Shock Open lead after $7k year

A coaching change to the stable of the man who has steered both Minjee Lee and Hannah Green to major championships has helped 2016 Olympian and former LPGA tour player Su Oh find her best carding a blistering seven-under to take the lead after the opening round of the Australian Open.

After watching her “best friend” fire in the morning, Green then defied jetlag and the lack of practice, having been denied an early look at the course due to Melbourne’s wet weather and her late arrival from Florida, and went on a back-nine blitz netting five to sit one-back back at six-under.

Lee, h0wever, struggled with an opening two-over 74 after making bogey on her final two holes at Victoria Golf Club.

It’s been 10 years since an Australian woman won the national Open and Victorian Oh made an early case to end that drought with nine birdies in her opening round of seven-under 66 at Kingston Heath.

Oh, who first joined the LPGA Tour in 2016 but lost her card at the end of 2022, made just three starts this year via invitations, missing the cut in all three, and made just over $7000 on the secondary Epsom Tour.

The poor run prompted a shift to the stable of coach Richie Smith, who guides both Minjee and Minwoo Lee as well as Green and newly minted Australian PGA winner Elvis Smylie.

“Good thing I like playing golf,” Oh said of her hard year.

“It was pretty tough, but I think I am back on the right track with a better team around me. I feel more comfortable. The support has been really nice, even though I’ve been playing really crap.

“(Smith) is very supportive, he knows a thing or two with the players he already has. It’s been good to rebuild.

“I’d worked really hard the last few months with Richie and felt like I was hitting the ball well. It was there but I had to dig deep and believe what I have been practising and it paid off today.”

After her round Green weighed in on debate over the soft preparation of the course conceding the pin placements would normally be more difficult for the men.

But she said the softness, due to the weather, was beyond even what women would get at regular tournaments.

“Even when I play casual golf, it’s firmer. I’m sure they don’t want it this soft,” she said.

“I felt like the pins were pretty generous today. They obviously did try and tuck some pins on perhaps the shorter holes and holes that are easier.

“But I do think that if the men played at this course, the pins would be much more tucked. I think they obviously want to make sure everyone gets play in and they don’t want scores to be too high.”

Oh, who had former pro and prominent course designer Mike Clayton on her bag, conceded that Kingston Heath was not the monster she was used to.

But the 28-year-old said it wasn’t a “pitch and putt”, with heavy criticism of the soft layout coming from the likes of Cameron Smith.

“It’s still Kingston Heath, you still can’t access some pins, in my opinion. But I think if it’s firm, they won’t put the pin there.

“It’s just a different set-up, the pins were close to some edges. It’s different to when it’s rock hard, and I’ve played rock-hard Kingston Heath, but it wasn’t a pitch-and-putt course.”

Oh shares the top of the leaderboard with Korean amateur Hyojin Yang, who also shot a seven-under at Victoria.