Madelene Stavnar continued her fine recent form on day one at the Hero Women’s Indian Open firing a flawless 66 (-6) to lead by one shot in Delhi.
Teeing off in the morning wave at DLF Golf & Country Club, the Norwegian got off to a steady start making par on each of her first three holes.
As the sun rose in Gurguram just outside New Delhi, Stavnar soon got things rolling making four birdies in six holes on the 4th, 6th, 7th, and 9th to go out in 32.
The 22-year-old – who missed just one fairway on the short but narrow 11th hole – would add two more birdies to her scorecard on the 13th and 15th before a string of pars completed the fautless 66 (-6).
“I’m very happy,” Stavnar said. “It’s one of those days where golf feels a little bit easier than others. This course is not easy so a 66 will do very nicely to begin with.”
“I played really steady and hit 17 greens today which obviously makes things a little easier. But still, the greens are not too easy. I just felt I did a really good job both mentally and technically so I’m very happy.”
The impressive start comes one month on from the VP Bank Swiss Ladies Open where Stavnar went bogey-free in her first 36 holes before eventually finishing second – her best result on the Ladies European Tour (LET).
“I learned so much from that experience,” she said. “It was my first time playing in the final group heading into the final day, so I feel like I’m really growing as a player and as a person as well. I hope to bring that out again this week.”
In solo second sits home favourite Diksha Dagar who recovered from a bogey on her second hole to roll in six birdies and card a brilliant 67 (-5).
“All aspects of my game are fairly good and most importantly, putting was the main thing and I putted well today,” Dagar said, who currently sits fourth in the Race to Costa del Sol “I think I missed two or three greens today.
“For the round tomorrow, I love morning rounds, I prefer to play in the morning because I feel nice. So hopefully today’s momentum will continue tomorrow.”
One shot further back is another Indian star, Vani Kapoor, who made the most of home course advantage carding a 68 (-4) to the delight of her friends and family watching on.
“I was actually quite nervous before I started”, the New Delhi native said. “But I hope I feel nervous every day if this is how things are going to go!
“The idea was to stay patient. I’ve been playing well throughout the year but my scores just haven’t reflected that. It’s been frustrated so the idea was to stay patient. Pretty much everything was rock solid today.”
Thailand’s Trichat Cheenglab and Germany’s Aline Krauter share a tie for fourth on three-under-par – the latter returning from the LPGA to play in her seventh event of the LET season this week.
“It was a pretty solid round today,” the rookie said. “I played consistently which is super important on this course. I don’t think there’s one hole where you can take your mind off things so you always have to be 100% committed to things. I think my caddie and I did that super well today.
“It’s very important for me to do well this week. I would love to play on the LET in the future which is why I came all the way to India. So it’s very important to me and we’ll see how I finish.”
Five players make up the top-10 sitting in a tie for sixth on two-under-par, a group which includes Indian amateur Vidhatri Urs, England’s Hannah Burke, Finland’s Sanna Nuutinen, and Swedish duo Lisa Pettersson and Johanna Gustvasson – both winners on the LET this season.
Round two of the Hero Women’s Indian Open gets under way on Friday at 6:40am local time. Follow all the action on @LETGolf on Instagram and X and Ladies European Tour on Facebook and YouTube – #RaiseOurGame #HWIO23.
