Aussies on Tour is a regular roundup of how Australia’s top men and women golfers are performing on the world’s golf tours and is provided by Golf Australia, the PGA of Australia and the WPGA.
Su Oh recorded the fourth runner-up finish of her LPGA Tour career and fellow Victorian Marc Leishman flirted with a seventh PGA Tour title in another strong week for Aussies around the globe.
With the third round cancelled due to rain, the LPGA Tour’s Cambia Portland Classic became a 54-hole shootout, Oh starting the third and final round four shots back in pursuit of her breakthrough win on Tour.
Without a top-10 finish since her tie for sixth at the 2020 ISPS HANDA Vic Open, Oh’s round of 3-under 69 was bettered by only three players on Sunday but it wasn’t enough to rein in two-time Major champion Jin Young Ko, her round of 69 delivering a comfortable four-stroke margin of victory.
Runner-up at the Kingsmill Championship in her rookie season in 2016 and twice again in 2019 at the Meijer LPGA Classic and ISPS HANDA Vic Open, Oh started her final round on the wrong foot with a bogey at the par-5 first.
Birdies at the par-3 fourth and par-4 seventh got her back into red figures before the halfway mark but it was not until late in her round that she was able to narrow the margin further with birdies at the 16th and 17th holes.
There was a missed opportunity to edge even closer at the par-5 finishing hole but the 25-year-old is expected to re-enter the top 100 in the Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings as a result of yet another near miss.
Katherine Kirk’s tie for 26th equalled her best result since May, thanks in no small part to an ace at the par-3 12th in Friday’s second round.
Like Oh, Leishman started the final round of the Fortinet Championship in California well back but surged to the outright lead as he reached 7-under for his round and 15-under total at the par-4 14th.
Third-round leader Maverick McNealy soon rejoined Leishman at the top of the leaderboard who was unable to advance his score any further despite birdie opportunities at each of his final three holes.
“I didn’t really have a number in mind, to be honest. You just have to hit good shots out there,” said Leishman, who began the day tied for 26th before finishing in a share of fourth spot, four shots behind eventual champion Max Homa.
“If you’re not hitting good shots, there’s bogeys to be made. Obviously to be 6-under through 11 was to plan. Then just the last three holes, a little bit disappointed with that.
“Birdie opportunities on all three holes and wasn’t able to make any. That would have been nice to put a little bit more pressure on him.”
Ruing two double bogeys in his Friday round of 71, Leishman needed just 19 putts through his first 14 holes to take possession of the lead, a hot flatstick a nice way to start the new PGA Tour season.
“When I hit that putt on 13, it looked like it was going in, just shaved the edge. Then made a good one on 14,” Leishman reflected.
“When you start making putts like that, it’s fun. It’s fun to play golf like that because you don’t feel you have to attack too much. You can hit it to 20 feet and feel like you can make it, which takes a lot of pressure off your iron game.
“Hit a few loose shots early on in the week, but for the most part it was a solid week.
“It’s nice to get in the hunt, get the juices flowing. I love that, that’s why we do it.”
For the second week in a row Rod Pampling was in the mix on the Champions Tour before ultimately finishing two shots out of the Sanford International playoff won by Darren Clarke, fellow Australian John Senden and Steven Alker [NZ] also recording top-10 finishes.
Results
LPGA Tour
Cambia Portland Classic
The Oregon Golf Club, West Linn, Oregon
Event reduced to 54 holes due to rain
Winner Jin Young Ko (KOR) 69-67-69—205 $US210,000
T2 Su Oh 69-71-69—209 $110,744
T26 Katherine Kirk 75-72-69—216 $12,194
T57 Hannah Green 73-77-73—223 $3,620
MC Gabriela Ruffels 76-76—152
MC Sarah Jane Smith 76-76—152
PGA Tour
Fortinet Championship
Silverado Resort and Spa North, Napa, California
Winner Max Homa (USA) 67-72-65-65—269 $US1.26m
T4 Marc Leishman 69-71-68-65—273 $315,000
T36 Aaron Baddeley 71-68-68-74—281 $32,608
T64 Cameron Percy 71-69-72-74—286 $15,120
MC Lucas Herbert 71-72—143
MC Brett Drewitt 74-72—146
MC Danny Lee 71-76—147
Japan Golf Tour
ANA Open
Sapporo Golf Club (Wattsu Cse), Hokkaido
Winner Scott Vincent (ZIM) 72-63-69-66—270 ¥20m
T13 Dylan Perry 68-68-72-70—278 ¥1.853m
T16 Todd Sinnott 73-68-72-66—279 ¥1.349m
T32 Anthony Quayle 67-71-74-70—282 ¥571,666
T38 Andrew Evans 70-71-73-69—283 ¥460,000
T47 Scott Strange 73-70-71-71—285 ¥280,571
MC David Bransdon 75-73—148
European Tour
Dutch Open
Bernardus Golf, Cromvoirt, Netherlands
Winner Kristoffer Broberg (SWE) 68-64-61-72—265 €147,370
T15 Ryan Fox 72-68-69-68—277 €12,881
T27 Maverick Antcliff 73-67-71-69—280 €8,921
MC Jake McLeod 70-74—144
MC Josh Geary 71-74—145
MC Elvis Smylie 77-69—146
MC Deyen Lawson 74-74—148
Ladies European Tour
Lacoste Ladies Open de France
Golf du Medoc (Chateaux Cse), Le Pian-Médoc, France
Winner Celine Boutier (FRA) 68-66-68—202 €45,000
T54 Stephanie Kyriacou 70-72-75—217 €1,075
T64 Whitney Hillier 72-72-76—220 €825
Korean PGA Tour
2021 DGB Financial Group Irvine Open
Farmy Hills Country Club, Korea
Winner Sanghyun Park (KOR) 67-65-65-64—261
T12 Junseok Lee 70-68-69-67—274
T42 Wonjoon Lee 67-75-67-74—283
T57 Kevin Chun 73-69-70-77—289
Challenge Tour
Hopps Open de Provence
Golf International de Pont Royal, Mallemort, France
Winner Alfie Plant (ENG) 68-70-66-67—271 €32,000
T37 Daniel Hillier 66-73-76-68—283 €1,320
66 Dimitrios Papadatos 70-71-74-78—293 €540
MC Blake Windred 77-72—149
Symetra Tour
Guardian Championship
Capitol Hill Golf Club, Prattville, Alabama
Winner Janie Jackson (USA) 66-66—132 $US26,250
T55 Robyn Choi 71-74—145 $638
MC Stephanie Na 73-73—146
MC Julianne Alvarez 70-80—150
MC Julienne Soo 74-77—151
MC Soo Jin Lee 79-74—153
LET Access Series
Lavaux Ladies Open
Golf de Lavaux, Switzerland
Winner Gab’le Macdonald (SCO) 69-71-69—209 €5,600
T28 Amy Walsh 75-71-73—219 €504
MC Kristalle Blum 73-79—152
Champions Tour
Sanford International
Minnehaha Country Club, Sioux Falls, South Dakota
Winner Darren Clarke (NIR) 63-70-65—198 $US270,000
Defeated KJ Choi and Steve Flesch at first playoff hole
T4 Rod Pampling 64-67-69—200 $96,300
T7 John Senden 67-70-65—202 $54,900
T7 Steven Alker 65-70-67—202 $54,900
T11 David McKenzie 68-65-70—203 $41,400
T49 Mark Hensby 65-71-75—211 $5,070
T65 Robert Allenby 72-73-70—215 $1,994