Cam Smith (aka the Most Relevant Defector) was supposed to win the Aussie PGA last week and that’s exactly what he did.
This week he’ll go for the “Aussie Double” as he tries to add the 2022 Australian Open to his nice resume.
Cam’s the class of the field that will play over two courses — Kingston Heath and the Victoria Golf Club outside Melbourne. There’s a twist to this week’s event — the field will include women playing on the same courses, their tee times mixed in with those of the men.
They’ll play 18 holes on both courses then the final two rounds will be at Victoria GC.
Cam’s competition? Adam Scott with Stevie Williams again, on the bag, will have to play better than he did last week. LIV defector Kevin Na is playing, so is Aussie Matt Jones.
There will be two well-known siblings competing on the men’s and women’s sides — Min Woo Lee for the men and his sister from the LPGA Tour — Minjee Lee — and Minjee is a solid favorite in the women’s competition. Both are from the home country.
Lydia Ko Returns To World No. 1:
The sensational season for Lydia Ko got a cherry on the top of the cake this week when she returned to the No. 1 spot in the Rolex Rankings.
She jumped past Nelly Korda and is in the top spot for the first time since 2017.
“I’m very grateful to be world No. 1 again. To be honest, I wasn’t sure if I’d ever be back here again,” Ko said. “This wouldn’t have been possible without my family and team, thank you for your belief and love.”
Ko was previously ranked No. 1 for a span of 19 weeks, beginning in February of 2015. She then held the position for 85 weeks, beginning in October of 2015. She is currently fifth all-time on number of weeks spent as world No. 1. Lorena Ochoa holds the record, with 158 weeks.
Lydia won three times in 2022, including the season-ending CME Group Tour Championship.
U.S. Open Tickets For L.A. Will Break The Bank:
Everything is more expensive in Los Angeles and with that in mind, the USGA is putting out some pretty pricey tickets for the 2023 U.S. Open at L.A. Country Club.
How about these general admission ticket prices: Monday: $125, Tuesday: $150, Wednesday: $200. That’s just practice rounds. Thursday’s first round: $275, Friday: $285; Saturday: $300 and Sunday’s a bargain at $290. Parking extra.
There will be a “Trophy Club” set up on L.A. Country Club’s south course. It will be a sports bar/lounge setup and that’s a mere $2,700 for the week.
That should keep out the riff-raff.
