Carmen Alonso has stormed into an early lead at the Ladies Open by Pickala Rock Resort after firing a magnificent 64 (-8) on a disrupted first day in Finland.
During an opening day hindered by not one, but two storm delays, the Spaniard capitalised on her late start by firing six birdies and one eagle to etch into the lead before sunset.
Alonso leads Austrian star Christine Wolf by one with Lauren Taylor and Linda Osala a shot further back. Olivia Mehaffey played twelve holes of her opening round but had a day to forget as she slumped to four-over-par by the time the horn sounded to halt play for the evening.
“It was a perfect day for me,” Alonso said, who started her round at 17:37 following the two restarts. “It was really long, but better than the players who played in the afternoon because it was really boring for them. I have to say I am really happy. I played solid golf.”
Beginning on the 10th hole, the 38-year-old soared into contention when she made four birdies on the back nine on the 12th, 14th, 15th, and 18th.
After a steady run of pars, Alonso birdied the 5th before finishing with a wonderful eagle-birdie flurry on the 8th and 9th – seconds before the final horn sounded at 22:00 local time.
“I am the most happy I can be because tomorrow I don’t have to wake up so early to come back to finish the round! I was really relaxed. I don’t usually have this character, but today I don’t know why I was relaxed. Now I’m going to sleep. This is my fifth week in a row so I’m really tired.”
Eleven groups are still yet to finish their first round after over four hours were lost on Thursday due to the stormy conditions.
Scoring HERE
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