3 minute read
Key facts about the Women's Australian Open golf tournament starting on Thursday in Adelaide.
WOMEN'S AUSTRALIAN OPEN GOLF AT A GLANCE
When: Thursday to Sunday
Where: Royal Adelaide Golf Club
The course: Par 73, 6115 metres
The purse: $US1.3 million ($A1.93 million)
Sanctioning tours: LPGA Tour, ALPG Tour, Ladies European Tour
The format: 72-hole stroke play
Past five champions: 2019: Nelly Korda (USA); 2018: Jin Young Ko (South Korea); 2017: Ha Na Jang (South Korea); 2016: Haru Nomura (Japan); 2015: Lydia Ko (New Zealand)
PLAYERS TO WATCH
* MINJEE LEE. Australia's highest-ranked golfer rose to world No.2 last year before finishing the year ranked ninth. A five-time winner on the LPGA Tour.
* HANNAH GREEN. Collected her first major win at last year's women's PGA Championship - the first Australian woman to win a major since Karrie Webb in 2006 - and backed that up to win again on the LPGA Tour.
* NELLY KORDA. The world No.3 and defending champion recorded two of her three LPGA Tour wins last year, when she had a dozen top-10 finishes.
* KARRIE WEBB: Australia's most successful golfer has won a record five Opens, the last in 2014. The Hall of Famer has 41 LPGA wins including seven majors.
* JEONG-EUN LEE6. The reigning US Open champion and world No.9 is seeking to become South Korea's third Open winner in the past four years.
TRIVIA
* The Australian Open was first held in 1974 but not staged between 1979-93.
* Karrie Webb (five), England's Laura Davies (two) and Taiwan's Yani Tseng (two) are the only multiple winners.
* Karrie Webb (2014, 2008, 2007, 2002, 2000), Jan Stephenson (1977) and Jane Crafter (1997) are the only Australian winners.
* Korea's Ha Na Jang won the previous Open at Royal Adelaide in 2017, shooting 10-under. Sweden's Anika Sorenstam won the other Open staged at the course in 1994.