Áine Donegan is off to an impressive start at the LET’s PIF London Championship at Centurion Club after a three-under round of 70 left her sharing fifth place overnight.
The Clare LET rookie was in the second-to-last group out off the 10th tee in round one and despite birdieing the 11th, found herself at +1 for the round through six having double bogeyed the par-5 15th. She was back in red figures at the turn after back-to-back birdies on 17 and 18, then she completed a hat-trick by adding another at the first.
She then traded another birdie on four with a bogey on five, but closed out the round with her sixth birdie of the day at the last to post three-under and climb into the top five, three behind solo leader Anna Huang of Canada.
An eagle and two birdies over her final six holes saw Anna Foster claw her way back to level-par where she lies tied for 32nd, while Sara Byrne overcame a mid-round stretch in which she played seven holes in +5 to post a two-over 75 that leaves her just inside the provisional cut mark at +2.
Three-time LET winner Huang began her day on the 10th tee and rolled in birdies on the 13th and 16th holes before making an eagle on 18.
She dropped her only shot of the day came on the third before back-to-back birdies on five and six and she finished with a birdie on nine to sit at the top of the leaderboard on six-under-par.
“It started out pretty good and then I chipped in on my third hole for a good par save and I think that just really brough the momentum going out today,” said the Canadian teenager. “My putting was really good and then I was hitting all the fairways.
“This course is playing a bit different than last year, it’s definitely a lot firmer and everything is rolling out a lot which gives you good shots into the green on par-5s and shorter irons for par-4s. I was sticking to my own process and game plan. I played with my good friend Bri [Navarrosa], so we had a good chat in the round.
“It’s definitely been a really good year. Playing in four out of five Majors and making two cuts which is an improvement from last year. There’s still a lot of room for improvement especially in Links golf, but we’re going in the right direction.”
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