Hinako Shibuno fired an opening round of 64 (-8) to lead by two strokes at end of the first day of the FREED GROUP Women’s Scottish Open Presented by Trust Golf.
The Japanese star, who won the AIG Women’s Open in 2019, was bogey-free on day one at Dundonald Links rolling in eight birdies.
Shibuno, who teed off from the tenth hole, began with a birdie and then made four on the trot on holes 13 through 16.
And the major winner finished her round with a flourish making another three birdies in-a-row on holes six, seven and eight to sit at the top of the leaderboard on eight-under-par.
“It was really good overall,” said Shibuno. “I putted well. I like Scotland and I like playing in Scotland and the UK. I surprised myself with the four birdies in a row.
“My finger is getting better, it’s healing now. My fingers and upper body was a little tight, but my sequence is getting better. I’m just being relaxed and more thinking about the sequence, the swing.”
Sweden’s Madelene Sagström sits in outright second place on six-under-par after firing a 66 on the first day at Dundonald.
The 30-year-old got off to a hot start with birdies on 10, 11 and 12 before adding another on the 16th hole.
There was a dropped shot on the first for the Swede, but she soon bounced back with birdies on three, seven and nine for her round of six-under.
“It started really solid with three birdies right away,” said the LPGA Tour winner. “I made some really good iron shots today. It kept the driver in play and not fantastic, but I think my iron shots kept me in it. I made some easy putts and overall, a pretty easy day.
“I think it’s taken me a few years to figure links golf out. As an amateur, I hated it. I can’t hit it low, but I started working with Shane, my caddie who is Irish, two years ago.
“We’ve really been pushing it since and been able to be much more creative on the golf course and he’s helping me see the different shots now, so it’s really improved over the years. It’s been a journey.”
Three players are in a share of third place with Denmark’s Nicole Broch Estrup, Sweden’s Caroline Hedwall and American Caroline Inglis all on four-under-par.
It was a bogey-free round of 68 (-4) for Hedwall, who rolled in birdies on holes two, nine, 10 and 14.
The seven-time LET winner said: “I played really solid. I was driving it really well. I hit a lot of fairways and it just felt good overall. I missed a couple of shorter birdie putts, but then I made a couple of longer par putts as well. I think it evened out, and I’m just happy with four-under today. It felt like a good start.
“It’s definitely a test for my patience, but I think I did really well today and just kept staying in the moment and just hitting good shots. My game is shaping up, and it’s nice to put a good score this first day now. It feels decent.”
It was also a good day for Denmark’s Broch Estrup who only had one dropped shot and five birdies on her scorecard.
“It was pretty solid and to shoot four-under on a links course, you have to get a little lucky here and there,” said the LET winner.
“I made a long putt on seven for birdie, and it just held on to the green, it could have been a tough up-and-down. But overall, it was solid out there. There were lots of fairway, lots of greens and I putted pretty well as well.
“I like it when the wind is up because it means that you have to work with the ball, and you have to be somehow a good ball-striker to get around, and I consider myself that. I like it when it gets a little tough. I feel like my golf is in a good place at the moment. Today I was really good at doing my things mentally, there’s obviously three more days, but I’m really, really proud of myself today.”
However, there was an unfortunate incident during the round for Broch Estrup’s husband and caddie Kasper, who had to stop carrying the bag after 16 holes after he sprained his ankle.
She added: “Going from 16 to 17, I actually twisted my foot half first and I looked back, and Kasper was like in complete pain, and he twisted his ankle really bad. He was trying to put pressure on his foot, and just there was no chance he could. He was trying to just make it to the 17th tee box and couldn’t.
“Luckily one of the guys from the Danish golf team is here watching, and he was happy to step on the last few holes. I hit it to like three feet on 17 and then to three meters on the last.”
It was also a bogey-free day for Inglis, who recently came back from injury, as she rolled in birdies on holes five, seven, 11 and 13.
“Scottish golf is always interesting because you have to get like really creative with the wind and I tried to like pick conservative targets and make like decisive swings at them,” said Inglis.
“Then I made a few putts, which is nice. I was talking with my caddie, I had a lot of lag putts today, and my speed was like a little off, but I was able to make a lot of the come backers, so that was nice. I was just able to take advantage of a few of the shorter holes, like the reachable par-five on my front nine.”
Four players are one shot further back in a share of sixth place with Wales’ Lydia Hall, Sweden’s Maja Stark, France’s Celine Boutier and Australia’s Sarah Kemp all on three-under-par.
Hall, who began her round from the 10th tee, had a good start rolling in birdies on holes 12, 13 and 14 before adding two more on 16 and 17.
Despite dropped shots on the second and eighth holes, the LET winner still carded a round of 69 (-3) on the opening day.
“It’s been a really rough kind of nine months for me,” said Hall, who won the 2012 ISPS Handa Ladies British Masters.
“This time last year I was injured coming into the tournament, which is obviously a massive shame coming into this and going into the British Open and that injury slowed me down for the rest of the season.
“I feel a lot better now and my driving at the start of the year was terrible. I didn’t know where it was going to go and saw the Callaway guys this week and they tweaked a couple things and I’m feeling more confident off the tee. That helps when you’re playing in these kinds of conditions.
“That’s the key around here, you have to miss in the right spots to give yourself a chance, making sure you’re not above or below the hole. Lots of spots that you need to know short right here is good and we get two putts and that’s what my caddie Shaun did. He kept me focused on one shot at a time and that was the key.”
Six-time LET winner Stark started with a birdie on the tenth before dropping a shot on 12th but she soon rolled in back-to-back birdies on 17 and 18 before finishing with a birdie on her final hole for a round of 69 (-3).
Stark said: “I had a lot of fun. It’s playing pretty tough, there are a lot of long irons in and it’s getting pretty windy out there. My putting was pretty decent. I had a couple six- and seven-footers and gained some confidence for sure. I think that’s needed on a course like this in these conditions.
“I’ve been doing a lot of putting drills, especially the shorter putts, and just getting better at visualising, especially when it’s windy. I have trouble with the short putts because I don’t trust it. You get a gust and feel like your body is moving.
“Just getting comfortable putting with wind was a big thing, getting confidence in that and confidence with the long game, too, and not making any silly mistakes. We have had very few holes where you can choose to play the bunker to play but we avoided that at all costs today and it really paid off because we didn’t make any big, silly mistakes.”
Six players end the first day in a tie for tenth place on two-under-par including France’s Agathe Sauzon and Sweden’s Linnea Ström.
The second round begins at 7.10 am (local time) and at the end of the day, there will be a cut to the top-65 and ties.
Follow all the action on @LETGolf on Instagram and Twitter and Ladies European Tour on Facebook and YouTube – #RaiseOurGame #WomenScottishOpen.
