WPGA: 2024 Vic Open

R2 I was busy and only made it there to see the afternoon wave on their 2nd nine. As we were leaving I did bump into Ina and we shared a high five when I wished her good luck on her home tour in 2024. I guess her body is OK, she'll need it to be as the weekend conditions will be tough. Her english seems rock solid.

The Jiyai and Karis group started to gather a crowd for R2. Karis was still pushing her own bag but when I asked her about it she laughed it off and said she had someone lined up for the weekend. Her back nine was no good, she had got it to -9 on the front but when we joined them had dropped three shots to lose the lead. With that frustration she was still seeming to be upbeat and very chatty, mostly with fellow aussie in the group and long bomber Cassie Porter.

Jiyai almost holed out on the par3 12th with a lovely high fade, it rolled out to 6ft and her putt lipped out, made a good par save on 13 with a delicate chip shot, then showed her class locking in birdies on the next two downwind holes. The greens are firm but the back pin positions made these holes very gettable, she didnt miss out where others had. I spoke to her caddy, who has her bag only for this week. His role was limited to pack mule as the legend took care of business herself, but he was loving it even so. Jiyai's clothing brand has a weird emblem, it must just be me but it looks a map of Australia with a hand showing the middle finger where the great australian bite is. Anyway she is lurking just 3 off the overnight lead and no doubt the weekend queen will be in the leaders dreams.

Best dressed today goes to Malaysian pro and youtube creator Genevieve Ling. She looked great and was striking it well but had a tough day around the tricky beach course greens. Gen must have been annoyed with her play but after her round we had a short chat and she's all class. She flys out now and will continue chasing and living her dream. Hopefully with some good memories of Aus.

I noticed in R1 that Min A and Shannon Tan were striking it well. I missed them in R2, well I told Min A she should take the trophy home when I saw her on the putting green, but their form continued and they sit T1 and two shots back. The action stays on the beach course for the weekend, the wind will be a big factor as the crowds and heat rises. Fighting, i mean Hwaiting!

Glad to do it, and thanks for the forum. R3 is underway with the dozen or so players under par after R2 just starting to tee off. It is weird here over the first two rounds we see quite a bit of movemement on the leaderboard as the players switch from one course to the other. The pro's seem to think the Creek course is 5 or so shots easier. Well everyone is on the Beach course now so things will settle down, it's not uncommon to get a play-off come Sunday. The arvo winds are predicted for 23km/h which is significant but not soo bad that the leading dozen should fall prey to the hunters. I doubt that I'll make it back to the course but it was a blast, no ropes walking the fairways getting up close to these experts, what could be better. It's a pity that the womens field is likely to fall to the quality of the mens side, but you never know maybe Jiyai keeps winning it and feeling obliged to defend. Fingers crossed.

On Ina's english, I can't say how large is her vocabulary is but when we spoke her pronunciation sounded almost native. She seemed to know 2 or 3 people following her on course and they were taking shots with their phones so maybe something will turn up online soon.

Yeah that is strange. I don't recall R3 cuts in the past but it looks legit going by the website.

"The leading 35 players and any tied for 35th place (professionals and amateurs), will qualify for the fourth round; the remainder will be eliminated."

Ina has had a good day out and is safe.

Round 3
Jiyai Shin had another strong round today and now is tied for the lead with one to go. Min A Yoon is one shot back. Jennifer Chang shot a 67 and Cecilia Cho a 65 to also move into the top five. Man, there are a lot of Sisters and Korean kyopos in the hunt this week!

Shout out to Ina Yoon, who made a spectacular run to get all the way to t-13th.

Sisters hwaiting!!!

T1 Jiyai Shin -8 71-70-68 209
- Karis Davidson -8 66-73-70 209
T3 Jennifer Chang -7 74-69-67 210
- Min A Yoon -7 70-68-72 210
T5 Jeongmin Cecilia Cho -6 68-78-65 211
- Sarah Jane Smith -6 68-77-66 211
- Ashley Lau -6 68-74-69 211
- Shina Kanazawa -6 70-68-73 211

Notables:
T13 Ina Yoon -1 76-73-67 216
- Claire Shin -1 72-76-68 216
T17 Karrie Webb Even 75-75-67 217
- Hanee Song Even 73-75-69 217
T20 Ilhee Lee +1 71-75-72 218
T28 Nayeon Eum +3 75-73-72 220
- Su Oh +3 72-74-74 220

Round 3 highlights:

https://www.instagram.com/p/C24aWM1LKU0

https://www.instagram.com/p/C24U1O8LWXU

Round 4

Well, one of those events where we had a great Korean effort but a virtual unknown just played lights out and stole the title. Jiyai had a chance to force a playoff right until the last hole but couldn't do it. She shot a solid 69, but she needed a 68. Meanwhile, Sisters finished 2-3-4, with Cecilia Cho having one of her best results in ages and Min A Yoon 4th.

Ina was not as strong today as yesterday but still shot a 71 to move to 2 under and JUST outside a top ten. All in all a pretty good result for her return to action.

Sisters hwaiting!!!

1 Ashley Lau -12 68-74-69-66 277
2 Jiyai Shin -11 71-70-68-69 278
3 Jeongmin Cecilia Cho -10 68-78-65-68 279
4 Min A Yoon -8 70-68-72-71 281
T5 Shina Kanazawa -7 70-68-73-71 282
- Sarah Jane Smith -7 68-77-66-71 282
- Karis Davidson -7 66-73-70-73 282

Notables:
T11 Ina Yoon -2 76-73-67-71 287
- Hanee Song -2 73-75-69-70 287
- Karrie Webb -2 75-75-67-70 287
T17 Jennifer Chang Even 74-69-67-79 289
T19 Claire Shin +1 72-76-68-73 290
T24 Ilhee Lee +3 71-75-72-74 292
- Nayeon Eum +3 75-73-72-72 292
T29 Su Oh +5 72-74-74-74 294

Arrrg I was just finishing up a long post when my tablet died.

I skipped a couple of things and went by my lonesome to watch the back nine of R4. I even took a couple very bad photos on my very old phone which I'll try to work out how to share in the morning. Very bad photos.

Jiyai so close! As said, she needed birdie on the par5 18th to force a playoff but she made the big error of driving it into the only deep fwy bunker off the tee, forcing her to hit a 30m pitch out. She was up to the moment and hit the 190m approach to around 25ft. She lined it up, the crowd had gathered and were wishing it in.. dirty big lipout. Noooooo. There were a bunch of japanese and korean players following her final hole so I'm sure they're keeping her company now so she cant sink into the what might have beens.

I fluked it and caught the Yoon Ina group near the clubhouse on the 10th tee. I wanted to see how she walked compared to Thursday. Much smoother, more comfortable looking. Her right ankle was strapped up, I guess she may have been in some discomfort ealier in the week. She bombed a drive on a line the others couldn't take, almost holed the 30m pitch and tapped in for bird. Regulation pars then after another long drive and a good wedge shot her 7ft putt dropped for birdie on the 13th. I left them after her approach went to 12ft on the 15th, she bogied that wow, but after they finished the 18th I spoke with her caddy and he said he was on her bag fulll time. The won will flow in no time for Ina, so why not have your "real" partner doing the reps with you I guess. Nice

Next I got on the Yoon Min A group on the 10th. Min A had dropped off (her putts were doing everything but drop) but with her was Jeongmin Cecilia? Cho, who was -10 and tied for the lead. Their scorer told me she had a hot putter and had already sunk 3 long ones. Turns out it was her mum pushing the buggy and was mostly leaving her girl to do her thing. She birdied 10 and 11 to go to -6 for the day and to be honest I was rooting for them. The website had her with an aussie flag, the time sheet had her as KOR and her mum was lovely so I couldnt help it. I left them for a while but rejoined on 15 when at one point she had a 2 shot lead. Maybe it was nerves but she started missing greens in the wrong spots and it cost her two bogies. She had to eagle the last to join Lau who sunk a clutch putt on 18 to get to -12.. it was not to be.

Ashley Lau was -11 when I caught them on 13. With her was japanese pro Shina Kanazawa who I think was part of the Shinster possie and Peiying Tsai who'd I spoke with at R1. She was having a rough day but still gave the small crowd as good as she got after a nice shot. Ashley went thru the fwy on 13 and had to chip out, her wedge was quality tho and she saved her par with a 10ft putt. She did the same off the tee on 14 but this time it cost a shot. Two miss-judged tee shots in a row and it was looking like very hard work, I wasn't confident for her. However she didnt miss out on the almost drive-able 15 and then set the number at -12 on 18. In her winners interview she said that she had finished high school here in Aus and it felt like a 2nd home. Very good, she must have been anxious as Jiyai also birdied 15 to draw within one with a par 5 remaining. Congrats to Ashley, out Sunday'd the Sunday Queen.

I missed the last bus to get back to my car, but I'm glad I went. Jiyai Nooooooooo, come back!!!