Vic Open: Local favorite moves into contention

DEYEN Lawson leads the Australian charge at the halfway stage today (Saturday,  February 11) of the men’s Vic Open after first-round leader Ryan Ruffels closed with a calamitous quadruple bogey at 13th Beach.

After getting off to a flying start with a course record-equalling 61 on Thursday, Ruffels was still sitting pretty at 14 under with just one hole to play in the second round.

But it all went awry on the closing par-5 18th, with the 24-year-old hitting three shots into a hazard, two of which could not be found.

Ruffels eventually holed out for a quadruple bogey nine and a round of one-over 73, which dropped him all the way back to a tie for 15th at 10 under.

Local favourite Lawson, who did his professional traineeship at nearby Curlewis GC, went in the other direction yesterday, shooting a nine-under 63 to move to second at 16 under.

Lawson has already won the WA Open this season and sits in eighth spot on the Australasian Order of Merit.

But the outright leader is New Zealand’s Michael Hendry, who tore up The Creek course on Friday morning with a bogey-free 10-under 62 to move to 18-under 126.

“It feels a little bit that way (that the stars aligned), yeah,” said the 43-year-old Hendry, a former NZ Open and PGA champion and who has been a regular on the Japanese tour for a decade.

“It was one of those days where everything seemed to go well and I hit a lot of really good shots, and the putts dropped as well.

“It was a really nice day.”

Gavin Fairfax was in outright third place at 14 under, a shot clear of four other Australians – Justin Warren, Mathew Goggin, Haydn Barron and amateur Jack Buchanan.

The halfway cut was made at five under.

Rising star Cassie Porter has placed a stranglehold on the women’s Vic Open and will take an imposing five-shot lead into the weekend action at 13th Beach.

For the second straight day, the 20-year-old outshone her accomplished playing partners Jiyai Shin and Karrie Webb, both of whom are multiple major winners and former world No.1s.

The highlights of Porter’s round of 9-under 64 yesterday (Friday, February 10) were eagles at the par-4 5th – when she holed out with a wedge from 75 yards – and the par-5 18th on The Creek Course.

“On the fifth, I hit it and Amber my caddy and I both said, ‘Sit down, that is so far over’ but it took one hop and went in,” Porter said.

“I couldn’t see it but I heard the crowd.”

Porter was an astonishing 15 under the card after two rounds, two shots better than the best winning totals of 13 under – by Mel Reid in 2017 and Hannah Green in 2022 – since the women’s Vic Open went to a 72-hole tournament in 2013.

First-round co-leader Pavarisa Yoktuan from Thailand (68) was in outright second at 10 under, a shot clear of England’s Holly Clyburn and American Emma Talley.

Korean star Shin (71) was in fifth spot at 7-under 138, while the 48-year-old Webb wound back the clock and moved up the leaderboard to 4-under 141 after signing for a 69.

But they were both put in the shade again by Porter, who only turned professional 14 months ago.

“I stuck to my game plan and it came off today,” she said.

“You’ve got to take it when it comes, because it doesn’t come very often.

“(Shin and Webb) are amazing players.

“When you’re in a group like that and everyone is playing well you kind of feed off it and I did that so I was really happy with myself.

“Putting a score like that on the board is pretty cool.”

After shooting the lights out in the morning, Porter had a relaxing Friday afternoon planned on the Bellarine Peninsula before getting back to business.

“I’m trying not to focus on the lead going into the weekend because I’ve still got another two days of work to do,” she said.

“I’m actually going for a quick hike around the beach.

“There’s a headland I really want to go and see.

“And then maybe go for a swim, dinner and a snooze.”

 – WITH AAP