Australian PGA LIVE updates: Smith, Scott, Leishman tee off at ...

22 Nov 2023

The Sydney Morning Herald

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The leaderboard

With the first groups around the turn, here’s how the leaderboard is shaping up.

Australian PGA - Figure 1 — Photo The Sydney Morning Herald

-4: Adam Scott-3: Elvis Smylie, Min Woo Lee-2: Adrian Meronk (POL), Brett Colletta, Joaquin Niemann (CHI), Jordan Zunic, John Lyras, Tim Hart, Sung Jin Yeo, Anthony Choat. -1: Cameron Davis, Robert Macintyre (SCO), Adam Bland, Simon Hawkes, Rikuya Hoshino (JPN), Mark Power (IRE), Pietro Bovari (ITA), Frank Kennedy (ENG), Josh Geary, Lars van Meijel (NED), Brett Rankin, Peter Wilson.Others: Cameron Smith (E), Jed Morgan (+1), Nick Flanagan (+5).

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9.48am

Scott’s experiments paying offBy Adam Pengilly

Adam Scott spoke about how he’s been tinkering with his equipment a lot the last 12 months, and it seems to be paying dividends. He’s made back-to-back birdies on the 18th hole (his ninth of the day) and then the 1st hole to take the outright lead at 3-under. That’s four birdies in his last five holes.

Adam Scott is in fine form at Royal Queensland.Credit: Getty

The best thing about it if you’re at Royal Queensland? You can get up and close to the former Masters winner given the majority of the gallery is following Cameron Smith behind. For those playing at home, Scott has ditched the infamous tan outfits for his return home. Red is the colour today. And he’s looking as immaculate as ever. Min Woo Lee and Elvis Smylie head a group of five a shot further back at 2-under.

9.37am

A look at Smith midway through his round

9.25am

Party time … or not

Cameron Smith’s group has just played the party hole where there is, well, no party. It’s just after 8am local time and there’s no one in the corporate hospitality tents yet.

Australian PGA - Figure 2 — Photo The Sydney Morning Herald

Cameron Smith.Credit: Getty

But the music is pumping. I’m sure there will be a golfer or two who will find it frustrating by the end of the week. Smith hits a delicious wedge into the 125 metre par-3, but his short downhill birdie putt from about five feet shaves the edge of the hole. It’s just not happening for him at the moment. He’s still even par after eight holes. But as they say in the classics, there’s still a lot of golf let in thistournament.

9.11am

How quickly things turn.

Fortunes can change as quick as the weather. Here’s Harrison Crowe on the 14th (the fifth hole of his opening round).

9.05am

Players still on course as rain persists

The rain is just enough to be annoying, but not enough to force players from the course at the moment.

Cameron Smith is certainly the crowd-puller but he can’t really get out of second gear.

Min Woo Lee makes birdie on the par-5 15th while Smith and Robert MacIntyre make par.

There’s also been a little warning about the pace of play for Smith’s group, but they protest their innocence saying they weren’t called up on the 12th with a long wait on the tee.

They’re told they’re six minutes behind. Not sure they’re happy about the message.

8.46am

The leaderboard

With the first groups around the turn, here’s how the leaderboard is shaping up.

Australian PGA - Figure 3 — Photo The Sydney Morning Herald

8.29am

Smith still out of sorts earlyBy Adam Pengilly

Cameron Smith has just hit a really poor second with a wedge from the middle of the 13th fairway, and scrambles for par. Things not smooth yet for the former Open champion. Min Woo Lee makes birdie though with Poland’s Adrian Meronk and Elvis Smylie among the early leaders at 2-under.

Just walked past a volunteer and asked what the weather is going to do. The sky is getting very dark here at Royal Queensland.

“There’s nothing on the radar,” he says. Thirty seconds later it starts raining. Good chat.

8.24am

Has the party hole gone too far?

Chase Koepka delivered LIV Golf marketing nirvana with his Adelaide hole-in-one last year. Now Cameron Smith wants the Australian PGA’s own party hole to make it easier to hit an ace.

Chase Koepka’s hole in one at the inaugural LIV Golf event in Adelaide.Credit: LIV Golf

Read the full story here.

8.08am

Smith bounces back as crowds roll inBy Adam Pengilly

He might have been shouting “fore” off the tee but Smith had got a shot back on the 12th with a brilliant up-and-down for birdie. The drive wasn’t as bad as first feared, nestled in a greenside hollow to the left and his magical short game came to the fore.

His playing partner Min Woo Lee said at the Greg Norman Medal on Tuesday night that Smith’s short game was “a joke”.

I guess he’s seeing first-hand why. Lee and MacIntyre also make birdie to get to 1-under with Smith back to even. There’s a fair few LIV Golf hats out here and a few Ripper references to Smith’s all-Australian team. Crowd just starting to swell a bit more now on a beautiful morning in Brisvegas.

7.58am

Oh so close for CroweBy Adam Pengilly

We’ve almost had the first sensation of the tournament with young gun Harrison Crowe, playing in the group behind Smith, coming within a whisker of a hole-in-one on the 11th. He walked up to his ball and tapped in from less than a foot. To say there were only three men and a dog watching might be an exaggeration as everyone stalked Smith’s cohort.

Two men and a dog. The kid has got form, too. He qualified for the Masters and British Open this year after getting a golden ticket winning last year’s Asia Pacific Amateur, but he hit worldwide fame for his viral shot from a pub over buildings and onto St Andrews.

Meanwhile, Smith is yelling “fore” at fans after sending one left off the tee at the short par-4 12th. It’s the type of driveable hole even weekend hackers would look at twice wondering if they can get there. Patchy start from Australia’s top golfer.

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