Malaysia’s Kelly Tan opened her campaign at the ISPS Handa Women’s Australian Open with a flawless four-under-par 69, which placed her in T7 position at Royal Adelaide Golf Club.
Tan made two birdies on each nine at the par-73 Royal Adelaide course to lie three shots behind leader Jodi Ewart Shadoff of England.
“It’s pretty breezy in the afternoon here compared to the morning, but yeah, I took advantage of my good ball striking round today and just made a few good putts and didn’t make any bogeys. I made a really good save on my last hole, which was the 9th hole … I think it was like a 30-something footer and that really made my round so much sweeter,” said Tan.
Tan is back on the LPGA Tour after regaining full playing rights via last year’s Q-Series at Pinehurst. She played four full seasons on the LPGA Tour from 2014 but lost full playing rights following the 2017 season, competing mainly on the second-tier Symetra Tour in 2018 and 2019.
The 26-year-old won the 2019 Florida’s Natural Charity Classic on the Symetra Tour for her first international professional title.
The US$1.3 million ISPS Handa Women’s Australian Open is co-sanctioned by the LPGA Tour, Australian Ladies Professional Golf (ALPG) and Golf Australia. The star-studded field includes defending champion Nelly Korda, former world number ones Inbee Park and So Yeon Ryu, last week’s ISPS Handa Vic Open champion Hee Young Park, as well as Australian favorites Karrie Webb, Minjee Lee and Hannah Green.
