Australian Women’s Classic

Thomsen Misses Cut but Leaves Magenta with Head Held High

Mark Hayes
March 6, 2026

Mark Hayes
March 6, 2026

When Hanee Song made a birdie on the 17^th hole late on day two of the Australian Women’s Classic, it was a big deal.

Not so much for Kiwi Song, but for the nine women sitting at two over par who were effectively eliminated from the tournament.

The “cut” line had oscillated all day, first from even par and at one point ever threatening to head towards three over.

But for most of the last hour of day two, it seemed like two over would be the mark.

And then Song happened.

Her birdie moved the cut line to one over, and those at two over were left crestfallen, including last week’s Women’s New South Wales Open contender April Angurasaranee and promising Wollongong amateur Lara Thomsen.

Australian Women’s Classic – Leaderboard

Thomsen, who plays for pennants for The Australian in Sydney, thought she was in a dogfight to make the cut with two holes to play.

Pushing for one more birdie – she’d already made five in what became an eventful round of 74 – she gave herself two great looks.

The putt on 17 was struck on the perfect line, but too hard to take the break; the putt on 18 inexplicably didn’t break as much as others and burnt the left lip to break her heart.

“Yeah, I’m a little bit devastated,” the bubbly 17-year-old said.

“Because I’d started pretty well, to be honest. I was hitting some good putts that just were rolling nicely, but just did not go in, so it was a little bit frustrating, especially those last two.”

But while she’ll now watch the final 36 holes of the event from afar, the recently crowned NSW Amateur champion said she had learnt much from her stint in the past two professional tournaments.

“You definitely learn a lot off the good pros, and I played with two really good players today (Alexandra Forsterling and Anna Huang),” Thomsen said.

“(Alex) went to the Olympics as well, so you get to just see where your game sits compared to them.

“And I guess playing here, being so close to the cut really puts yourself under pressure, which is the only way you get better, by playing under pressure.

“So it wasn’t like the best feeling coming down the last two holes knowing I had to birdie a few, but I know that it will help me improve for my next games and stuff in the future.”

One interesting learning that Thomsen has prepared for at Wollongong and The Australian is to try to play off the back markers as often as possible.

“I didn’t find it too long to be honest. I’ve been playing off the `men’s tees’ when I can at home just to get used to it… and learn how to hit longer iron shots into the greens and stuff.”

Thomsen will head to Adelaide next week to try to qualify for the Women’s Australian Open at Kooyonga next weekend.