Wins from golf, tennis and athletics headlined a successful weekend for Aussie Olympians and Olympic hopefuls.
Golf - Win for "Team Mullet"
Cam Smith and Marc Leishman won a thrilling Classic of New Orleans, with the pair winning the PGA’s only team event in a playoff over South Africans Louis Oosthuizen and Charl Schwartzel.With the pair adopting the “Team Mullet” moniker in honour of Cam Smith’s flowing locks, they overcame a rollercoaster final nine holes that included two birdies and three bogeys to lift the trophy.
Leishman and Smith combined for rounds of 63-72-63-70 to reach the playoff at 20 under, winning with a par on the first playoff hole.
Hannah Green also contributed to a great golf weekend for Australia, finishing tied third at the LA Open in her best LPGA result of the season.
Tennis - Barty takes two titles in Stuttgart
World number 1 Ash Barty capped a stellar week by claiming both the singles and doubles titles at the WTA 500 tournament in Stuttgart.
Barty fired 26 winners in a 3-6 6-0 6-3 victory against world No.7 Aryna Sabalenka in the final. She then returned to court to claim the doubles title alongside American Jennifer Brady.
“This week’s been phenomenal for me,” Barty said. “We’ve played a lot of tennis, a lot of matches.
She's done it AGAIN 🏆
— wta (@WTA) April 25, 2021
World No.1 🇦🇺 @ashbarty comes from a set down for the third match in a row to clinch her third WTA title of 2021!#PorscheTennis pic.twitter.com/UT1KJzwTVL
“And I’ve certainly felt like I’m taking my tennis to kind of a new level, in a sense of being able to be calm and play with freedom and play without consequence in a way, just going out there and try to bring my best every single point.”
Athletics – Hoare runs 1500 qualifier and McSweyn and Hall win ‘Run the Tan’
Ollie Hoare highlighted the incredible talent in Australian middle distance running, winning the 1500m at the USA Track and Field Grand Prix in Oregon in an outdoor PB and Tokyo qualifier of 3.33.54.
After setting an indoor Australian record of 3.32.36 in February, Hoare showed he’s still in fantastic form, leading from the front to win the Continental tour Gold event in Oregon.
In Melbourne, Australian-based runners took on the ‘Run the Tan’ charity event, with Tokyo Olympic selected athletes Stewart McSweyn and Linden Hall taking out the men’s and women’s events respectively.
