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• Min Woo Lee continues fine form in hunt for home double

  Australia’s Min Woo Lee produced a spectacular finish to claim a three-shot lead in the ISPS Handa Australian Open as he pursues a memorable double on home soil.

  Lee, who won the Australian PGA Championship last week, carded a superb 64 at The Australian Golf Club, covering his last eight holes in six under par to get to 12 under.

  The 25-year-old birdied the 11th, 12th, 14th and 16th before ending his round in style with an eagle on the last, hitting a 190-yard nine iron from the pine straw under a tree to within two feet of the pin.

  “[I was] a bit lucky off the tee shot on 18,” Lee admitted. “I pulled it, but I smoked it, so I knew I had a chance of carrying that bunker.

  “Ended up in the nice pine straw out there and had a really good number for a nine iron, like a really big nine iron and I’ve been hitting draws all week and it kind of sat up really nicely.

  “I saw the coverage and it spun left towards the hole and nearly actually went in, so really happy with that finish. It’s always nice to make an eagle whenever, but on the last hole it’s even nicer.”

  Scotland’s Connor Syme and American Patrick Rodgers are Lee’s nearest challengers on nine under par after both added rounds of 70 to their opening 64s.

  The ISPS Handa Australian Open brings together three separate competitions, with the men’s and women’s events and the Australian All Abilities Championship being contested at the same time.

  In the women’s event, 2013 champion Jiyai Shin holds a two-shot lead over defending champion Ashleigh Buhai, while Ireland’s Brendan Lawlor shares the lead with home favourites Cameron Pollard and Lachlan Wood in the All Abilities Championship on one over.

  “To be honest, this is number one for me on my schedule,” Lawlor, who won the inaugural G4D Open at Woburn earlier this year, said.

  “It’s a fully inclusive event. We’re playing at the very same times as the main guys. We have full access to player lounges, practice rounds and whatever we want.

  “When the guys market all abilities, all inclusive, that’s exactly what it is and it’s a joy for me to come back here.”

• Tiger Woods admits ‘I’m sore’ after making comeback at Hero World Challenge

  Tiger Woods felt sore “everywhere” after making his comeback at the Hero World Challenge on Thursday but the 15-time major winner could not hide the smile on his face after his first competitive round since April.

  Woods was eight shots off the pace set by Brian Harman and Tony Finau in the Bahamas, dropping four shots in three holes between the 15th and 17th to finish three over par in a share of 18th place.

  But for the 47-year-old, it felt good to blow off some cobwebs after undergoing ankle surgery in April.

  “I’m sore, there’s no doubt about that,” Woods said. “We’ve got some work to do tonight. Tomorrow get back in the gym and activate and get ready for it. Hopefully hit some better shots.

  “And now I know mentally what I need to do better. I think that’s something that physically I knew I was going to be OK. Mentally, I was really rusty and made a lot of errors in the mind that normally I don’t make.”

  Asked where he felt sore, Woods added: “Everywhere…My leg, my back, my neck. Just from playing, hitting shots and trying to hold off shots. It’s just different at game speed, too. Game speed’s a lot different than at home speed.”

  Woods birdied the third and fifth holes, but bogeys on the fourth and sixth immediately cancelled those out. He put the mental errors he made down to a lack of rhythm after so long out.

  “Instead of reacting to it, I was thinking about doing it,” he said. “Then as I was thinking about it, should I do this or not, by then I’m pulling the trigger. I shouldn’t really pull the trigger. Hit a bad shot. I kept doing it time and time again.

  “It was a lack of commitment to what I was doing and feeling. I’ve got to do a better job of it…

  “I wanted to compete, I wanted to play. I felt like I was ready to compete and play. I hit it solid most of the day. As I said, I just didn’t mentally do the things I normally would do and I need to do.”

• Luke Donald humbled by players’ support for his return as Ryder Cup captain

  Luke Donald admits it was “humbling and gratifying” to have the support of Europe’s players after being named captain for the 2025 Ryder Cup.

  Donald has been reappointed after masterminding a commanding victory in Rome earlier this year, after which the winning team immediately urged him to break with recent tradition and remain in charge.

  Support for the 45-year-old was such that it was inevitable that he would become Europe’s first repeat captain since Bernard Gallacher performed the role in 1991, 1993 and 1995.

  The former world number one will also bid to become only the second captain after Tony Jacklin in 1985 and 1987 to win home and away.

  While Jacklin and Gallacher led the side on multiple occasions, it had been common practice since 1997 for the captain to only get one bite of the cherry, even if – like Bernhard Langer and Ian Woosnam – they spearheaded record victories.

  However, Europe’s players made it clear they wanted that to change as they chanted “two more years” while Donald gave a television interview following the five-point victory in Rome.

  “I think everyone sitting here would be very happy to have him again,” Rory McIlroy said in the winning team’s press conference, while Tommy Fleetwood hailed Donald as “phenomenal”.

  Speaking after being reappointed, Donald said: “It was so humbling, so gratifying to hear that they wanted me to carry on and certainly that was a big part of my decision to do that.

  “We created some special moments, some special memories that week and to have their backing meant the world to me.

  “When I was lifting that trophy and hearing the support the guys had for me, even back then I thought I can’t let the lads down and maybe I have to do this again.

  “Not often in life are you given great opportunities and I really feel like this is an amazing opportunity.

  “I was given a great opportunity to do Rome [after Henrik Stenson was sacked for joining LIV] and I certainly took it with both hands and to obviously be given the opportunity to go back-to-back is something that I love.

  “As Rory said, it’s the ultimate to try to win away from home. I’ve done it twice as a player but it’s not easy. We have to go back to 2012 for (a win) in the US.

  “We know that in any sport when you have the crowd behind you it’s a big advantage and certainly I’ll have to figure out ways to kind of counter that.”

  Donald could also have to face up to Tiger Woods being his opposite number at Bethpage Black, although the 15-time major winner said on Tuesday that he has become so involved in his new player-director role on the PGA Tour that any conversations about the captaincy would have to take a back seat.

  Donald is relaxed about the prospect regardless, preferring to focus instead on whether to retain his five vice-captains and assessing if having six qualifiers and six wild cards is the best system for selecting a team.

  “I’m sure someone like Francesco (Molinari) would love to play in New York as I’m sure he feels like he still has an opportunity to do it,” Donald said.

  “You saw Justin Rose at age 43 have a great Ryder Cup himself. That’s inspiring, I’m sure, to someone like that.

  “I’ll certainly look at all the candidates and all the vice-captains that were under me and have conversations with them and see where their mind is as well. That process starts right now.

  “[The qualifying] worked well this time around. We had six picks and those picks performed well. I think we were able to pick some experienced players, some rookies, it was a nice freedom to have as captain.

  “Again, those decisions have yet to be decided and that’s probably the number one priority for me to try and figure out, is this the best way going forward?”

  Whether future captains also get to lead the team home and away also remains to be seen.

  “Right now what we’ve done is made the decision which is based on the goal of retaining the trophy in 2025,” Ryder Cup Europe executive director Guy Kinnings said.

  “So I don’t think that it should be read anything more than that. What we’ve done is taken the circumstances we have in front of us and made what I hope, which I know is the right decision, and got the right man at the helm.”