As the skies poured over Kingston Heath, Ryggs Johnston, a fresh face from Qualifying School, lit up the course with a sizzling run of five birdies over six holes, vaulting himself into a shared pole position heading into the final round of the ISPS HANDA Australian Open.
In only his second outing on the DP World Tour, Johnston’s splendid four-under-par 68 caught him up to Lucas Herbert at a sturdy 14 under overall.
While Herbert, the crowd’s darling, initially blazed ahead with a halfway lead of four strokes thanks to back-to-back spectacular rounds, his Saturday performance was more a gentle simmer than a boil, netting just a single birdie to close with a level-par 72.
This left the door not just ajar but wide open for Johnston, who stormed through with four consecutive birdies starting at the fourth. His dazzling approach on the seventh was nothing short of a masterstroke.
Further down the links, Johnston continued to impress, picking up gains at the ninth and 12th, nudging closer to an outright lead.
Ryggs Johnston: For a while now I’ve been in pretty high pressure situations trying to get my card through Q School. That final round is one of the most pressured. I mean, it’s a different type of pressure there and I did pretty well.
So I just try to take that with me and use it as something we’ll look back on to kind tell myself that, ‘hey there, a lot of people watching and a lot of pressure, but you can still do this’.
You just kind of get into a groove sometimes. I just kept hitting good tee shots and leaving myself wedges and making some putts. It was nice to get that kind of fast start and then the back nine is a little bit more of a battle, but it’s a lot tougher to battle when you’re sitting over par or something rather than five or six under.
It’s been a long time since I’ve won a golf tournament. I’ll try to use it as much of a learning experience as I can and hopefully it works out my way. But if not, I want to stay in it for all 18 holes and give myself a chance.
(My name is from) a movie character in Lethal Weapon. My dad’s side of the family has a bunch of ‘r’ names, so I think they kind of run out and they were watching it like, hey, that’s a pretty cool name.
Herbert, stumbling with a bogey on the fourth, managed a crucial six-footer on the ninth to cling on within a stroke of Johnston.
However, the American’s adventure saw a snag at the 14th, where a wayward drive and an overzealous bunker shot led to a double-bogey seven, adding a dash of suspense to the Sunday showdown.
While Herbert struggled to warm up his putter, Johnston nearly clinched a late lead, only to see his birdie try on the final green teasingly kiss the lip and deny him glory.
The leaderboard’s excitement isn’t confined to these two, as defending champ Joaquin Niemann and last week’s victor Elvis Smylie are lurking just two shots back, tied with a global ensemble including Australia’s own Jasper Stubbs, China’s Wenyi Ding, and Finland’s Oliver Lindell.
This week’s triple threat at Kingston Heath also highlights the Australian All Abilities Championship, where Korea’s Simon Seungmin Lee triumphed in a stunning debut, outstripping the field by a whopping 14 strokes.
In the women’s tournament, Korea’s Jiyai Shin demonstrated why she’s a force to be reckoned with, carding a brilliant six-under 67 to lead Australia’s Hannah Green by two strokes into what promises to be a thrilling final round.
As we tee up for Sunday’s finale, the ISPS HANDA Australian Open is all set to deliver a climax that promises drama, precision, and perhaps, a sprinkle of that Kingston Heath magic.
