By Ian Ransom
MELBOURNE (Reuters) – An unflappable Lucas Herbert led his home Australian Open at the halfway mark on Friday as fan favourite Cameron Smith tumbled down the leaderboard with a poor back nine at Kingston Heath.
South Korean amateur Yang Hyo-jin continued her stellar tournament to lead the women’s component of the dual gender event by one stroke, upstaging compatriot Shin Jiyai among a slew of major winners.
Overnight leader after a flawless 63 at Victoria Golf Club on Thursday, Herbert marched on with a six-under 66 on a warm and breezy afternoon at Kingston for a 14-under total of 129, leading American Ryggs Johnston by four strokes.
Fans hoping for a shootout between LIV Golf teammates Herbert and Smith were initially buoyed as both eagled the first hole and raced away with a clutch of birdies.
However, Smith came apart after the turn with three bogeys and a double-bogey on the 16th, feeling the pressure after his grouping with Elvis Smylie and Victor Perez was put on the clock for slow play.
Wayward in his driving, Smith finished with an even-par 72 to be six-under for the tournament, eight shots behind Herbert.
“I don’t get put on the clock too often,” the former world number two told reporters.
“I feel like we do a pretty good job … It’s not something I like because I feel like I’m a pretty fast-placed player.”
Herbert had no such concerns as he burned away from the field.
Bogey-free at Victoria and through the first nine at Kingston, he finally dropped a shot at the 10th but rebounded with three consecutive birdies from the 13th.
Herbert denied his Rippers GC captain Smith a drought-breaking win at the New South Wales Open two weeks ago and is hungry to cap off the year with another title on Melbourne’s sandbelt along with an exemption to the British Open.
“I’ve never come home feeling satisfied with a year as I have this year, so that’s been really cool,” said the 28-year-old.
“It’s going to be hard to top next year but we’ll try.”
NO FLUKE
South Korean schoolgirl Yang was a surprise co-leader after the first round at Victoria Golf Club but proved it was no fluke as the 17-year-old from Jeju Island took to Kingston Heath without a practice round and shot a two-under 71.
Teeing off at the 10th, Yang stormed out of the blocks with four birdies in her first five holes before dropping three strokes across the fifth and sixth holes to surrender the outright lead.
Yang steadied, though, and rolled in her sixth birdie on the last hole to be alone on top ahead of a big weekend.
“I didn’t know what the course looked like,” Yang told Reuters, having prepared for the round purely off the yardage book.
“It was a bit hard and it was windy, too.”
Yang will need to hold off Shin and other major winners to capture a fairytale title.
Australian Hannah Green lurks two strokes behind on seven-under after battling to a one-under 71 at Victoria Golf Club after a poor night’s sleep from jet-lag.
South Africa’s double defending champion Ashleigh Buhai is also in the mix after a four-under 68 at Victoria, five strokes off the pace.
(Reporting by Ian Ransom in Melbourne; Editing by Peter Rutherford)
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