Casandra Alexander fired an opening round of 64 (-8) to lead by two strokes at the end of the first day of the 2026 Wistron Ladies Open.
The South African star went out in the afternoon wave at Sunrise Golf and Country Club making her first birdie of the day on the second hole.
She made further birdies on the sixth and eighth holes to make the turn in 33 (-3) before adding birdies on holes 11, 13 and 14.
The Ladies European Tour (LET) Order of Merit leader then finished with a flourish sinking her eagle putt at the last to sit atop the leaderboard on eight-under-par.
“My back was a little tight on the range, so I hit some dodgy shots there and I said to Doug [caddie] that my back is feeling tight so let’s see what happens,” said Alexander. “I got onto the course and felt a lot better.
“I started racking up a few birdies, obviously bogey-free helps because every birdie counts. I had a bit of a slow end between the turn, but I think I capitalised on most of the par-5s. I hit a lot of good wedges, so that was converting into birdies every now and then. I was quite happy and then finishing off with an eagle is always nice.
“It was special. Yani [Tseng] is really cool. It’s not my first time playing with her, she’s a really nice girl and I really enjoy playing golf with her. She’s up for a chat and if you ask for advice, she’ll give it to you. She’s still got it, I’ll be honest. She hit a shot and it was just pure. I really enjoyed it and looking forward to tomorrow and the rest of the week.
“If you look at the weather and what it says the speed is, we’re on the top of the hill, so you can double that. Our practice conditions were super windy, but we did look at the forecast going into the week. We practiced the wind, but we also had a game plan for if it wasn’t as breezy. It did pick up a little when we turned on 10 and some of the more exposed holes on the back nine for us, but definitely not like anything we practiced in.
“We’ll go out there tomorrow, when you shoot a really good score you have got to be really patient the next day, so I know Doug is already going to give me a whole chat about that. It really is helpful, so just nice and patient tomorrow and set up a couple of birdie opportunities and see if we can convert them.”
Cheng-Hsuan Shih of Chinese Taipei is in solo second place after a bogey-free round of 66 (-6) on day one.
Shih had no dropped shots with birdies on holes one, seven, nine, 12, 14 and 16 at Sunrise Golf and Country Club.
“This round was all good especially my putting. The second shot on my last hole went into the water, but that was my only mistake of today. The rest of the round was very good,” said Shih.
“I was focused on myself in the round. I know Sunrise Golf and Country very well. Every time, I come back here I’m very comfortable and I can enjoy my game here.”
Six players are in a share of third place with Germany’s Helen Briem, Austria’s Emma Spitz, Hong Kong’s Ginnie Ding, home star Pei-Ying Tsai and English duo Alice Hewson and Hannah Screen all on five-under-par.
Two-time LET winner Briem began her day with three consecutive birdies before back-to-back bogeys on four and five.
The German star added a birdie on six, made a bogey on the eighth hole and then added another birdie on the 12th hole.
Briem made an eagle on the par-5 13th before finishing with a birdie at the last to be five-under-par.
“I had a pretty good start, I birdied the first three holes which gave me some confidence that I can definitely play well. That was a good start. Overall, I’m really happy. I had a little bit of trouble on the mid part of the round, but the finish was good. I’m really with today,” said Briem.
“I continued where I started the round and tried to hit the greens and give myself good opportunities and maybe give the putts a chance as well. It was going into the right direction again. [On the eagle] I hit a pretty good drive; I hit my 6-iron to seven metres to the flag and then holed the putt. A pretty easy eagle.
“I had a really good practice sessions with my coach last week, I knew I was making good things. The question was whether you could do it in the tournament rounds as well. It was good and I did lots of things I practiced with him.”
Austria’s Emma Spitz was bogey-free on the opening day with birdies on the seventh, eighth, 11th, 12th and 16th holes.
“It was a very nice start to the tournament I have to say. It was good, it was very solid, not many mistakes. I made a few nice putts, hit some good wedges and no big miss-hits or bad misses and I think that really helped. I’m glad I could play five-under,” said Spitz.
“After Korea, I had some much-needed time at home and had some good talks that really helped me be more in the moment, even in India last week it was good on a difficult golf course.
“I’m trying to really enjoy myself, but it’s very difficult when it’s not going the way you want and the expectations are there but you’re not really reaching them. Last week was already much better, I had some moments where I could have gone the other way and I managed to not do that and that showed me I can play well and do good things.”
England’s Hewson was bogey-free on the first day of action making five birdies in Chinese Taipei.
“It was a bit of a relief coming off the back of two pretty tough weeks. It was nice to see some of the work that I’ve put in lead its way onto the golf course because it doesn’t always happen,” said Hewson. “I have been working really hard this past month or so. It was nice to hit a few fairways and hit a few greens.
“It’s definitely headed that way. First round I would say golf and I were friends, but still a long way to go. I have to keep putting one foot in front of the other. I’m going to go back to the range and keep working on what I’m working on and see if we can put a couple of half decent rounds together.
“I was quite consistent. I was trying not to think of the round as a whole, but more each shot that was in front of me. I was placing my way around with fairways, greens and giving myself chances and go from there.”
England’s Screen rolled in four birdies in a row between holes 13 and 16 on her way to her round of 67 (-5).
“It was good. There were a lot of gettable holes with shots inside 130, 120, so you could be quite aggressive,” said Screen. “I’ve worked on my wedges the last two weeks at home; it was nice to see them working out today. I went on a pretty good run on the back nine. I holed a lot of putts.
“I didn’t really realise I’d made that many birdies, it was when I walked to 17 and I thought what’s my score. I chunk my round up into different nines, so it doesn’t let me get ahead of myself and that was a good strategy for me today.
“You just have to be really aware of where you are and what club you’re hitting because sometimes you’re hitting clubs that aren’t going to get above the treeline until the last second. Sometimes, you’re hitting a wedge and it’s going to be affected a lot by the wind.”
Chinese Taipei’s Tsai, who won at Sunrise Golf and Country Club on the TLPGA earlier this year, was also bogey-free in round one.
“The wind was not strong, so it was easier than last year. I could play and have fun today,” said Tsai. “My tee shots were good, and my second shots were a good distance for every iron shot. I had good putting on a few holes to make my good round today.
“I won here this year but in the summer season the wind is different from the winter, so it’s a different challenge for this week.”
Hong Kong’s Ding only had one bogey on her scorecard rolling in birdies on the sixth, ninth, 10th, 12th, 14th and 18th holes.
“It was really good. I was a bit worried about the warm-up in the dark, but honestly, it was really good. It was really nice and just a good round,” said Ding. “I hit fairways and greens. I think I only maybe missed the green twice or three times, it was a good ball striking day. I made some putts and was lucky with the putting. It was smooth.
“I’ve had a really good few weeks. I haven’t really been trying to do anything too different. I have been building momentum from that and then trusting myself and building that confidence. Knowing I’ve got my card has definitely freed me up. Any player would know and even today, I was talking to my caddie Michael and saying we could just bomb it anywhere. I have been playing good, feeling good and he’s really supported me with that. I played aggressive and it paid off.”
Ten players are in a tie for 10th place including defending champion Yani Tseng and LET winner Kelsey Bennett, Mimi Rhodes, Leonie Harm and Celine Herbin-Marshall.
Round two will begin at 6.20 am (local time) with a cut to the top 60 professionals and ties at the end of the day.
Keep up to date with all the action throughout the tournament via @LETgolf on Instagram and X and Ladies European Tour on Facebook and YouTube – #2026WistronLadiesOpen.
