A solid opening round from Olivia Mehaffey has her in contention after day one of the Communidad de Madrid Ladies Open on the Ladies European Tour, just two shots off the top of the leaderboard.
The Tandragee woman carded four birdies and just a single mistake in her first round to card a three-under 69 at Jarama-RACE Golf Club to sit in a share of eighth, a pair back of Swedes Jessica Karlsson and Maja Stark and France’s Agathe Sauzon.
It was a strong opening day from Mehaffey, who has struggled to really find her top form since turning pro, but after a promising Thursday she will hope to keep that momentum going into the rest of the week.
Starting on the back nine, an early birdie at the par-four 12th was immediately cancelled out by a bogey at the par-three 13th, and five pars to the turn meant she reached the front nine in level-par.
However, all her scoring was done on her inward nine, starting as she meant to go on with a birdie at the par-five first, and she would add two more before reaching the clubhouse at the par-five fifth and her final hole, the par-three ninth.
That has her inside the top-10, and within touching distance of the leading trio, who all found their scoring touch in their opening rounds in Madrid.
Eight birdies and three bogeys had Karlsson in the clubhouse with the 67 first, followed in by Sauzon’s eagle, five birdies and two bogeys, and the in-form Stark, who won the NSW Open last week, then joined them with six birdies and a bogey.
Carmen Alonso and amateur Cayetana Fernandez are the leading local players one shot back at four-under, where they are joined by Denmark’s Linette Littau Durr Holmslykke and Finland’s Tiia Koivisto after rounds of 68.
Leave a comment