- Team Marta Martin sits at the top on 20-under-par
- France’s Celine Boutier leads the Individual after an eagle at the last
Team Martin and Celine Boutier are top of the respective leaderboards at the end of the first day of the Aramco Team Series presented by PIF – Shenzhen.
On day one at Mission Hills China, Team Martin lead the way with a score of 20-under-par around the World Cup Course.
It was a great first day for the quartet of Marta Martin, Sara Kouskova, Christine Wolf and amateur Zhang Bei.
The team, who are captained by LET winner in 2024 Martin, began their round from the 10th tee and were 11-under through nine holes.
After a solid back nine which saw them nine-under for the remaining holes, they sit at the top of the leaderboard on 20-under-par.
“It was a great day! I think the key to success was everybody played well, we had a great team atmosphere,” said Captain Martin.
“It was a situation of synergy, when someone wasn’t doing well then someone else was there. Our amateur also did very well, overall, it was a very positive day and we’re excited for tomorrow.”
Kouskova explained: “We did all pretty solid and got used to the golf course pretty well. There wasn’t much roll on the fairways, whereas on the greens we needed to count on it. Really happy that we saw so many people around as well.”
Wolf added: “They made all the birdies and I thought I’m part of the team too, I need to do something so I finished well.”
Team Tamburlini are in second place on the leaderboard on 19-under-par after Chiara Tamburlini, Lee-Anne Pace, Qianhui Lin and amateur Yanxuan Peng combined well on the first day of action.
“We had great fun in the team,” said Tamburlini. “Our amateur is only 15 years old here from China and she played incredible as well. We had great momentum, Lee-Anne [Pace] and myself have been really excited for this.
“We were chatting pretty much 18 holes straight and I know that’s how I do well personally, so it was great for everybody to be able to carry on with that momentum as well.”
Pace added: “Our whole team played really nicely, I started off like a house on fire and Chiara finished like that. Our amateur played really nicely as well, she’s a long hitter and only 15, she has amazing potential. It’s actually quite nice to be playing these events and see the CLPGA players. I’m really glad we come here.”
Team Angel Yin, Team Alison Lee and Team Boutier are all in a share of third place just one shot further back on 18-under-par with Team Xiyu Lin in outright sixth place on 17-under.
In the Individual competition, France’s Boutier had a great first day firing a round of 66 (-7) to be top of the pile.
The Frenchwoman made a bogey on her first hole before rolling in a birdie at the third and she dropped another shot on the fifth.
However, the five-time LET winner then got some momentum making three birdies in her next four holes, she rolled in further birdies on 11, 15 and 16 before chipping in for eagle on the last to seal a round of seven-under.
“It was fun, I had a little chip-in on the last hole for eagle,” said Boutier. “I was definitely a little bit worried about it because the lie was not great, but thankfully I was able to get a good contact and the fact it went in was a good bonus.
“It was a good first round, I definitely feel like I stayed patient and had five or six birdies on the back. I was really able to finish strong, obviously a lot of good players, so a lot of work to do the next two days but definitely happy to have a solid first round.
“It’s nice, I definitely like to see some of the familiar faces and it’s nice to see the Tour picking up and having great events such as this one. It’s definitely fun to play both Tours and get to see a few of the French players as well.”
Three players are in share of second place with Czechia’s Sara Kouskova, American Angel Yin and China’s Xiyu Lin all on six-under-par.
Kouskova, who is also part of Team Martin, only dropped one shot on the first day rolling in seven birdies in China.
LET winner Yin, who celebrated her birthday yesterday, had a bogey-free day rolling in birdies on holes three, eight, 13, 16, 17 and 18 to sit just one off the lead.
“Fairways and greens, I was hitting them,” said Yin. “I didn’t really realise that until I did my stats, so I think that really helped. Subconsciously, I kind of knew about that. I struggled a little bit on the green on the front nine, but back nine I got the hang of it.
“Everybody looks like me so it’s very homey. Food is always great and it’s what I eat at home anyways. The environment is great and it’s a really fun place. I wished for a win on my cakes, it was a bit of a hard wish. I got the candles to die out, but I hope the wish comes true.”
Lin is defending champion having won the Individual title in Hong Kong in 2023 and she began her title defence well with three birdies on her front nine.
The home star steadily climbed the leaderboard with back-to-back birdies on 11 and 12 before her only dropped shot of the day on 14, but she bounced back with birdies on 15 and 18 to be one off the lead.
“It’s been amazing,” said Lin. “Last year, I already had a great time coming back to my home country and playing in front of the fans and I know we’re going to get lots of crowds out here especially this week with the national holiday.
“This is my first tournament I have played in front of my home crowd since I won the medal and I feel like I want to keep that momentum going.
“I want to make people happy about watching me play. No matter how I do, I wish to smile to people as much as possible and respond to them and I hope they enjoy watching me play.”
Four players are one shot further back with Italy’s Virginia Elena Carta, Switzerland’s Morgane Metraux, Denmark’s Emily Kristine Pedersen and England’s Alice Hewson all on five-under-par.
Six players round out the top 10 with Tamburlini, Pace, Nastasia Nadaud, Wenbo Liu, Liz Young and Kusuma Meechai all in T9.
The second round will begin at 8.10 am (local time) with Team Martin teeing off at 10.46 am at Mission Hills China.
Follow all the action throughout the tournament on our socials – @LETgolf on Instagram, TikTok and X, and Ladies European Tour on YouTube and Facebook – #RaiseOurGame #SEETheImpact.
