- Team Van Dam holds a three-shot lead at Hong Kong Golf Club
- World number three Jin-Young Ko fired a bogey-free 65 to lead the Individual standings
Jin Young Ko and Team Van Dam sit atop the leaderboards at the end of day one of the Aramco Team Series presented by PIF – Hong Kong.
It was a flawless first day for world number three Ko, who rolled in eight birdies at Hong Kong Golf Club.
The Korean star got off to a hot start birdieing the first hole before adding further birdies on four and five before she made three on the trot on holes seven through nine to make the turn in 30 (-6).
Ko added two more birdies on the back nine to seal an opening round of 65 (-8) and lead by two shots on eight-under-par.
“I practiced a lot in September, and I worked out a lot too even though I wasn’t playing,” said the two-time Major champion. “I wanted to play in one of these events and I’m really happy to be in Hong Kong and playing in a team event.
“I hit just 20 balls today and sometimes I don’t practice before teeing off or I just do putting. In Hong Kong, it’s really hot so I just wanted to keep my energy for the tee off.
“If I could win, it would be my first win on the LET which would be an honour. That is motivating me and I have two more rounds to go, so I hope to get some more birdies.”
In the Team competition, it is Team Van Dam at the top of the leaderboard on 16-under-par in Hong Kong.
The quartet of Anne Van Dam, Sophie Witt, Lydia Hall and amateur Andrew Hibbert began their round on the 11th hole.
It was a good start for the team with Witt making an eagle on the 11th hole and the team were four-under-par after the 18th hole.
However, it was on their back nine where they really made in-roads producing a score of 12-under through their final 11 holes to reach -16 and lead by three shots.
“We all had plenty of birdies out there today, which was great,” said Captain van Dam. “The course is definitely scoreable which makes it fun to play and I had a super fun day playing with the team.”
Hall explained: “We ham and egged it a little bit, I was out on a couple of the holes and the girls took lead and did what they needed to do. They both played so well, especially Anne, she had it on a string and it was impressive to watch.”
Witt added: “We are playing with Anne! So, when I see all the par-5s, it’s a great opportunity for the team and we have a lot of chances as well.”
In the Individual competition, Van Dam sits in second place on six-under-par having fired a 67 (-6) in Hong Kong.
The Dutch star made an eagle on the ninth, as well as six birdies and two bogeys on her first day to put herself in contention in both competitions.
Spain’s Nuria Iturrioz sits in third place on the Individual leaderboard on five-under-par having produced an opening round of 68 which included seven birdies and two bogeys.
Team Iturrioz is also doing well in the Team competition as they are one of four teams in a tie for second place on 13-under-par.
The quartet of captain Iturrioz, fellow Spaniard Maria Hernandez, Norway’s Maiken Bing Paulsen and amateur Xiao Guang Wu combined well on day one.
“It’s good vibes only in this team, it was great and a fantastic day,” said Iturrioz. “The amateur was really nice also, he played really well.
“I did my best, I tried. We played like a team because when someone missed the other was there. I’m really happy with them and let’s go for tomorrow.”
Hernandez explained: “Today wasn’t one of my best days but we’re lucky we had Nuria on the team and she led us, we had a great time. It was fun and we had a great day.
Paulsen added: “We had a great time today. The course is great. Maria and I are coming back stronger tomorrow but as a team, we did really good and we were cheering on each other, we made a couple of good saves and will be trying to do even better tomorrow.”
Team Iturrioz is joined in a share of second place on 13-under-par by Team Alonso, Team Gainer and Team Ciganda.
“I didn’t play good but Kirsten [Rudgeley] played really really good, so I’m happy for her,” commented Captain Carmen Alonso.
“I think she put a lot of effort in and myself and Flic [Johnson] tried to support her. Tomorrow, I hope it is going to be better and we can make more birdies and we can help her and do good as a team.”
Captain Cara Gainer explained after the round, “Chloe [Williams] got our first eagle on the first hole, we played back to front, so an amazing iron in there and I luckily eagled the ninth hole, so really enjoyed it.
“I feel like we all didn’t have our A-games today, if we can all go out there with slightly better golf tomorrow then there’s plenty of birdie opportunities out there, especially with five par-5s. I’m really optimistic about tomorrow.”
Solheim Cup winner and captain Carlota Ciganda said: “We had a very nice team, the amateur played amazing. She was great and she came in on a few holes and it was great that she was motivated and excited to be there. I like the course, I played good just too many bogeys and one double but six birdies, so we will see tomorrow.”
Team Pettersson and Team Davidson Spilkova sit one shot further back in a tie for sixth place, while there are five teams in T8 on 11-under-par.
On the Individual leaderboard, China’s Xiyu Lin and Australia’s Stephanie Kyriacou are in a share of fourth place on four-under-par behind Ko, Van Dam are Iturrioz.
While Italy’s Virginia Elena Carta, South Africa’s Nicole Garcia and Finland’s Ursula Wikstrom are one shot further back in a tie for sixth place.
There are ten players in a tie for ninth place on two-under-par including 2021 Individual champion from Sotogrande Alison Lee, as well as 2023 LET winners Trichat Cheenglab and Lisa Pettersson.
The second round will begin at 7.45 am (local time) with leaders Team Van Dam teeing it up at 10.21 am in Hong Kong.
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