England’s Florentyna Parker (below) and Christine Wolf of Austria (above) opened with a pair of two-under-par 70s on the Gary Player Course at DLF Golf and Country Club in Gurgaon to take the clubhouse lead in the 10th Hero Women’s Indian Open on Friday morning.
Parker made an excellent start in the early haze with birdies on her first two holes, which were the 10th and 11th. She then birdied the 13th to get to three-under-par but double bogeyed the 14th.
After making a birdie on the long 15th followed by a bogey on the 18th, she made the turn in one-under and then dropped a shot on the seventh before making two more birdies on the eighth and ninth holes for a matching front nine total of 35.
“I’m really thrilled,” said Parker, a two-time tournament winner who is currently sixth on the LET Order of Merit after five top 10 finishes from 13 starts so far this season, including second at the Lalla Meryem Cup and tied second at the Lacoste Ladies Open de France.
“I started really well and was three-under after four, then I lost a ball, which can easily happen. Then I double bogeyed and you’re back to normal again. I made a lot of birdies, which was the difference from my last year here. I putted really well and apart from one hole, I kept the ball in play.
“I think I’ve played in India five or six times, so every time we’ve had a tournament. It’s a beautiful club. I’ve played the Arnold Palmer Course many years ago and I really liked it. This Gary Player design is a challenge and it’s very difficult. On each shot, you don’t know what’s going to happen and you have to be straight and hit the fairway. That’s what I did, apart from on one hole.”
While Parker made the perfect start, Wolf bogeyed three of the first four holes before finding her groove with five birdies from the seventh.
Wolf, who is looking for a first LET trophy after playing in the Olympic Games in August, said: “I’m really satisfied, especially as I started with plus three after four holes. I just started hitting greens and making putts. I left some chances out there, so I know you can score well here. I really like the course and I liked it last year. You know, the greens are a bit tricky, so if the putter works, it helps.”
Later in the afternoon, Anne-Lise Caudal of France joined the pair on two-under-par after a pair of birdies on the back nine at the 13th and 16th holes.
The chasing pack on one-under-par includes the current leading LET rookie Nuria Iturrios, who earned her first title at the Lalla Meryem Cup in Morocco and the 2015 Rookie of the Year Emily Kristine Pedersen, the defending champion, from Denmark.
Iturrios, who is in India for the first time, said: “I’m really happy, because I love the course and I think the birdie at the last was really good, because I made a double bogey on 14. The rough is really hard and I made a bad chip but that’s golf. It’s really different from my country but the food I really good I think. It’s a little spicy, but I’m happy to be here. I love the course. It’s really technical and the greens are the most important part. You have to focus on every shot.”
Pedersen said that she scrambled hard on the back nine. After making a bogey on 14, she made an excellent birdie on 15, having played out sideways from a fairway bunker and then a hitting a long-iron to two-feet before holing the putt. She birdied the difficult par-4 17th and then made a string of 10 pars from holes 18 to nine.
“I’m really satisfied!” Pedersen said. “My ball striking wasn’t great. It wasn’t as good as in Abu Dhabi and the weeks before but my putting was good and I scrambled really well. I made a lot of good two or three metres putts so I’m happy with minus one. I think normally the ball striking is a great part of my game and this course is about being able to place the ball. I managed that well last year and I’m doing that again. I’m never really in trouble. I think it helps that I know I can play this course and I’m pretty comfortable here. I’m not going to freak out if I make a bogey here. I know I’m able to make birdies. The course is tough and I think that’s an advantage.”
Home hope Aditi Ashok is the best placed of the Indian players. The 18-year-old from Bangalore played the back nine in three-over-par with a birdie against two bogeys and a double at the 14th but she came home with three birdies in a row from the sixth for a first round of level par.
The leading first-round score last year was also two-under-par last year, when Pedersen went on to win with a 54-hole total of level par.
