Michele Thomson set for busy start to year in Australia

Michele Thomson, the top Scot on last season's Ladies European Tour, has lined up a busy start to her 2018 campaign in Australia over the next couple of months.

Aberdeen golfer Michele Thomson.

The 29-year-old Aberdonian used Twitter to reveal the opening phase of her schedule and will be hoping to take up from a top-10 finish in the Omega Dubai Ladies Classic in December. Thomson’s first outing is in the Ballarat Pro-Am, an event on the ALPG circuit, on 28 January, warming her up for the Oates Vic Open (1-4 February) and ActewAGL Canberra Classic (9-11 February), both of which are on the LET schedule.

Next up for the former Curtis Cup player will be an appearance in the ISPS Handa Women’s Australian Open, having earned that opportunity at Kooyonga Golf Club on 15-18 February on the strength of finishing in the top 20 on the LET Order of Merit in 2017.

She will then complete her trip with two more events being co-sanctioned by the LET with the ALPG – the Australian Ladies Classic at Bonville on 22-25 February then the NSW Women’s Open, which takes place at Coffs 
Harbour on 1-4 March.

“I love Australia and can’t wait to get 2018 started,” said Thomson, whose strong finish to last season included claiming second spot in the Hero Women’s Indian Open.

Meanwhile, Russell Knox, still the highest-ranked Scottish male professional despite slipping to 80th, starts his 2018 campaign in this week’s Sony Open in Hawaii, where a star-studded field is headed by Open champion Jordan Spieth and US PGA title holder Justin Thomas. For the second week running, Thomas is the defending champion.