It’s a tight leaderboard at the end of the first day of the KPMG Women’s Irish Open with three players tied on five-under-par.
Italy’s Alessandra Fanali, Finland’s Ursula Wikstrom and Spain’s Luna Sobron Galmes all fired an opening round of 68 (-5) around the O’Meara Course at Carton House.
Fanali got off to a hot start with birdies on her first two holes, she then added two more on the fourth and sixth before dropping her first shot of the day on the eighth.
The Olympian, who represented Italy earlier in the summer in Paris, continued her form rolling in birdies on the 11th and 13th holes to sit at the top of the leaderboard on five-under-par.
“It was very solid from the driver to the green, I putted very well today,” said the Italian. “I was not very confident about my stroke yesterday, so we worked a bit on that yesterday afternoon.
“It was very good today. I hit some good pins and good drivers; I didn’t miss a fairway maybe only 18. Overall, it was a great round.
“My putter has been pretty good the whole season, but in the past few weeks it was not the best. The greens were a bit slower and I’m not a great putter on very slow greens, but this week I like it much better. The ball was rolling very good, so it was much better on the greens.
“I just tried to be very positive today, play it shot by shot and not really think about the next move, be very present and it was a great day.”
Finland’s Wikstrom came into the week having made the cut at the 2024 AIG Women’s Open at St Andrews.
The Finn rolled in four birdies on her front nine, she dropped shots on the 14th and 18th but also rolled in birdies on 10, 12 and 17 to be in a share of the lead on five-under.
“Finally, I got some putts rolling in which made it a little bit easier,” said Wikstrom. “I hit some okay shots as well.
“My drives were going a little bit out of nowhere, but here you don’t have to be straight in the middle all the time, you can still be okay. When you get some putting going, it makes things a bit easier.
“Luckily enough, I have the same caddie who has been with me in Ireland for the last two years as well. That has been nice to have some company that I know with me, in that way it’s pretty familiar.”
Spain’s Luna Sobron Galmes was one of the later groups in the day and joined Fanali and Wikstrom with her own round of 68 (-5).
The Mallorcan made a birdie at the first before rolling in three on the trot on holes four, five and six, she made another on the eighth before dropping her only shot of the day on 13 but bounced back with a birdie on 14 to be a co-leader.
“I played very good,” said Sobron. “I hit all of the greens today. The first nine holes was really good, I made a lot of putts. I feel a lot of confidence in my game.
“I like the golf course. I feel comfortable on this golf course, I can hit the driver longer and I don’t have pressure in my swing, so I’m happy. I like the greens, the speed is really good.
“These greens are the best we’ve played this year, so I’m very happy. I was practicing a lot at home with the putter, so the results are here. I’m having a good year, I have confidence, I just need to be patient. In any moment, the good rounds will come.”
Three players are in a share of fourth place one shot further back with French duo Pauline Roussin-Bouchard and Agathe Sauzon alongside Germany’s Carolin Kauffmann on four-under-par.
Ten players currently sit two shots back of the leaders on three-under-par including home favourite and LET winner Leona Maguire.
“It was a steady day, I gave myself a lot of chances,” said the Irish star. “Particularly on the front nine, I felt like I could have been seven-under through the front nine if I would have holed a few putts. Anytime bogey-free three-under is never a bad way to start.
“Front nine was playing downwind quite a bit on those opening few holes and the opening par-5s are a really good chance to start off with.
“The ones on the back are a little bit trickier, not quite what St Andrews was playing last week. There’s plenty of birdie chances out there it’s just taking advantage of them.”
The second round begins at 8 am (local time) on Friday and there will be a cut to the top 60 professionals and ties at the end of the day.
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