26 Nov 2024 | Australian Open |
Marquee groups: Smith, Smylie to face off again
by Martin Blake
BMW Australian PGA Championship winner Elvis Smylie will be back playing alongside one of his idols in Cameron Smith in the first two rounds of the ISPS HANDA Australian Open.
The draw announced today has the pair playing alongside Frenchman Victor Perez from 7am Thursday at The Victorian Golf Club in Melbourne.
Smylie was a Cameron Smith Scholarship holder in 2019 and the pair were first and second in the first of the big two Australian touranments of the season last weekend in Brisbane.
Meanwhile world No. 5 Hannah Green goes up against the defending women’s champion, South Africa’s Ashleigh Buhai, and another LPGA Tour star in Sydney’s Grace Kim from 12.16 pm Thursday at Kingston Heath.
Green, a three-time winner on the tour in 2024, is chasing her first Australian Open.
The 156 men and 84 women playing the dual gender Australian Open will tee it up at alternating courses on Thursday and Friday before the cut is made and they return to Kingston Heath for the final two rounds over the weekend.
The 12-player field in the Australian All Abilities Championship tees off on Thursday at Kingston Heath from 1.39pm. SELECTED MARQUEE GROUPS Round one: Victoria 7am (10th tee) Cameron Smith, Elvis Smylie, Victor Perez (France) 7.11 am (10th tee) Steph Kyriacou, Minjee Lee, Jiyai Shin (South Korea) 7.22 am (10th tee) Marc Leishman, Lucas Herbert, Yannik Paul (Germany) 7.44 am (10th tee) Todd Clements (Eng), Cam Davis, Harry Higgs (USA) Kingston Heath 12.05 pm Min Woo Lee, Joaquin Niemann (Chile), Jordan Smith (Eng) 12.16 pm Grace Kim, Ashleigh Buhai (SA), Hannah Green 12.38 pm Jenny Shin (South Korea), Kelsey Bennett, Danielle Kang (USA) Round two: Victoria 7.00 am (10th tee) Min Woo Lee, Joaquin Niemann (Chile), Jordan Smith (Eng) 7.11 am (10th tee) Grace Kim, Ashleigh Buhai (SA), Hannah Green 7.33 (10th tee) Jenny Shin (South Korea), Kelsey Bennett, Danielle Kang (USA) Kingston Heath 12.05 pm Cameron Smith, Elvis Smylie, Victor Perez (France) 12.16 pm Steph Kyriacou, Minjee Lee, Jiyai Shin (South Korea) 12.27 pm Marc Leishman, Lucas Herbert, Yannik Paul (Germany)