By Tony Webeck

Su Oh recorded the fourth runner-up finish of her LPGA Tour career and fellow Victorian Marc Leishman flirted with a seventh PGA Tour title on another strong week for Aussies around the globe.

With the third round cancelled due to rain, the LPGA Tour’s Cambia Portland Classic became a 54-hole shootout, Oh starting the third and final round four shots back in pursuit of her breakthrough win on Tour.

Without a top-10 finish since her tie for sixth at the 2020 ISPS HANDA Vic Open, Oh’s round of 3-under 69 was bettered by only three players on Sunday but it wasn’t enough to rein in two-time Major champion Jin Young Ko, her round of 69 delivering a comfortable four-stroke margin of victory.

Runner-up at the Kingsmill Championship in her rookie season in 2016 and twice again in 2019 at the Meijer LPGA Classic and ISPS HANDA Vic Open, Oh started her final round on the wrong foot with a bogey at the par-5 first.

Birdies at the par-3 fourth and par-4 seventh got her back into red figures before the halfway mark but it was not until late in her round that she was able to narrow the margin further with birdies at the 16th and 17th holes.

There was a missed opportunity to edge even closer at the par-5 finishing hole but the 25-year-old is expected to re-enter the top 100 in the Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings as a result of yet another near miss.

Katherine Kirk’s tie for 26th equalled her best result since May, thanks in no small part to an ace at the par-3 12th in Friday’s second round.

Like Oh, Leishman started the final round of the Fortinet Championship in California well back but surged to the outright lead as he reached 7-under for his round and 15-under total at the par-4 14th.

Third-round leader Maverick McNealy soon rejoined Leishman at the top of the leaderboard who was unable to advance his score any further despite birdie opportunities at each of his final three holes.

“I didn’t really have a number in mind, to be honest. You just have to hit good shots out there,” said Leishman, who began the day tied for 26th before finishing in a share of fourth spot, four shots behind eventual champion Max Homa.

“If you’re not hitting good shots, there’s bogeys to be made. Obviously to be 6-under through 11 was to plan. Then just the last three holes, a little bit disappointed with that.

“Birdie opportunities on all three holes and wasn’t able to make any. That would have been nice to put a little bit more pressure on him.”Ruing two double bogeys in his Friday round of 71, Leishman needed just 19 putts through his first 14 holes to take possession of the lead, a hot flatstick a nice way to start the new PGA Tour season.

“When I hit that putt on 13, it looked like it was going in, just shaved the edge. Then made a good one on 14,” Leishman reflected.

“When you start making putts like that, it’s fun. It’s fun to play golf like that because you don’t feel you have to attack too much. You can hit it to 20 feet and feel like you can make it, which takes a lot of pressure off your iron game.

“Hit a few loose shots early on in the week, but for the most part it was a solid week.

“It’s nice to get in the hunt, get the juices flowing. I love that, that’s why we do it.”

For the second week in a row Rod Pampling was in the mix on the Champions Tour before ultimately finishing two shots out of the Sanford International playoff won by Darren Clarke, fellow Australian John Senden and Steven Alker also recording top-10 finishes.

Results

LPGA Tour

Cambia Portland Classic

The Oregon Golf Club, West Linn, Oregon

Event reduced to 54 holes due to rain

Winner Jin Young Ko      69-67-69—205  $US210,000

T2          Su Oh    69-71-69—209  $110,744

T26        Katherine Kirk    75-72-69—216  $12,194

T57        Hannah Green   73-77-73—223  $3,620

MC        Gabriela Ruffels 76-76—152

MC        Sarah Jane Smith             76-76—152

PGA Tour

Fortinet Championship

Silverado Resort and Spa North, Napa, California

Winner Max Homa         67-72-65-65—269           $US1.26m

T4          Marc Leishman 69-71-68-65—273           $315,000

T36        Aaron Baddeley 71-68-68-74—281           $32,608

T64        Cameron Percy  71-69-72-74—286           $15,120

MC        Lucas Herbert    71-72—143

MC        Brett Drewitt     74-72—146

MC        Danny Lee          71-76—147

Japan Golf Tour

ANA Open

Sapporo Golf Club (Wattsu Cse), Hokkaido

Winner Scott Vincent     72-63-69-66—270           ¥20m

T13        Dylan Perry        68-68-72-70—278           ¥1.853m

T16        Todd Sinnott      73-68-72-66—279           ¥1.349m

T32        Anthony Quayle              67-71-74-70—282           ¥571,666

T38        Andrew Evans   70-71-73-69—283           ¥460,000

T47        Scott Strange     73-70-71-71—285           ¥280,571

MC        David Bransdon 75-73—148

European Tour

Dutch Open

Bernardus Golf, Cromvoirt, Netherlands

Winner Kristoffer Broberg           68-64-61-72—265           €147,370

T15        Ryan Fox             72-68-69-68—277           €12,881

T27        Maverick Antcliff             73-67-71-69—280           €8,921

MC        Jake McLeod      70-74—144

MC        Josh Geary         71-74—145

MC        Elvis Smylie        77-69—146

MC        Deyen Lawson   74-74—148

Ladies European Tour

Lacoste Ladies Open de France

Golf du Medoc (Chateaux Cse), Le Pian-Médoc, France

Winner Celine Boutier   68-66-68—202 €45,000

T54        Stephanie Kyriacou         70-72-75—217  €1,075

T64        Whitney Hillier  72-72-76—220  €825

Korean PGA Tour

2021 DGB Financial Group Irvine Open

Farmy Hills Country Club, Korea

Winner Sanghyun Park  67-65-65-64—261

T12        Junseok Lee       70-68-69-67—274

T42        Wonjoon Lee     67-75-67-74—283

T57        Kevin Chun        73-69-70-77—289

Challenge Tour

Hopps Open de Provence

Golf International de Pont Royal, Mallemort, France

Winner Alfie Plant          68-70-66-67—271           €32,000

T37        Daniel Hillier      66-73-76-68—283           €1,320

66          Dimitrios Papadatos       70-71-74-78—293           €540

MC        Blake Windred  77-72—149

Symetra Tour

Guardian Championship

Capitol Hill Golf Club, Prattville, Alabama

Winner Janie Jackson     66-66—132        $US26,250

T55        Robyn Choi        71-74—145        $638

MC        Stephanie Na     73-73—146

MC        Julianne Alvarez              70-80—150

MC        Julienne Soo      74-77—151

MC        Soo Jin Lee         79-74—153

LET Access Series

Lavaux Ladies Open

Golf de Lavaux, Switzerland

Winner Gabrielle Macdonald     69-71-69—209  €5,600

T28        Amy Walsh        75-71-73—219  €504

MC        Kristalle Blum    73-79—152

Champions Tour

Sanford International

Minnehaha Country Club, Sioux Falls, South Dakota

Winner Darren Clarke    63-70-65—198  $US270,000

Defeated KJ Choi and Steve Flesch at first playoff hole

T4          Rod Pampling    64-67-69—200  $96,300

T7          John Senden      67-70-65—202  $54,900

T7          Steven Alker      65-70-67—202  $54,900

T11        David McKenzie 68-65-70—203  $41,400

T49        Mark Hensby     65-71-75—211  $5,070

T65        Robert Allenby  72-73-70—215  $1,994