Alison Walshe in action in Australia today.
Picture by courtesy of Scott Powick SMP Images
NEWS RELEASE FROM THE LADIES' EUROPEAN TOUR
Queensland, Australia - Galway-born Irish-American Alison Walshe sits atop of the leaderboard after the opening round of the Volvik RACV
Ladies Masters being played at the RACV Royal Pines Resort on the Gold Coast.
On
a sunny day Walshe, who was out in one of the last groups, surged to
the top with a flawless round of six-under-par 66. The 27-year-old holds a slender one shot advantage of fellow compatriot
Jessica Korda, who was at the top of the leaderboard for the majority of the day after teeing off early.
Australian
Stacey Keating, Spain’s Belen Mozo, Thailand’s Nontaya Srisawang and
American Dori Carter are at four-under-par, while South Korean Chella
Choi, Sweden’s Daniela Holmqvist and rookie
Ariya Jutanugarn from Thailand share seventh position a further shot
back.
A
group of 12 players sit at two-under par and are right in the mix,
including seven-time Masters champion Karrie Webb, the French pair of
Gwladys Nocera and Joanna Klatten and Australians Bree
Arthur, Kristie Smith, Nikki Campbell and amateur Minjee Lee.
Walshe started her round on the 10th tee parred her first five holes before rattling off four straight birdies to go out in 32. The 27-year-old then birdied the 3rd and
8th holes to post an inward 34.
The
27-year-old was asked if she thought this kind of round was coming,
“Yeah, I put a lot of work into my off season and what not and its the
first round of the year, and I don’t know, I felt
really confident, I've been hitting about with my coach, and I had a
pretty positive and confident mind set coming into today and now to play
the way I did just kind of solidified that and puts me in a good spot.”
She
nominated her putting as her strongest part of her game today. “I have
been putting a lot of work into that. It was pretty slow, so I just had
to really give it a firm hit or what not, I
made a lot of good putts, so I was happy with that.”
Korda, the defending ISPS Handa Women’s Australian Open champion, also posted a bogey free round.
The
young Irish-born American was very pleased with her start “It’s nice to have the
first round of the season under my belt and for it to be a good one, but
still a lot of rust to shake off.”
Keating,
who was paired with one of her idols Karrie Webb, was nervous as she
expected to be on the opening hole but handled it well. After her round
she commented,
“More
nerves than I’ve ever felt I think, definitely. I was very nervous
but I was very excited, so I was happy to get the first one airborne and
I was away. I’m very fortunate that I’ve
been able to get to know Karrie quite well. I’ve played a lot of
rounds with her actually but never actually a competition round. I
think it was a little bit different but I just enjoyed her company out
there. “
The two-time LET winner was happy with her opening round of 68 since she was struggling with her driver.
Mozo was battling with illness during her round, said it actually helped her focus more and was very happy with her score.
Defending champion Christel Boeljon opened with a one-over-par 73 to be tied for 47th
position. Other notables in the field include Rolex World No. 7 So
Yeon Ryu and South Korean Jiyai Shin, both shot 71, while three time
winner of the event, England’s Laura Davies posted a 76. Cheyenne Woods
carded a 74.
The cut will be made to the top 50 professionals and ties after the second round.
FIRST-ROUND SCOREBOARD
Par 70
66 - Alison Walshe (USA)
67 - Jessica Korda (USA)
68 - Nontaya Srisawang (THA) , Dori Carter (USA) , Belen Mozo (ESP) , Stacey Keating (AUS)
69 - Daniela Holmqvist (SWE) , Ariya Jutanugarn (THA) , Chella Choi (KOR)
70 - Pernilla
Lindberg (SWE) , Marianne Skarpnord (NOR) , Gwladys Nocera (FRA) , Nikki
Campbell (AUS) , Karrie Webb (AUS) , Caroline Bon (NZ) , Kristie Smith
(AUS) , Maria Hernandez (ESP) , Su-Hyun Oh (AUS) , Bree Arthur
(AUS) , Joanna Klatten (FRA) , Linda Wessberg (SWE)
71 - So Yeon Ryu
(KOR) , Jiyai Shin (KOR) , Min Jee Lee (AUS) , Carly Booth (SCO) , Sarah
Kemp (AUS) , Amelia Lewis (USA) , Frances Bondad (AUS) , Jee Young Lee
(KOR) , Beth Allen (USA) , Mi Hyang Lee (KOR) , Diana Luna
(ITA) , Pornanong Phatlum (THA) , Vicky Thomas (AUS)
72 - Jennifer
Gleason (USA) , Dawn Shockley (USA) , Hannah Burke (ENG) , Annie Choi
(KOR) , Antonella Cvitan (SWE) , Karen Lunn (AUS) , Marion Ricordeau
(FRA) , Sarah-Jane Smith (AUS) , Lacey Agnew (USA) , Alexandra Vilatte
(FRA) , Sara Maude Juneau (CAN) , Caroline Hedwall (SWE)
73 - Lee-Anne Pace
(ZAF) , Jacqueline Hedwall (SWE) , Christel Boeljon (NLD) , Aimee Neff
(USA) , Inhong Lim (KOR) , Rebecca Lee-bentham (CAN) , Tania Elosegui
(ESP) , Jessica Speechley (AUS) , Felicity Johnson (ENG)
, Stephanie Na (AUS) , Giulia Sergas (ITA) , Tamara Johns (AUS)
74 - Il Hee Lee
(KOR) , Rachel Bailey (AUS) , Valentine Derrey (FRA) , Rebecca Artis
(AUS) , Jody Fleming (AUS) , Ryann O Toole (USA) , Corie Hou (AUS) ,
Holly Aitchison (ENG) , Giulia Molinaro (ITA) , Anais Maggetti
(CHE) , Samantha Whittle (AUS) , Jade Schaeffer (FRA) , Katherine
Hull-kirk (AUS) , Sophie Gustafson (SWE) , Xi Yu Lin (CHN) , Cathryn
Bristow (NZL) , Cheyenne Woods (USA) , Mallory Fraiche (USA) , Caroline
Masson (DEU) , Becky Brewerton (WAL) , Alison Whitaker
(AUS) , Cecilie Lundgreen (NOR) , Joanne Mills (AUS) , Elizabeth
Bennett (ENG)
75 - Ashlee
Dewhurst (AUS) , Geraldine Brown (AUS) , Carlota Ciganda (ESP) , Connie
Chen (ZAF) , Jessica Noh (AUS) , Sophie Giquel-bettan (FRA) , Veronica
Felibert (VEN) , Julia Boland (AUS) , Elena Robles (USA) , Pamela
Pretswell (SCO) , Becky Morgan (WAL) , Courtney Massey (AUS) , Tamie
Durdin (AUS) , Anne-Lise Caudal (FRA) , Daniela Iacobelli (USA)
76 - Nicole Smith
(USA) , Lorie Kane (CAN) , Titiya Plucksataporn (THA) , Kate Little
(AUS) , Kylie Walker (SCO) , Sophie Walker (ENG) , Jennie Lee (USA) ,
Elisa Serramia Neundorf (ESP) , Laura Davies (ENG) , Jean Chua
(MYS) , Whitney Hillier (AUS) , Charlotte Ellis (ENG) , Laurette Maritz
(ZAF) , Nancy Harvey (CAN) , Esther Choe (USA)
77 - Nikki Garrett
(AUS) , Emma De Groot (AUS) , Ginny Brown (USA) , Heather Bowie Young
(USA) , So Hyun Bae (KOR) , Lynnette Brooky (NZL) , Danielle Montgomery
(ENG)
78 - Lydia Hall
(WAL) , Camilla Lennarth (SWE) , Hyun Myung Kim (KOR) , Seon Woo Bae
(KOR) , Katelyn Must (AUS) , Sahra Hassan (WAL) , Cassandra Kirkland
(FRA) , Jana Welsford (AUS) , Phyllis Meti (NZL) , Emily Taylor
(ENG)
79 - Lee Park (AUS) , Sarah King (AUS) , Verity Turner (AUS) , Christina Kim (USA)
80 - Mianne Bagger (DNK)
82 - Rebecca Green (AUS) , Rebecca Kay (AUS) , Hee Won Na (KOR)
