Ecuador’s Daniela Darquea opened her 2026 Australian Women’s Classic campaign with a round of 66 (-6) at Magenta Shores Golf & Country Club.
The 30-year-old started in style with four birdies in a row before dropping a shot on the fifth, she made another bogey on the eighth, but bounced back one hole later with a birdie to make the turn in three-under.
On the back nine, the Ecuadorian rolled in birdies on holes 12, 14 and 15 to seal a round of six-under-par and sit in a share of second place on the leaderboard.
“It was a great round of golf, lovely weather,” she said. “I had a lot of fun today on the course. I really like the course.
“You have to drive it really well. Today, I wasn’t very happy with the irons, but obviously the putter worked really well. Hopefully, in the next few days I can hit it a little bit straighter and probably, hopefully, keep making birdies.”
Darquea reached out to Colombia’s Mariajo Uribe, who won the 2024 Women’s NSW Open at Magenta Shores, for advice earlier in the week.
The two became friends on the LPGA Tour and Darquea always looked up to Uribe when she was growing up.
She explained: “I messaged Mariajo earlier this week and asked what the key to the course was. She was telling me just to be safe on the first few holes and then obviously you can be very aggressive on the back nine. I listened to her and I was very disciplined at the beginning of the round, and everything worked out fine.
“Mariajo was someone that I really looked up to. I grew up watching her win the U.S. amateur and then make it on the LPGA. Obviously when I got there, I became really good friends with her, so that was really cool.
“Lorena Ochoa was the best in the world at one point, so I had heroes from Latin America – not from Ecuador unfortunately, but hopefully I can be one for the girls back in my country.”
Darquea began the Australian swing with a strong result in the Ford Women’s NSW Open finishing T16 at Wollongong Golf Club.
The Ecuadorian is enjoying her time Down Under and after her finishing her first round early in the day, she was hoping to catch up on some TV.
She added: “It’s awesome. It’s so much fun staying with friends, it’s like a vacation week. I’m excited to go back this afternoon and we’ve started watching Bridgerton. I’m excited about that and getting ready for the next round.”
Darquea begins her second round from the 10th tee at 12.42 pm (local time) alongside Australia’s Kirsten Rudgeley and England’s Cara Gainer.
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