The Australian Open has begun, with the first round of the dual-gender tournament teeing off on Thursday morning across the two Sydney courses – The Lakes and The Australian.
That includes a star group of Min Woo Lee, Cameron Smith and Rikuya Hoshino, who began their tournament on the 10th tee of The Lakes at 7:05am (AEDT).
World no.5 Minjee Lee headlines the women’s field. She will tee off at 7:16am on The Lakes course.
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But Wednesday’s wild weather forced organisers into a last-minute rule change for the first two rounds, adopting a preferred lie local rule for fairways.
That means if a player’s ball lands on the fairway they can pick it up and replace it (within a scorecard’s length, but not closer to the flag) from where it initially stopped.
The rule is enacted so that players can clean their balls, and is often used at the grassroots level but not in the elite game.
It is only in place for fairways, meaning if a player hits the rough then mud could become a more pressing concern.
KEY TEE TIMES (THURSDAY – DAY 1)
7:05am (The Lakes)
Min Woo Lee
Cameron Smith
Rikuya Hoshino
7:27am (The Lakes)
Marc Leishman
Cameron Davis
Robert MacIntyre
12pm (The Australian)
Adrian Meronk
Adam Scott
Matt Jones
12:22pm (The Australian)
Aaron Baddeley
Lucas Herbert
Joaquin Niemann
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