In 2019, Su Oh returned to Busan in the Republic of Korea for the first time in more than 15 years for the BMW Ladies Championship.
Oh lived in the area as a young girl until moving to Australia and becoming a citizen, but the 25-year-old said she still treasures her birthplace. She even remembers visiting LPGA International Busan with her father, then called Asiad Country Club.
“This is one of the golf courses that I’ve been to, but just the driving range with my dad before I actually played golf,” Oh said.
“I was FaceTiming my parents and they were like, ‘Oh! That’s that, and that’s that, I know that’. I think they really wanted to come here. They actually couldn’t come two years ago because they were moving houses and it was too hard, and this year was really tough [for them to come], too.”
In the inaugural tournament, Oh finished in a tie for 13th after entering the final round two shots behind the 54-hole leaders. This year, she enters with two top-seven finishes in her past four starts, including a career-best tie for second at the Cambia Portland Classic.
Oh said she has secured a quarantine exemption to visit family, including her aunt and uncle, after the event. Her aunt loves golf, and Oh said she wishes she could follow along outside the ropes this year, but understands the COVID-19 protocols in place for players to compete in the only LPGA Tour event staged in Korea.
“The golf course is a really nice course, every hole is quite different. I think my dad has played this golf course way more than I have,” Oh said.
“It’s just different without the fans. We always get quite a lot, and they’re all very passionate about golf, especially women’s golf more than men, which I really appreciate when coming over here. A different sort of crowd. Sometimes you can hear them from a couple of fairways away.
“I don’t think I had a very good finish [in 2019], but it’s not very often you see fans going down the fairway. I remember that, so we’ll miss that this year. But hopefully a lot of people are watching.”
Other Australians in the BMW Ladies Championship are world No.6 Minjee Lee, Hannah Green and Sarah Kemp.
Hoping to join them on the LPGA Tour in 2022 are 10 Aussies who have qualified for Stage II of Q School starting in Florida on Thursday.
Like the LPGA Tour, the PGA Tour is in Asia this week for the Zozo Championship in Japan where Matt Jones is the lone Aussie in the field while Queenslanders Scott Hend and Maverick Antcliff will fly the flag at the European Tour’s Mallorca Golf Open in Spain.
Round 1 tee-times, AEDT
PGA Tour
Zozo Championship
Accordia Golf Narashino CC, Chiba, Japan
12.14pm – Matt Jones, Robert Streb, Lanto Griffin
Defending champion: Patrick Cantlay
Past Aussie winners: Nil
Top Aussie prediction: Matt Jones
TV schedule: Live 2.30pm-5.30pm Thursday, Friday; Live 2.30pm-6pm Saturday; Live 2.30pm-5.45pm Sunday on Fox Sports 503
LPGA Tour
BMW Ladies Championship
LPGA International Busan, Republic of Korea
10.55am – Minjee Lee, Han Sol Ji, Elizabeth Szokol
11.06am* – Su Oh, Ye Rim Choi, Jasmine Suwannapura
12.01pm – Sarah Kemp, Ji Hyun Kim, Marina Alex
12.23pm – Hannah Green, Ariya Jutanugarn, Ha Na Jang
Defending champion: Ha Na Jang (2019)
Past Aussie winners: Nil
Top Aussie prediction: Minjee Lee
TV schedule: Live 1pm-6pm Thursday, Friday on Fox Sports 505; 10am-12pm Sunday on Fox Sports 503; Live 1pm-6pm Sunday on Fox Sports 505
European Tour
Mallorca Golf Open
Golf Santa Ponsa, Balearic Islands, Spain
6.45pm – Maverick Antcliff, Zander Lombard, Connor Syme
7.35pm* – Scott Hend, Soren Kjeldsen, Sean Crocker
Defending champion: Inaugural event
Past Aussie winners: Nil
Top Aussie prediction: Scott Hend
TV schedule: Live 10.30pm-3.30am Thursday, Friday; Live 10.30pm-3am Saturday; Live 10pm-2.30am Sunday on Fox Sports 503
Korean PGA Tour
Hana Bank Invitational
Bears Best Cheongna GC, Korea
10am* – Junseok Lee
10.10am* – Won Joon Lee
Defending champion: Seo Yo-seop
Past Aussie winners: Nil
Top Aussie prediction: Won Joon Lee
Challenge Tour
Challenge Costa Brava
Empordà Golf, Girona, Spain
Round 2 tee-times
7.10pm – Blake Windred, Jesper Kennegard, Ivan Cantero Gutierrez
11.30pm – Dimitrios Papadatos, Jérôme Lando Casanova, Clément Berardo
Defending champion: Inaugural event
Past Aussie winners: Nil
Top Aussie prediction: Blake Windred
LET Access Series
Santander Golf Tour Barcelona
Real Club De Golf El Prat, Spain
6.45pm* – Kristalle Blum, Justine Dreher, Emma Falcher
Defending champion: Johanna Gustavsson
Past Aussie winners: Nil
Top Aussie prediction: Kristalle Blum
Champions Tour
Dominion Energy Charity Classic
The Country Club of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia
Australasians in the field: Steven Alker, Stephen Leaney, David McKenzie, Rod Pampling
Defending champion: Phil Mickelson
Past Aussie winners: Nil
Top Aussie prediction:
TV schedule: Live 5am-8am Saturday, Sunday, Monday on Fox Sports 503
LPGA and Symetra Tour Qualifying Stage II
Venice, Florida
11pm – Soo Jin Lee, Tristyn Nowlin, Karolina Vlckova
11.11pm – Stephanie Na, Yu-Chiang Hou (a), Kennedy Swann
11.22pm* – Kirsty Hodgkins (a), Alejandra Llaneza, Allie White
3.32am* – Gabriela Ruffels, Milagros Chaves, Natalie Srinivasan
3.54am – Stephanie Bunque, Amelia Garvey, Kiira Riihijarvi
4.05am – Grace Kim, Marissa Kirkwood, Louise Stahle
4.05am* – Emily Mahar, Celine Borge, Abby Herrmann
4.16am* – Karis Davidson, Mohan Du, Libby Winans (a)
4.16am* – Julienne Soo, Huize Lian, Kenzie Wright
