13thBeach Links, Feb 8: Ayean Cho comes from the great golfing factory of South Korea and she fits the prototype.
She’s 19 and even though she does not play on the LPGA Tour yet, her world ranking rose nearly 200 places last year, to a current high of No. 34. She won twice on the Korean LPGA Tour and was rookie of the year on that tour.
And she’s leading the ISPS Handa Vic Open at 13th Beach by a shot, meaning that she is within sight of a victory that will give her a two-year exemption on the LPGA Tour.
The winds at 60km/h pretty much all day, shredded the women’s field. The average score soared to 75.5, three-over par. But Cho was virtually impervious to it. Starting out the day at 10-under par she quickly birdied the second and third to get into contention, then made three more birdies including the 18th to post a two-under par 70.
That was enough to get her to the top, overtaking Sweden’s Madelene Sagstrom, who struggled to a two-over par 74. Cho is a shot ahead at 12-under par, but Sagstrom is poised at 11-under, just a shot back. They will be joined in the last group on Sunday by Canada’s Alena Sharp, whose 70 was enough to vault her into contention.
The Australians are well back. Top-ranked Minjee Lee made two early birdies to hold a share of the lead, but a meltdown at the par-four eighth hole unravelled her. Twice, she hit the lip of the fairway bunker that guards the corner on the left-to-right dogleg hole, and ultimately, she had to hole a putt from almost two metres for a six.
Lee ended up posting a 74 that leaves here at seven-under, five shots from the lead. It’s do-able, but difficult, and perhaps she needs to see more wind on Sunday.
Outside of former world No. 1 So Yeon Ryu, who vaulted up the field with a four-under par 68 that puts her back in the mix, Cho was the best player in the field. She could only remember one day – at the Espirito Santo Trophy in Ireland a couple of years ago – when it was so windy, but she hung tough. “It was very windy so my shots were not my shots were not as good as yesterday,’’ she said, through an interpreter.
Sagstrom could have unravelled – she had three bogeys and a double bogey in the first eight holes – but she did not. The Swede smiled her way all the way around; it was one of those days when you had to, and ultimately, 74 was a good scorer. “I actually have figured it out, so I think smiling is my coping mechanism instead of me getting angry or frustrated,” she said. “At one point I was like, what am I going to do? I’m just going to laugh about it because it was just so difficult, especially making the turn.”
Min Woo Lee on cusp of history
Perth sensation Min Woo Lee is on the cusp of a groundbreaking victory at the ISPS Handa Vic Open, a win that would reprise the two Vic Open wins of his elder sister, Minjee, who won here in 2014 and 2018.
Lee, 21, played a remarkable third round in winds that blew to 60km/h at 13th Beach today, picking his way around the course like a veteran and carding a four-under par 68 that only one player in the field could beat. Queenslander Anthony Quayle shot 67.
Lee is at 15-under par through three rounds and two shots ahead of veteran Marcus Fraser from Victoria, who had a great day himself, shooting 69, and New South Welshman Travis Smyth, who had an even-par 72. Four players – overnight leader Robin Sciot-Siegrist of France (76 today), Quayle, Canberra’s Matt Millar and Victorian Ash Hall, are at 10-under with a sliver of a chance.
But they would need Lee, who has never won a tournament as a professional, to come back to them and the winds are tipped to be strong on the Bellarine Peninsula again.
Lee finished with a flourish that emphasises the talent that he has been showing since he emerged from Royal Fremantle and the Golf Western Australia junior programs: he smashed a two iron tee shot downwind 343 metres at the par-five 18th, leaving him just a nine iron shot into the green.
He hit the short iron to three metres from the flag, a thunderclap of a golf shot given that he was already a shot ahead. Then he backed away four times from his putt as the strong winds made the ball oscillate, stepped up finally and drained it for eagle, fist pumping for the people around the amphitheatre of the 18th green.
Hopefully, they had an understanding of what they were witnessing. Lee is the most exciting young Australian talent in golf for many years, a US junior champion as an amateur and already making strides in his early years as a pro, albeit without any full status on a big tour.
Today was brutal, no doubt, with Fraser, an 18-year professional, saying it was “borderline unplayable”. The 41-year-old Fraser, who has come home after a decade in Europe to spend more time with his family, turned back the clock. But that is not to say that it was easy. Smyth said the wind was worth “at least” three clubs; maybe four.
“Yeah, I always describe it, my old man plays off about 14,’’ said Fraser. “He’s a good golfer, but I think he would have struggled to beat 110 out there today. I think that’s probably as strong a wind as I think I’ve played in anywhere. It’s lucky the greens are a little bit slower because I think the ball would be moving around if it wasn’t.”
Lee said if the wind blew so hard back at home in Perth, he “wouldn’t even bother playing”. But he made four birdies to go with his eagle at the last, and just two bogeys. “Yeah, very proud,” he said. “I don’t know if I played the best, but I think it was pretty tough to beat. So one of them tomorrow again I think should do the job. But it’s another day, it’s another 24 hours, so I’m just looking for the challenge.”
A European Tour card is on the line tomorrow, which is hugely significant for Lee. In 2019, he was led to believe that he had tallied enough points in his starts on invitations to secure his card, and he said so publicly.
But when the tour’s Race To Dubai points were announced at the end of the season, he was two positions outside the number.
It was a big error but he has not let it destroy him. “I feel like I’m good enough to keep my card regardless of winning or not,” he said. “You know, I’m looking forward to if I do win, but I’m just going to go out there and keep playing the way I am. I’m striking it well and putting well, so I think it’s a good combo in this wind, just got to take advantage of it.”
A bunch of players had a look at the lead before Lee’s final flurry. They included Smyth, who ended up posting a 72. “Yeah, there’s no let up, there’s no easy holes,” said the 24-year-old from Shellharbour outside Wollongong. “Like, it’s that windy that the downwind holes are still hard because you still don’t have any control of it. Yeah, mentally, I had a bit of a roller coaster today.”
Queensland amateur Jed Morgan also shared the lead early, playing in the final group. But he fell away with two bad bunker shots at the fourth and fifth holes, and ended up carding a 74 to sit in a tie for eighth at nine-under par.
Three Australians — Lee, Fraser and Smyth — will play in the last group tomorrow at 12.18 pm. The winds are coming again. It’s all before us.
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