- Team Roussin-Bouchard and Team Law tied on 18-under-par
- Four players in a share of the Individual lead in Tampa
It’s very tight at the top of both leaderboards at the end of the first day of the Aramco Team Series Presented by PIF – Tampa which is being held at Feather Sound Country Club.
Team Roussin-Bouchard and Team Law are top of the pile in the Team competition with a score of 18-under-par.
In the Individual competition, it is Wales’ Chloe Williams, Switzerland’s Kim Metraux, Spain’s Carlota Ciganda and American Marina Alex who lead the way on six-under-par.
It was a good first day for the quartet of Pauline Roussin-Bouchard, Celine Herbin, Meghan MacLaren and amateur LuJain Omar Khalil.
The team, who are captained by defending Team champion Roussin-Bouchard, had an even round going nine-under on their front nine and nine-under on their back nine in Tampa.
“It was a pretty good day overall,” said two-time LET winner Roussin-Bouchard. “We really complemented each other having birdies not at the same time and our amateur did an amazing job on the couple of holes she had a stroke. It was just a good round, Celine had an amazing round, and it was beautiful to watch and as a team, it was good teamwork.”
Herbin said: “I feel really lucky to be with the team, I enjoyed it a lot today. We made it very good teamwork and our amateur also did a really awesome job. I’m looking forward to tomorrow.”
MacLaren added: “It was really fun having LJ as our amateur. I have seen her in the winning pictures before, so I knew we were going to be in for a good one and when she had a shot, she came in. Being alongside the girls was a lot of fun and they played great which made things a little easier for me.”
Team Law is made up of England’s Bronte Law, Germany’s Sophia Popov and India’s Pranavi Urs and amateur Jim Boddy.
The quartet got off to a hotter start on their front nine going 10-under thanks to five consecutive birdies from Urs.
They then went eight-under on their back nine to join Team Roussin-Bouchard at the top of the leaderboard.
“I played nicely today, but these two carried me for the 16 or 17 holes out there,” said Captain Law, who won the Individual title at London in 2022.
“I had a couple of contributions and played nicely, but they were on fire. I was just sitting back and watching and made a few birdies here and there, but not doing much. I really enjoyed playing with both of them.
“Sophia is a good friend of mine, I watched Pranavi play good golf in Morocco – actually had her down as a pick, so to get two picks in one is the ultimate dream team. We’re very happy with day one and will be going out there and trying to shoot another low one tomorrow.”
Major champion Popov explained: “I couldn’t have asked for a more fun round today. Bronte is a long-time friend of mine, I’ve known her since junior golf, and it was really nice to meet Pranavi and watch her. It was really impressive.
“At one point, I felt like the hole was a mile wide. It was pretty cool, and we fed off of that. It was such a fun environment to come back in and at the end of the round to get to see your baby is amazing.”
Urs, who fired an opening round of 67 (-5), added: “It definitely feels great to get off to a hot start and I feel like I’ve been doing that quite often for the past four rounds now, but I just couldn’t quite finish it.
“Five-under was not bad and I will take it. I was really good off the tee today and that put me in good position to get good approaches, except for one which caused a double, but apart from that I have been hitting it good and putting has been good too.”
Team Gainer sit in third place on 16-under-par with Team Hewson and Team Alex one shot further back in T4 and there are five teams in a share of sixth place on 14-under-par.
In the Individual competition, four players produced rounds of 66 (-6) on the opening day in Tampa.
Wales’ Williams went bogey-free rolling in birdies on holes four, 10, 11 and 17 as well as a chip-in eagle on the 14th.
“I think this golf course is scoreable, there’s not a lot to it,” said Williams. “I think the greens have got some undulations, if you hit it in the right place then you give yourself a big chance.
“I think my low score was more to do with the morale of the team, I think we just had a really nice time. I like team events and I think the best comes out of me; I enjoyed it a lot.”
Switzerland’s Metraux began with a birdie at the first before adding another on the fourth and then the ninth.
The 28-year-old then rolled in back-to-back birdies on 11 and 12 before finishing with another on 18 for her 66.
Metraux explained: “It was great, I had a great team and a really nice atmosphere. I have my dad on the bag this week and am really enjoying every minute out there. I made a few solid putts to keep the scorecard without bogeys and it was a solid day overall.
“I felt like I had a lot of good things in my game, I didn’t really manage to convert it into scores yet but overall, I have been feeling good with the long game and made a few adjustments with the putting and it’s paid off so far.
“It feels almost like being at home – even though it’s pretty far away! It’s a second home and to be able to have both of my parents and my husband. I haven’t had dad on the bag for a while now, but he still remembers how to deal with it.
“I have been taking more of a free approach, less work and too focussed on too many things and just do the things I need to do and enjoy it and the rest will follow.”
Defending Individual champion Ciganda started her title defence well as she had eight birdies and two bogeys on her scorecard.
“I’m very happy to start with six-under, I started well with a couple of birdies on the first two holes,” said the seven-time LET winner.
“The front nine I think you can score pretty low; the fairways are a little wider and I feel good with the par-fives. I had a couple of bogeys on the back but finished with three birdies in the last five holes so I’m very happy.
“We are playing our own game, but I am trying to cheer on the team so a lot of vamos when they make putts and birdies. I love the team atmosphere, I want to make birdies for the team more than myself and that’s why I play well because it’s playing for something bigger than yourself.”
Solheim Cup star Alex is also in a share of the lead after only dropping one shot and rolling in seven birdies in Tampa.
“It was really cool,” said Alex. “I had a great group today playing with Laura [Fuenfstueck] and Agathe [Sauzon] and Taylor [Motter]. We had fun. We got off to a hot start, Laura made four birdies in a row, and I made a couple and Agathe did as well. Taylor played great, on the holes that he stroked he did super well and really contributed to the team.
“I hit it well today and I made a lot of putts which is good and I’m hoping I can keep making some putts. The course is great, it’s in good shape. The greens are pure, the fairways are nice and it’s playing pretty true so you’ll see some good scores from all the players.”
Four players are in a tie for fifth place with Germany’s Alexandra Försterling, England’s Hayley Davis, France’s Herbin and India’s Urs all on five-under.
Seven players are in a share of ninth place with Shannon Tan, Aline Krauter, Sara Kouskova, Marta Sanz Barrio, Manon De Roey, Johanna Gustavsson and Charley Hull all on four-under-par.
The second round begins at 8.55 am (local time) with the Team competition to be decided at the end of the day.
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