Olivia Mehaffey is just four shots off the lead after the opening round of the Joburg Ladies Open on the Ladies European Tour, the Co Down woman opening with a level-par 73 at Modderfontein Golf Club.
However, that only tells part of the story as the Tandragee ace had to battle back from two double-bogeys in her first four holes to card a respectable score that has her in a share of 13th after the first round.
That leaves her four strokes behind leader Maria Hernandez of Spain, the only player to shoot a round in the 60s as her four-under 69 has her two shots ahead of the chasing pack.
After a double-bogey on the par-five first and another at the par-four fourth – with a birdie at the par-four second an excellent bounce back – Mehaffey responded superbly with birdies at the fifth, seventh and ninth to reach the turn in level-par.
She would break under-par with another birdie at the 10th, only for back-to-back bogeys at 11 and 12 to drop her back to one-over, however a birdie to close at the 18th saw Mehaffey finish the day where she began.
Hernandez, meanwhile, was excellent on day one as five birdies and a bogey led to a four-under 69, with three of her birdies coming in her final five holes in a superb finish to her round.
The US Virgin Islands’ Alexandra Swayne, Germany’s Luisa Dittrich, Denmark’s Smilla Tarning Soderby and Italy’s Virginia Elena Carta are all tied for second after two-under 71s, with England’s Alice Hewson and Sweden’s Linn Grant among those who shot 72s.
- Full scoring HERE
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