leader of Day 2 Connor Syme from Scotland as he’s currently leading by two strokes at -12, especially when Min Woo got away with strong back nine performance from 14th to 1st that includes sharing the lead with Syme for a while before he became the outright leader after a birdie the Par 4 16th. And we also couldn’t forget a brilliant end to his shift off the back of a eagle on the Par 5 18th – what a player he is so far by our own Min Woo Lee.

It’s also great to see some Aussies moving up the leaderboard ahead of moving day today with Jason Scrivener & Jeffrey Guan. Plus, Lucas Herbert is in Tied 16th & Cameron Smith gets to play this weekend down in Tied 28th after he missed the cut last week during the Australian PGA Championship. Gotta say it’s Min Woo v the world for this one as he hopes to keep on staying up front by flying the flag for Australia with more of his individual brilliances coming his way later today in Sydney. 

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Min Woo Lee’s brilliance has defeated Japan’s Riyuka Hoshino on the final day that saw him take home the 2023 Australian PGA Championship in Brisbane

by Sports Benches

What an amazing end to the 2023 Australian PGA Championship at the Royal Queensland Golf Club in Brisbane where we saw two excellent challengers vying to take home the Joe Kirkwood Cup – Aussie’s own Min Woo Lee & Riyuka Hoshino from Japan. Now Min Woo fired off with some early disappointing scores where Hoshino stole the lead for a while, but a few of his extraordinary shots out of nowhere from difficult areas including a eagle on the Par 5 9th have all but confirmed his championship win at -20.

Fair play to have a Japanese player finish well in 2nd for another year this time in Hoshino after Ryo Histasune last year to Cameron Smith, even though it can be a bit hard to watch seeing someone win that tournament. As said, he was an early threat on Championship day but a series of Min Woo’s masterclasses saw him fall short by 3 strokes (-17) towards the end.

Plus, great to see a few more Aussies wrap it up at their best with Todd Sinnott finishing comfortably inside the Top 10 in Tied 7th & Marc Leishman being the best scorer for the final round alone (7 under 64) in outright 3rd ahead of 4th placed Curtis Luck, who always kept the front-runners in check from Day 2. And shoutout to a few Spanish-speaking trio also rounding out the Top 10 including Chile’s Joaquin Niemann (5th) as well as both Spaniards down in Tied 7th Rafa Cabrera Bello & Opening Day leader Joel Moscatel.

The first of the two big Australian PGA tournaments is done now where they will be back at the same place, same time in late November next year. For now, there’s still the Australian Open to come this Thursday through to next Sunday at The Australian Golf Club in Rosebery, Sydney.

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Min Woo Lee still holds on top spot after Day 3 as he hopes to go one better with the Joe Kirkwood Cup on the Final Round tomorrow of the 2023 Australian PGA Championship

by Sports Benches

So there we have it, Moving day is done where some hold on top while some have gone up and down the leaderboard ahead of Championship Day tomorrow in the 2023 Australian PGA Championship at Royal Queensland Golf Club in Brisbane.

We’ll start off with Min Woo Lee who continued to stay on top after a great show over the last two days at -17. The same goes to Curtis Luck where he too has also turned things around from Round 2 yesterday like Min Woo as he’s four strokes behind him. They are both sandwiched in between Japan’s Rikuya Hoshino – currently in 2nd place by just three strokes shy of the leader. There’s also another Japanese player to look for in Ryo Hisatsune following a great run today at five under 66. Now he fired well into Tied 4th on Day 1 before Ryo slipped away down the middle of the field prior to the weekend. He’s currently just outside the Top 10 in Tied 11th where Ryo is nine strokes behind Min Woo, but he has been so close last year to Cameron Smith alongside Jason Scrivener in joint 2nd as anything can be possible on the final day tomorrow.

Adam Scott has some work to do if he wants to win the Joe Kirkwood Cup tomorrow in 4th for the first time since 2013 ahead of two Tied 5th players in Lucas Herbert & Scotland’s Cameron Syme. Meanwhile, Cameron Davis & Marc Leishman wasn’t bad all along within the Top 16 so far as they both leads a quarter of players at Tied 7th alongside Round 1 leader Joel Moscatel from Spain & Chilean Joaquin Niemann. And speaking of the NZers on show, Michael Hendry is in Tied 14th at -7 after he was brilliant today with 7 birdies at a score of 64 strokes. He too has been improving over time off the back of a slow start as Hendry hopes to post a strong finish inside the Top 10 on the final day tomorrow. Plus, Josh Geary hasn’t moved much today in Tied 21st & Daniel Hillier has slipped away a lot down in T53 following a poor Day 3 score of 2 over 73.

We will see a new champion replacing Cameron Smith as will it be an Aussie again this time in Min Woo Lee? Or will someone else other than an Aussie become the first player to win this tournament since American Harold Varner III back in 2016? It all plays out when the first of the two major Australian golf tournaments will conclude by 5pm AEDT tomorrow afternoon.

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2023 Australian PGA Championship Round 1 & 2 Review: Unknown Spaniard Joel Moscatel Machshon surprises the field on Day 1 but it’s Min Woo Lee who leads right now in Brisbane

by Sports Benches

Yes, it’s moving today in Round 3 of the 2023 Australian PGA Championship but let’s look back over the last two days during Thursday & Friday at the Royal Queensland Golf Club in Brisbane. There was a little known Spaniard named Joel Moscatel Machshon, who is currently ranked World No.1162, has topped the opening round leaderboard with a few birdies on eight under 63. Although he might have been slipping away on Day 2, but he will be looking to bounce back soon enough right now at Tied 4th alongside Curtis Luck.

It’s good most of our Aussies lfilling up the Top 10 positions though where Min Woo Lee stayed ahead going into the next day after he overtook Moscatel as the current outright leader at 12 under, as well as Adam Scott just behind him by a single stroke in 2nd from 4th. Plus, you also got John Lyras & Lucas Herbert in 3rd & 4th respectively ahead of a bunch of other improved players in the mix such as Cameron John (6th) & David Micheluzzi (7th), whom they have been excellent all along with Min-Woo & Adam as of Day 2. Speaking of Cameron Smith, Smith unfortunately wasn’t the same player like he was last year after winning both the British Open & this tournament. He got away with just one birdie on two over 73 at Tied 109th before things went from bad to worse after scoring 78 on the second day, which means he has missed the cut-off bubble & he won’t be back to defend his crown this weekend.

And on the New Zealanders in action, Daniel Hillier has improved a couple of spots yesterday to Tied 21st alongside Josh Geary who fired not bad earlier from Day 1 in Tied 16th & so does Michael Hendry where he made some ground after a slow start. Things aren’t looking great right now when a few of them are languishing down the ladder, but you never know as there’s still time between now & the end of tomorrow afternoon.

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