After a breathtaking start, Cameron Smith’s second round descended into a bush walk as Lucas Herbert extended his lead at the Australian Open.
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Smith wasted no time in making up the two-shot deficit from Herbert he began the day with courtesy of a stunning eagle at the par 5 first at Kingston Heath.
The healthy crowd were in awe as he took a wood off the tee, fired at the flag with a mid-iron and drained a mid-range putt to make a big statement of intent early.
A shootout between the Ripper GC teammates was on when Herbert matched that effort roughly 20 minutes later with an eagle of his own at the first before he birdied the next two holes.
Smith then birdied three of his next five holes as despite being two groups a part, they went shot for shot.
But at the turn something changed.
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On the back nine, it was like he handed his clubs to one of the patrons and allowed them to take over as he hit errant shot after errant shot.
He had to repeatedly search through the tea tree to salvage his ball and if not for his stellar short game, things could have been much worse.
Bogeys at 10, 12 and 15 as well as a double bogey at 16 dropped him back to -6 - where he started the day - heading into the weekend.
“I just made a couple of poor choices. We got on the clock there and it didn’t seem like we were playing that slow, and it felt like we were just rushing,” Smith said.
“Made some really poor choices mentally, I think, led to a few bogeys. You, kind of, get on that train in that wind and it’s not a good spot to be in.”
Herbert meanwhile charged ahead to be -14, -6 for the day, with a four shot lead.
The Victorian can bash the ball off the tee, but it was his ability to get himself out of trouble that was most admired.
The best example of which was a par save at the par 4 ninth.
He sprayed his drive into the trees, punched out to near a neighbouring tee box but stuck it close with a pearler of an iron shot.
“I had 15 as a number in my head at the start of the day,” Herbert said.
“I knew Cam would probably play well and I thought if I could go with him, we could put some distance between us and the field. Make it a fun weekend, just the two of us.
“Looked like he got off to a good start and then didn’t finish the way he would have liked. I knew I had to stay aggressive. I knew it was going to get windier later in the round, so getting off to the good start really helped.”
There were plenty of pin-seekers from Australian PGA champion Elvis Smylie.
In the same group as Smith, he upstaged the 2022 British Open champion like he did last Sunday at Royal Queensland.
The wind picked up throughout the afternoon, but Smylie was unbothered, firing home seven birdies to put him in with a chance of claiming an astonishing double of Australia’s two premier tournaments.
The 23-year-old started the tournament with three bogeys in his first seven holes and it looked like he was in a post-win lull that would lead to him missing the cut, but he has turned the tables mightily.
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In the women’s, Korean amateur Hyojin Yang proved once again that she is going to be a force to be reckoned with.
The 17-year-old was a surprise overnight co-leader but pushed ahead with four birdies in her first five holes breaking her clear of the pack.
Yang shot –7 at Victoria on Thursday - which was the same score she posted in qualifying earlier in the week to earn a spot in the field - and she simply continues to post low numbers, sitting at -9 at day’s end, one shot clear of Justice Bosio and Jiyai Shin.
Remarkably, she is staying at local motel which costs $117 per night, and only started playing golf eight years ago.
One of the biggest concerns of the afternoon was the possibility of Minjee Lee missing the cut.
The two-time major winner started the second round with plenty of work to do after a +2 opening round where she felt the effect of jet lag from only arriving from America on Wednesday morning after the LPGA Tour Championship.
It was a rollercoaster round for Lee with five birdies and six bogeys, but she did enough to feature on the weekend as she is +3 overall and the cut line is at +4.
Playing at Victoria, DP World Tour players Ryggs Johnston and Lukas Nemecz made big moves away from the spotlight.
Johnston made a stunning resurgence after bogeying two of his first three holes with a sensational mid-round run of six birdies in seven holes, including five in a row.
The American is -10 for the tournament in second place, while Austrian Nemecz is in the mix finishing at –9 alongside Americans Jordan Gumberg and Harry Higgs as well as Smylie and Finland’s Oliver Lindell.
In the same group as Herbert, Marc Leishman has played a solid -4 round to be, -7 overall.
Looming on the women’s leaderboard is former world number one Jiyai Shin.
The 36-year-old is a two-time major winner, like Lee, and is nicknamed ‘The Final Round Queen’ because she often comes up clutch on a Sunday.
The Korean boasts 64 professional wins in her career, including the Australian Open in 2013.
One of the disappointments of the day was Australian PGA Tour player Cameron Davis missing the cut by a shot, he finished -1.
Victor Perez, who came in the top ten at the Olympics in Paris and was in the marquee group alongside Smith and Smylie, was another high profile player to miss the weekend.
AUSTRALIAN OPEN LEADERBOARD AFTER ROUND TWO
1 Lucas Herbert -14
2 Ryggs Johnston -10
T3 Jordan Gumberg -9
T3 Lukas Nemecz -9
T3 Elvis Smylie -9
T3 Oliver Lindell -9
T3 Matthew Southgate -9
Notables
T8 Marc Leishman -8
T18 Cameron Smith -6
T29 Joaquin Niemann -4
T39 Min Woo Lee -3
MORNING WRAP - NIEMANN SURVIVES SCARE
Men’s defending champion Joaquin Niemann and Min Woo Lee attracted strong crowds at Victoria Golf Club as they both walked the tightrope of the cut line.
Chilean LIV Golf star Niemann endured a disappointing +1 opening round on Thursday afternoon but dazzled with six birdies in his first nine holes to be -5 for the day at the turn.
From then on, he was up-and-down, trading bogeys with birdies to stay at that mark for the day, and be -4 for the tournament and make the cut by two shots.
Lee meanwhile also worked his way through a topsy turvy round to be -3 for the tournament.
The fan favourite received a lot of love from the crowd but still appears to be somewhat hampered by the knee niggle he obtained in Brisbane last week as he made four birdies and two bogeys in a round of 69.
In the group behind them, Hannah Green had her chances to open up a lead but was left to rue a series of missed, short putts as she finished -1 for the day to be -7 for the tournament.
Playing alongside Green was defending champion Ashleigh Buhai who found her groove with a bogey free round after starting the day even par to be 4 overall with the women’s low round of the day so far.
Rookie professional Justice Bosio started the day at -5 and has worked her way into lead at -8 with three holes left to play at Victoria.
Jordan Gumberg is the men’s clubhouse leader, coming in at -9 after a -3 morning round at Kingston Heath.
The American started hot with four birdies on the front nine, and six overall, but a double bogey and a bogey stopped him from opening a greater margin.
“I would think I’m not going to be at the top of the leaderboard at the end of the day,” Gumberg said. “I think someone will get to 10, or 11, maybe even 12 (under).”
China’s Wenyi Ding shot the low round of the morning with a bogey free -7 effort at Victoria to join overnight leader Lucas Herbert at -8.
The DP World Tour player missed the cut at the Australian PGA Championship last week but has class, having played in the US Open last year, and winning the Asia-Pacific Amateur this year.
The latter victory earned him a start at The Masters and The Open in 2025, but remarkably, he has forfeited those opportunities by turning professional.
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