Somi Lee and Team Kyriacou are top of the respective leaderboards at the end of the first day of action at the PIF Saudi Ladies International.
It was a damp morning with rain falling at the start of the rounds at Riyadh Golf Club, but it dried up in the middle of the round before the rain started again towards the end of the day.
Lauren Walsh got caught in the rain, that at times would make you question whether you are in the desert or not and it did cost her two bogeys on her way to the clubhouse as she signed for a level-par 72 to lie seven shots off the pace.
The Castelwarden native who finished fourth last week in Morocco, began well here with birdies coming on the 5th and 6th holes to put her into early contention.
However, she took 33 putts on the day as she endured a frustrating afternoon on what were very poor greens, bogeying the 13th and three-putting the par-5 15th to drop back to par for the day.
In the Team competition, Team Kyriacou leads the way at the halfway mark with a score of 18-under-par.
The quartet of Steph Kyriacou, Olivia Cowan, Sara Kouskova and Liz Young didn’t drop a shot as a team all day.
They had a very even round firing a round of nine-under-par on the front and back nine to put themselves in pole position for the Team trophy.
“It was a pretty good day, there weren’t many holes where we shot even for the hole, so that’s great,” said Captain Kyriacou.
“We ham-and-egged really well, there were only a couple of holes where we had more than two birdies on the team. Everyone played pretty well today.
“[On the closing birdies] It was definitely good momentum. I wasn’t really doing much for the first 14 holes, I’m sure my teammates were getting a bit annoyed, but I decided to turn it on the last few. It will help going into tomorrow.”
Cowan, who nearly holed out on 17, said: “I was very much in between clubs. I had no idea what I was going to hit, but it all worked out and it almost went in, so that was nice.”
“It’s nice to get the 2025 season started this week, we’re just going to forget last week and it’s good to be out on the course again,” explained Young.
Team Somi Lee sit in second place on the leaderboard on -17 with Team Chisato Iwai and Team Grant both in third on 16-under-par.
Five teams are one shot further back with Team Tamburlini, Team Henseleit and Team Thitikul all on 15-under-par.
In the Individual competition, Korea’s Lee fired an opening round of 65 to lead the Individual competition by one stroke on the first day.
Lee, who turned professional in November 2023, began the day from the 10th tee and made back-to-back birdies on 15 and 16 before rolling in two more on the 18th and first holes.
A bogey on the sixth was sandwiched between two birdies and the 26-year-old finished with a flourish with birdies on the eighth and the ninth holes to seal a round of seven-under.
“I feel very good,” said Lee. “Last year, I had a problem with my shots, so that was the part I focused on during the winter training. It worked pretty well, so I’m very happy about it.
“At first, it was a bit weird because it was my first team event, and usually the tournaments, we play all as individuals. But thinking that the group were a team made me feel comfortable.
“I don’t think about what has happened in the past, I just want to think about what is coming next, so after I made the bogey that was the main focus point.”
Germany’s Esther Henseleit and England’s Annabell Fuller ended the day in a share of second place after firing rounds of 66 (-6).
It was a bogey-free day for Olympic silver medallist Henseleit as she rolled in birdies on the third, fourth, fifth, eighth, 12th and 15th holes.
“It was fun,” said Henseleit, who was the runner-up here in 2024. “The team had a great start on the front nine, we really got it going and then we were holding on when we got to the back nine. Overall, it was a very good vibe in the group. We were all pretty chilled out and just enjoying the day.
“I don’t really know [why I play well here]. I just like coming back here and the course is a great set up and it’s definitely fun. Tomorrow, we will just keep doing what we’re doing. Everyone is going to concentrate on their own game and hopefully, we can get some birdies in.”
Similarly, Fuller also went bogey-free on day one with birdies at the fifth, eighth, 11th, 12th, 16th and 17thholes.
“I just hit it pretty consistently today, I struck my irons nicely and luckily, I holed a couple of putts,” said Fuller. “On the par-five, I had a tap-in birdie so that was pretty stress free.
“It was pretty special playing with Linn [Grant], I’ve known her for a long time now and always looked up to her. In junior golf, she was always one step ahead of me playing really well so it was nice for me to play with her today and have old memories and new memories.
“I think we built on our momentum as a Team, Brianna [Navarrosa] holed a lot of putts as well, so that helped motivate me. When everyone is playing decent, it helps your round to flow nicely.”
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