Kelsey Bennett’s golf matched the weather on day one at the 2026 Lalla Meryem Cup as the Aussie fired a 68 (-5) in hot conditions to lead by two shots.
Playing in the afternoon wave on a sun-soaked Thursday at Royal Golf Dar Es Salam’s Blue Course, Bennett carded seven birdies and dropped two shots to leapfrog the early pace setters.
The card included two birdies in her first two holes as the 26-year-old continued her excellent start to the 2026 season.
“It was really solid,” Bennett said, a winner at this year’s Australian Women’s Classic. “Obviously starting off with two birdies always helps. Michael [Baines, my caddie] and I just went through some really good processes. I rolled in some nice putts too which always helps.”
The Australian currently sits fourth on the Ladies European Tour (LET) Order of Merit following her maiden victory on home soil back in March.
“My goal this year in finishing inside the top-10 so I can go to LPGA Q-Series,” Bennett said. “Nothing overly different [now I have that win], it’s a new week and a new golf course. New feelings. All that stuff.”
As we pan down into second position we have ourselves a stacked group in Morocco with 10 players locked on three-under par.
This group includes Singapore’s Shannon Tan, winner of last year’s Order of Merit, as well as fellow LET winners Ana Pelaez Trivino, Anna Huang and Chiara Noja. They are joined on the score by Ursula Wikstrom, Pranavi Urs, Hannah Screen, Teresa Toscano, Ayako Uehera and Dorthea Forbrigd.
Chasing a third LET victory, Tan said: “Three-under, bogey-free. I think I was pretty consistent out there today. It’s a treelined course but honestly I prefer that. I think I quite like this course. I feel comfortable around here.
“I got into two LPGA events so I’ve only played five LET events so far this year. It’s something I have to accept this year knowing I’ll be playing in more Majors. My schedule is flowing a lot better now but the focus is different. Last year I was focused on the Order of Merit. This year I’m focused on trying to do well in the Majors.”
Forbrigd meanwhile is also teeing up in just her fifth this season following a wrist injury which forced her to withdraw from the first five events.
“I think you have to be aggressive out there,” the Norweigan said. “I feel like if you try and be safe or try and be defensive you almost can get hit in the face a little bit. I think it’s better to be aggressive and see where the ball ends up.
“I feel a lot better now. It’s progressing nicely and I can more and more. So that’s very nice. At the start coming back, I had to manage it a lot more but now I can do the practice that I want. Hopefully I stay healthy from now on.”
Defending champion Cara Gainer from England got off to a solid start posting a round of 70 (-2) to sit three shots back. The 30-year-old’s card included two eagles on the front nine which came at the 2nd and 8th – the latter where she came close to making an albatross after a brilliant second shot in.
Home favourite Maha Haddioui and amateur Rim Imni are Morocco’s highest placed players after 18 holes of action. Both opened with a rounds of 76 (+3) in Rabat to sit in a share for 74th.
Elsewhere on day one, Thailand’s Aunchisa Utama enjoyed a magical moment making a hole-in-one at the par-3 17th to win herself a Range Rover Sport.
“It’s my dream car!” Utama said following the ace. “My caddie’s too. Me talked about it during the practice round, that we had to get this one in my life. I keep thinking about how I’m going to get it back to Thailand… I don’t know how. But I’ll figure it out later.”
The second round of the Lalla Meryem Cup gets underway tomorrow at 8:00 local time.
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