A birdie at the last brought Lauren Walsh to within one shot of the lead on day one of the Lacoste Ladies Open de France at Golf Barrière de Deauville in Northern France, while Sara Byrne shot a level-par 71.
In her first full year as a pro, Walsh’s form has been impressive and currently sits in 14th place in the Order of Merit. A late push over the closing six events on the LET calendar could yet see her push her way into the top four and earn an LPGA Tour card for 2025 in the process.
And her opening round in difficult weather conditions in France was a good step, making birdies on both of her first two holes, but gave those shots back on three and five. Another brace of birdies on successive holes closed out the front nine and she made it three-in-a-row when she rolled in a birdie putt on the par-5 10th.
Seven pars followed, before she made her sixth birdie of the day with a ‘three’ on the par-4 18th and she reached the clubhouse at -4, tied for fourth and just a shot off the lead.
Last week, Byrne made her first LET start as a professional and made the cut and she’s on course to do likewise as she benefits from another tournament invitation this week.
She struggled in the early stages, making bogeys on one and five, but four birdies in a five-hole stretch from the seventh, including three-in-a-row on nine, 10 and 11 saw her come roaring up the leaderboard.
She’ll be disappointed to finish with two bogeys in her final three holes, however, including one on the par-5 16th, and ends the day tied for 26th at level-par.
Three players chasing their maiden Ladies European Tour (LET) win share the lead after the wet and windy day.
England’s Bel Wardle, home favourite Emma Grechi and the in-form Kirsten Rudgeley all fired cards of 66 (-5) to top the pile on Thursday.
Wardle – yet to make a cut on the LET in her rookie season – got the ball rolling posting eight birdies including four a row on the 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th. The latter being a chip-in in Normandy.
Reflecting on her best ever LET round, the English rookie said: “I finally started holing some putts. I have been putting it close the last few weeks but was holing absolutely nothing. So that was the big difference. I had a chip-in on the 5th too. I was feeling confident this morning but I’ve been struggling to put a score together.
“My best friend Becca is on the bag. She doesn’t play golf so that helped me today. I didn’t have to concentrate too much on the golf in-between shots.”
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