Manon De Roey had a solid start to her week at the AIG Women’s Open with a round of level par on the Old Course at St Andrews.
The Belgian star won the 2024 Investec South African Women’s Open earlier this year to book her spot at the final major of the year.
De Roey knew she would be facing difficult conditions this week with strong gusts of up to 40mph on the first day, but she was happy with her opening round in Scotland.
“It was very windy and a bit cold this morning,” she said. “I knew it was going to be this wind. It’s really different and I feel like you really have to battle through it.
“Left to right wind isn’t my favourite, I tried to be extra focussed there on the first few holes and get through them good. You just have to hope for some putts that dropped.
“I expected it to be that windy, but to have the wind as your friend here is really hard sometimes. I’m very happy with my score today, I grinded, I stayed patient and didn’t get angry about bad shots because they just happen. I’m very happy with par.
“I love it. Playing here was my goal at the beginning of the year and when I won in South Africa, that was the first thing I said that I can play in the AIGWO at St Andrews. I’m super happy to be here and I’m just going to enjoy every moment.”
At the end of the first day, De Roey sits in a tie for 18th place alongside 13 other players who also shot rounds of 72.
The two-time LET winner rolled in back-to-back birdies on holes four and five before dropping a shot on the eighth.
De Roey made two more bogeys on the back nine on 11 and 15, but also made a birdie on the 14th for her even round.
She continued: “The first birdie, I hit it a bit left off the tee but I had a good angle to the pin. It started where I wanted it to go and the wind took it and it ended up quite close to the hole, so I made that putt. But the short putts are really hard I feel like with the wind!
“The other one was a par-5, it was nice to hit a short wedge and hit it close. The other birdie was another par-5, I went into one of the little bunkers and hit a great bunker shot and holed the putt.”
De Roey will begin her second round at 1.10 pm (local time) alongside Switzerland’s Albane Valenzuela and Thailand’s Jasmine Suwannapura.
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