Teenage rookie pro Jeffrey Guan has positioned himself for a weekend charge at the 2023 ISPS Handa Australian Open after a bogey-free, six-under 66 at The Lakes Golf Club on Friday.
A month on from turning professional after a trophy-laden amateur career, Guan, 19, rattled off six birdies around the Eastlakes-based course to move into a tie for sixth at the halfway mark. With the final two rounds to be played at The Australian Golf Club – his home course and a place where he was crowned club champion at the tender age of 14 – the junior Presidents Cup star will like his chances heading into the weekend.
But numbers told only half the story on what was a beautiful morning for scoring in Sydney. Of the six birdies made by Guan, five were virtually tap-ins, while he “burnt the edge of the cup” on at least six other attempts.
“It was the easiest 66 I think I’ve seen,” says Guan’s mentor Paul Davis. “Jeff was very frustrated after the round because he missed so many chances. He hit everything inside 10 feet.”
It was an impressive comeback for Guan after yesterday’s opening round of one-under at The Australian that included a shock double-bogey start. But that’s now history. Guan is ready to give the national open his best shot in front of his home crowd.
“It was good to get my game sorted these past couple of weeks,” Guan said after his round. “I actually hit 18 greens today, which kind of helped. I feel like I left a couple of putts out there but other than that, I played all right.
“I just feel like yesterday’s course was so much longer. I teed off in pouring rain, but this course is not overly long, but it’s a very second shot type of course, which I really love.”
Guan was first thrust into golf’s public sphere when he won the club championship at Bexley Golf Club in Sydney at just 11 years of age.
He won the Australian Junior Boys championship in 2021 and 2022 and represented the International team at the Junior Presidents Cup and won the AJGA Junior Players Championship at TPC Sawgrass in 2022.
With three top-10 finishes on the 2022-2023 PGA Tour of Australasia, Guan finished top of the Future Tour Order of Merit, guaranteeing a Tour category once he turned pro.
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