It’s on for young and old at Australian Open

Karrie Webb wants to wind back the clock. Minjee Lee hopes her time is now.

Both will enter the women’s Australian Open, starting this morning at The Grange in Adelaide, desperately seeking their national golfing crown.

The 22-year-old Lee, the world No.7, will tee off as Australia’s top-ranked golfer.

Webb, twice Lee’s age, has slipped to world No.211 as she becomes a bit-player on the LPGA Tour.

“I’m very honoured to have my name on that trophy five times and, hopefully, I’m about to add another time,” Webb (pictured) said yesterday.

But herein lies the rub for Webb: in last week’s VicOpen, she shot 65 in the second round, then carded 82 in the third.

“I won’t be out here if I don’t think I’m competitive,” she said.

“But obviously, there’s playing and then there’s playing tournament golf and just the little things that need to go into playing well for all four days.

“I think that I’m quite capable. But it’s a bit more of a lottery than when I was thinking about it 365 days of the year.”

Webb is the sole Australian to win the national open multiple times, her last triumph in 2014.

But if not her again, Webb wants another Aussie to win.

“I would rather see an Australian flag at the top of the leaderboard than any other flag,” she said.

Lee shapes as the best local hope despite, like Webb, missing the cut for the final round at the VicOpen.

She finished equal fifth in last year’s Australian Open.

“I’m not sure if you want to call it a burden but, obviously, there’s some expectation,” Lee said.

“I want to play well because it’s my country’s open. But it’s probably more expectation on myself more than anything.

“It is different because, obviously, I’m Australian and a lot of the local crowds come to watch ... but I like that. I like how everybody comes out and supports. It’s a really great feeling.”