Leona Maguire and Lauren Walsh both birdied two of their final three holes, but they are well off the pace and lie T58 and T87 respectively after the opening round of the Amundi Evian Championship in France.
Maguire started on the 10th and parred the opening six but dropped shots on 16 and 17 before a birdie at 18 saw her turn at +1.
Another run of five pars was punctuated by another bogey on the sixth but she regrouped to birdie the par-5 seventh and ninth holes to claw her way back to level-par which sees her just above the projected cutline.
Walsh, also playing in the afternoon, began on one but her opening nine was eerily similar to Maguire’s though her run of five pars was upset by back-to-back bogeys on six and seven before a birdie at nine saw her turn on the same score as her compatriot.
Three further bogeys in the first four holes of the back side saw her slip to four-over, but a two on the par-3 16th and another birdie at the par-5 closing hole provided light at the end of the tunnel as she seeks to make her first major cut as a professional having last seen final-round major action at the 2021 Women’s Open as an amateur.
Meanwhile, at the top of the leaderboard, Japan’s Aki Iwai fired a bogey-free opening round of 63 (-8) to hold a two-stroke lead at the end of the first day of action.
The 24-year-old teed off in the morning at Evian Golf Resort making her first birdie of the day on the fifth hole followed by further birdies on seven and nine.
Iwai, who has one LPGA Tour title to her name, made back to-back birdies on 11 and 12 before another pair on 15 and 16, and she finished with a birdie at the last to sit atop the leaderboard on eight-under-par.
“I was able to have a good focus on my golf and stay committed. I prepared a lot around the green with chipping and putting. I was driving well, but honestly everything was good,” said Iwai. “I like driver, so if I’m good and consistent with my driver. I made the good score. I like this course, it’s similar to a course in Japan.”
France’s Perrine Delacour sits in solo second place on six-under-par after an opening round of 65 – her lowest in a Major championship.
The two-time LET winner began the day with a birdie at 10 before making an eagle on 15 and back-to-back birdies on 17 and 18 to make the turn in four-under in her homeland.
She dropped her first shot of the day on the fifth before two more birdies on six and seven, another dropped shot on eight didn’t put her off as she rolled in a birdie at the last to move into second place.
Five players are in a share of third place at the 18-hole mark with England’s Charley Hull, Sweden’s Maja Stark, Korean pair Haeran Ryu and Jin Hee Im alongside Mao Saigo on five-under.
World number five Hull got off to a rocky start with bogeys on the first and sixth holes but soon found momentum with back-to-back birdies on seven and eight.
The five-time LET winner went on a charge in her closing holes with birdies on 13, 15 and 16 before finishing in style sinking her eagle putt on the last for her round of 66.
“I didn’t start too great, but I fought back and I felt pretty good. I think it was the ice cream that my caddie had on the 15th hole. It’s not shy kids don’t get sweets, it’s shy caddies don’t get ice cream,” said Hull.
“You have to be able to hit and create shots on slopes where you could have 127 yards and on a normal golf course, it would be an easy shot, but there the lie is crazy below your feet. You just have to understand the slopes. My home golf course I grew up on – Kettering – that was always very hilly and there was never a flat shot on the golf course.”
Seven players are one shot further back in a tie for fourth place including English duo Cara Gainer and Lottie Woad.
Round two will begin at 7 am (local time) and there will be a cut to the top 65 players and ties at the end of the day.
Leave a comment