While it may be Thanksgiving weekend in the United States, Australia has a pretty big golf event going on.
The ISPS Australian Open is no longer an official LPGA Tour or LET event, but in its previous playings had an impressive list of winners, including some of the greatest players in women’s golf history like Annika Sörenstam, Karrie Webb, Yani Tseng, Lydia Ko, Inbee Park and Nelly Korda among others. Now, it is run by ALPGA and features mainly Australian stars like Hannah Green, Minjee Lee and Grace Kim. The tournament is held at Victoria and Kingston Heath Golf Clubs and is done at the same time and location as the men’s Australian Open, featuring equal payouts for winners. The last two playings of the event have been won by major champion Ashleigh Buhai.
Australian Su Oh, who has 16 career top-10 finishes on the LPGA Tour, and amateur from Korea Hyojin Yang hold the first round lead at -7.
Oh had nine birdies for the round with two bogeys at Kingston Heath, while Yang was bogey free.
While big names like Stephanie Kyriacou, Grace Kim and Jiyai Shin are all in the top 10, the biggest name on the leaderboard is Oh’s close friend Hannah Green, who is sitting just one back. The No. 6 ranked player in the world paired up with Oh in 2022 at the Dow Championship, Green’s only time playing in the event. Oh was also the maid of honor in Green’s wedding earlier this year.
Green shot -6 at Kingston Heath with seven birdies and a bogey. If Green were to go on to win, it would be the fourth time she’s won worldwide in 2024. It would also be the first win at the Australian Open for arguably the country’s most prominent player.
