England’s Florentyna Parker birdied her first two holes, the 10th and 11th, early in the opening round of the Hero Women’s Indian Open this morning to set the pace on the Gary Player Course at DLF Golf and Country Club in Gurgaon.
Playing in cool and hazy conditions, Parker birdied the 13th to get to three-under-par but double bogeyed the 14th before recovering with a birdie on the long 15th.
She was then joined at two-under-par by Denmark’s Nanna Koerstz Madsen, who claimed her maiden win at the Tipsport Golf Masters in the Czech Republic this summer. Rookie Nuria Iturrios, who earned her first title at the Lalla Meryem Cup in Morocco was also at two-under-par. However the pair then both took double bogeys: Iturrios at the par-5 fourth and Madsen on the 18th hole.
Dane Emily Kristine Pedersen, the defending champion, 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 then birdied the difficult par-4 17th.
United States stars Beth Allen and Brittany Lincicome, who are playing with Pedersen, were three-over on the back nine, while home hope Aditi Ashok also played the back nine in three-over-par with a birdie against two bogeys and a double at the 14th.
