24 Aug 2023 | Professional golf |
Aussies on Tour: Ruffels receives early LPGA welcome
by Tony Webeck
She won’t officially join them until 2024 but Gabriela Ruffels has been welcomed into Australia’s LPGA family ahead of this week’s CPKC Women’s Open in Canada.
Ruffels’ third victory on the Epson Tour a fortnight ago solidified what we already knew; she will be a member of the LPGA Tour in 2024.
Official confirmation followed by a week off at home in Palm Springs has put Ruffels in a great frame of mind ahead of her fourth LPGA Tour start in 2023, her fellow Aussies ready to welcome her into the big time with open arms.
Minjee Lee, Hannah Green, Stephanie Kyriacou, Grace Kim, Su Oh and Karis Davidson are also in the field this week and Ruffels admitted that she will need to lean on their collective experience over the next 12 months.
“Last night a couple of Australian girls got together with my trainer as well from Golf Australia and give me a little cake that said, welcome to the LPGA,” revealed Ruffels.
“That was nice of them. It was nice to see that home country support.
“I feel like I need to rely on them a bit more, ask them a few more questions, pick their brain, especially non-golf stuff with travel.
“I was having a few rental car issues this week. They gave me a few hints.
“Definitely need to pick their brain a bit more about life on the road.
“It’s great to have that support, and they’re some of the nicest girls out here.
“It’s awesome to have a group of girls you know you can go to.”
Playing in what she described as a major-like field will come as no shock to Ruffels.
In fact, the greater the standard, the better the 23-year-old tends to play.
She finished top-15 in a major twice when still an amateur and this year was tied for 24th at the KPM Women’s PGA Championship and tied for 33rd at the US Women’s Open.
With three wins this season already and confidence at an all-time high, Ruffels is ready again to see how that form ranks among the world’s best who she will play against each and every week in 2024.
“I know this is one of the bigger events on the LPGA schedule, so I was super excited when I found out that I was going to come here,” Ruffels said of her tournament invitation to play at Shaughnessy Golf and Country Club in Vancouver.
“It is a really, really strong field and it’s almost has kind of a major feel out here.
“I can see they have the best players out here this week. It’s already been a great tournament and it’s only Wednesday.
“I’m excited to see how my game stacks up against the best in the word.”
The 30 best men’s players in the world are this week fighting it out for the FedEx Cup at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta.
Jason Day is the sole Australian in the field at the PGA TOUR’s Tour Championship but will start the first round nine shots back of Scottie Scheffler and in a tie for 21st.
There are a plethora of Aussies – 19 in total – playing the Asian Tour’s St Andrews Bay Championship in Scotland and reigning SParms PGA Legends Tour Order of Merit winner Andre Stolz is one of five Australasian players in action at the Staysure PGA Senior Championship also in Scotland.
Round 1 tee times AEST
PGA TOUR Tour Championship East Lake Golf Club, Atlanta, Georgia 1.48am Jason Day, Sam Burns
Defending champion: Rory McIlroy Past Aussie winners: Adam Scott (2006) TV times: Live 2am-8am Friday, Saturday; Live 3am-9am Sunday; Live 2am-8am Monday on Fox Sports 503 and Kayo.
LPGA Tour CPKC Women’s Open Shaughnessy G&CC, Vancouver, Canada 12.11am Karis Davidson, Amanda Doherty, Sung Hyun Park 12.33am* Maria Fassi, Jeongeun Lee6, Gabriela Ruffels 1.06am* Lydia Ko (NZ), Andrea Lee, Lexi Thompson 1.17am* Allisen Corpuz, Hannah Green, Yuka Saso 1.28am Vanessa Borovilos (a), Stephanie Kyriacou, Samantha Wagner 5.26am* Su Oh, Ellie Szeryk (a), Maddie Szeryk 6.10am Jin Young Ko, Jennifer Kupcho, Minjee Lee 6.10am* Megan Khang, Grace Kim, Ryann O’Toole
Defending champion: Paula Reto Past Aussie winners: Katherine Kirk (2008) TV times: Live 8.30am-11.30am Friday, Saturday; Live 9am-12pm Sunday, Monday on Fox Sports 503 and Kayo.
DP World Tour D+D Real Czech Masters Albatross Golf Resort, Prague, Czech Republic 5.20pm* Blake Windred, Ricardo Santos, Kazuki Higa 10.10pm Borja Virto, Jason Scrivener, Jan Cafourek
Defending champion: Maximillian Kiefer Past Aussie winners: TV times: Live 9pm-2am Thursday, Friday on Fox Sports 503; Live 8.30pm-11pm Saturday on Fox Sports 505; Live 11pm-1am Saturday on Fox Sports 503; Live 8pm-1am Sunday on Fox Sports 503 and Kayo.
Japan Golf Tour Sansan KBC Augusta Golf Tournament Keya GC, Fukuoka 10.05am* Andrew Evans, Tetsuhiro Nitta, Masafumi Hidaka 1.15pm* Toshiya Takeyasu, Dylan Perry, Ryoma Iwai 1.30pm Shaun Norris, Justin De Los Santos, Brad Kennedy 1.55pm* Anthony Quayle, Tomoyasu Sugiyama, HW Liu 2.20pm Yuto Katsuta, Adam Bland, Ryuichi Sakamoto
Defending champion: Riki Kawamoto Past Aussie winners: Graham Marsh (1976), Brian Jones (1977), Steve Conran (2004)
Asian Tour St Andrews Bay Championship Fairmont St Andrews (Torrance Cse), Fife, Scotland 4pm Ben Campbell (NZ), Sangpil Yoon, Nicolas Paez 4pm* Wade Ormsby, Taichi Kho, Bernd Wiesberger 4.10pm Alex Ching, Harrison Gilbert-Wong, Khalin Joshi 4.10pm* Dean Burmester, Jediah Morgan, Danny Lee (NZ) 4.20pm Chonlatit Chuenboonngam, Andrew Dodt, Karandeep Kochhar 4.30pm* Brendan Jones, Miguel Tabuena, David Puig 4.40pm Atiruj Winaicharoenchai, Marcus Fraser, Yikeun Chang 4.40pm* Suradit Yongcharoenchai, Scott Hend, Taehee Lee 4.50pm* Terry Pilkadaris, Nitithorn Thippong, Gaganjeet Bhullar 5pm* Kieran Vincent, Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano, Zach Murray 5.50pm* Meenwhee Kim, Matt Killen, Douglas Klein 8.50pm* Josh Crumplin, Kevin Yuan, Monty Scowsill 9.10pm Mito Pereira, Pavit Tangkamolprasert, Matt Jones 9.10pm* Jack Thompson, Shahriffuddin Ariffin, Lee Chieh-po 9.20pm* Todd Sinnott, Berry Henson, Poom Saksansin 9.30pm Travis Smyth, Hideto Tanihara, Chase Koepka 10pm* Jack Murdoch, Lloyd Jefferson Go, Rattanon Wannasrichan 10.10pm Josh Younger, Pawin Ingkhapradit, Ben Robinson 10.10pm* Nick Voke (NZ), Leon D’souza, Chanat Sakulpolphaisan 10.20pm Jyoti Randhawa, Tirawat Kaewsiribandit, Tom Power Horan 10.40pm Jarin Todd, Ratchanon Chantananuwat (a), John Lyras
Defending champion: Inaugural event Past Aussie winners: Nil TV times: Live 11pm-3am Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday on Fox Sports 505 and Kayo.
Korn Ferry Tour Albertsons Boise Open Hillcrest CC, Boise, Idaho 11.45pm Curtis Luck, Shad Tuten, Sung Kang 4.15am Rhein Gibson, David Kocher, Rob Oppenheim 4.25am Scott Gutschewski, Brett Drewitt, AJ Crouch 4.45am* Ben Kohles, Dimi Papadatos, Vince Whaley
Defending champion: Will Gordon Past Aussie winners: Greg Chalmers (2005) TV times: Live 6am-8am Monday on Fox Sports 506 and Kayo.
US Women’s Senior Open Championship Waverley Country Club, Portland, Oregon 6.42am Jenny Park-Choi, Sue Wooster (a), Lieschen Wienke
Defending champion: Jill McGill Past Aussie winners: Nil TV times: Live 7am-9am Sunday on Fox Sports 507; Live 8am-10am Monday on Fox Sports 506 and Kayo.
Epson Tour Circling Raven Championship Circling Raven GC, Worley, Idaho 11.27pm* Siyun Liu, Hira Naveed, Kaleigh Telfer 11.38pm* Robyn Choi, Becca Huffer, Agathe Laisne 11.55pm Isabella Fierro, Mariel Galdiano, Amelia Garvey (NZ)
Defending champion: Jillian Hollis Past Aussie winners: Nil
LET Access Series Ahlsell Final At Elisefarm Elisefarm GC, Sweden 4.22pm Wenyung Keh (NZ), Georgia Coughlin, Vidhatri Urs 4.33pm* Pasqualle Coffa, Stefanie Hall, Elice Fredriksson 9.12pm Kristalle Blum, Tina Mazarino, Josefine Nyqvist 9.12pm* My Leander, Kelsey Bennett, Cecilie Leth-Nissen 10.29pm Lucie Andre, Amy Walsh, Hanna Nilsson
Defending champion: Josephine Janson (2017) Past Aussie winners: Nil
PGA TOUR Canada CentrePort Canada Rail Park Manitoba Open Southwood G&CC, Winnipeg, Manitoba 12am* Chase Sienkiewicz, Jack Trent, Julián Etulain 4am John Pak, Jason Hong, Chris Francoeur
Defending champion: Parker Coody Past Aussie winners: Neale Smith (1999), Ben Ferguson (2000)
PGA TOUR Champions The Ally Challenge Warwick Hills G&CC, Grand Blanc, Michigan 1.45am* Kirk Triplett, Stuart Appleby, Harrison Frazar 2.45am* Scott McCarron, Richard Green, Carlos Franco 2.50am Jim Furyk, Rod Pampling, Ken Tanigawa 2.55am* Mike Weir, Kenny Perry, Mark Hensby 3am Mark O’Meara, Steven Alker (NZ), Vijay Singh 3.45am* David McKenzie, Tim Ailes, Mike Stone
Defending champion: Steve Stricker Past Aussie winners: Nil TV times: 11.30am-12.30pm Saturday on Fox Sports 503; Live 5am-7am Sunday on Fox Sports 507; Live 3.30am-6am Monday on Fox Sports 506 and Kayo.
Legends Tour Staysure PGA Seniors Championship Trump International Golf Links, Aberdeenshire, Scotland 5.36pm* Michael Long (NZ), Andrew Raitt 5.58pm Emanuele Canonica, Jason Norris 9.41pm* Neil Turley, Peter Fowler 10.14pm* Michael Campbell (NZ), Philip Golding 10.47pm* Bradley Dredge, Andre Stolz
Defending champion: Adilson Da Silva Past Aussie winners: Kel Nagle (1971, 1973, 1975), Peter Thomson (1988), Terry Gale (1996), Walter Hall (1997), Ross Metherell (1999), Ian Stanley (2001), Peter Fowler (2015)
Join our newsletter
Get weekly updates on news, golf tips and access to partner promotions.