SYDNEY (Reuters) – Amateur Rachel Lee went from Monday qualifier to top of the Australian Open leaderboard on Thursday as the 16-year-old upstaged a slew of major champions in a stellar first round in Sydney.
Lee had to dash to the first tee after getting her start time mixed up but composed herself to shoot a superb six-under-par 67 at The Lakes course to hold a share of the lead with South Korean Jenny Shin.
The pair were one stroke ahead of South Korea’s former world number one Shin Ji-yai.
“I thought I was at 8:38 and not 8:28 and I’ve learned my lesson. I won’t do that again,” said Lee.
“I was putting and my coach says, ‘Rachel, you’re on the tee’. So I just ran out there.”
The Sydney schoolgirl rolled in eight birdies, including two back-to-back at the 17th and 18th holes as she closed out her round in driving rain.
Lee caused a minor stir in local golfing circles last week when she won a qualifier for next year’s New South Wales Open.
However, she never imagined leading her national Open ahead of local major winners Minjee Lee (three-under) and Hannah Green (even par).
“Am I leading the Australian Open? Oh, honestly I never thought that (was possible),” she said.
“Hopefully I can do that for the next three days.”
In the men’s component of the dual gender event held across two courses, former champion Cameron Davis took advantage of gentle weather in the morning to shoot a nine-under 63 at The Lakes.
The tall 28-year-old sparkled on the greens in a bogey-free round featuring seven birdies and an eagle on the par-five 14th to hold a one-stroke lead over American Patrick Rodgers.
A one-time winner on the U.S. PGA Tour, Davis will tee off at The Australian on Friday, the same course where he won the event in 2017.
“I know this place relatively well, so I felt like I had plenty of good memories in the bank to go out and play the course with,” he told reporters.
“That’s by far the cleanest round I’ve ever had around here and without the wind, it was awesome to make the most of the conditions.”
Cameron Smith drew the bigger galleries as the tournament’s top drawcard but the former British Open winner found water twice in his opening five holes at The Lakes before battling to a one-under 71 to be eight off the pace.
In tears after missing the cut at his Australian PGA Championship defence last week, the Queenslander was sufficiently encouraged by his opening round to feel he could make up ground.
“A little bit frustrating, but it was better,” the 30-year-old told reporters.
“There’s definitely something to build on there, for sure. I didn’t feel as kind of anxious and uncomfortable, I guess.”
Also at The Lakes, compatriot Min Woo Lee shot a solid 67 to be four off the pace as he chases back-to-back trophies following his Australian PGA Championship triumph at Royal Queensland on Sunday.
Chile’s Joaquin Niemann was also on five-under after shooting 66 at The Australian while former world number one Adam Scott was nine behind Davis after carding an even-par 71 at the same course.
(Reporting by Ian Ransom in Melbourne; Editing by Peter Rutherford)
