BRITISH GIRLS CHAMPION JING YAN IN THE PICTURE AT LET EVENT
FROM THE LADIES EUROPEAN TOUR WEBSITE
Veronica Zorzi set the Suzhou Taihu International golf course alight on Friday morning with a first-round of seven under par 65 to lead the Suzhou Taihu Ladies Open in China.
The 33-year-old Italian had seven birdies on a mild and slightly cloudy morning to end a stroke clear of Australian Nikki Garrett. The defending champion Carlota Ciganda of Spain finished the day a stroke further behind on five under par alongside 17-year-old Chinese amateur Jing Yan (pictured by Cal Carson Golf Agency at Prestwick earlier this year).
Zorzi, the two-time French Open champion from Verona, went out with three birdies on the third, fifth and eighth holes. She then fired three straight birdies from the 12th and added another at the long 18th.
“Seven birdies, no bogeys, very solid round. I hit 17 greens and 29 putts so happy with my game,” said Zorzi.
“Playing conditions were good and we had sunshine so it was better than yesterday. There was a little bit of wind, but not too strong, so the conditions were good.
“I wanted to stay really focused on the present. I said to myself at the start of this tournament, take it shot by shot. I’m very focused on what I want to do. That was my key thought for today.”
Zorzi tied for 22nd at last week’s Sanya Ladies Open, despite playing the last two rounds with a severely swollen little finger and suspected broken capillary. “Now it’s better. It’s almost normal,” she said.
Garrett’s flawless round was almost as outstanding with six birdies at the second, fourth, 10th, 15th, 16th and 18th holes.
“I hit my iron shots pretty close today so I had a 15 or 20 footer on the ninth and that was the longest putt all day so I hit my irons pretty nicely,” said the former Spanish and Tenerife Open champion.
“I missed a few putts but I didn’t get angry or frustrated or anything. I knew that if I kept hitting it close a few would drop and I was lucky they did, so an all round solid day.”
Ciganda and Yan also had blemish free cards, featuring five birdies. Ciganda said: “I felt very comfortable on the course and I am very happy with my round. I made five birdies and 13 pars and finished with a birdie on 18.
“I made good putts on one and four. I was hitting lots of fairways and greens and giving myself lots of chances. I just tried to stay in the present all the time and try to enjoy. I feel lucky to be playing here so it was fun. I was hitting good shots and talking to my caddie so we had a great day.
“I think five under is pretty good and if I do that the next two days, no matter if I win or not, I will be very happy. It’s a good start for the tournament.”
Singapore-based Yan, who won the Girls’ British Amateur Matchplay (at Fairhaven GC, Lancashire) and British Ladies’ Stroke play championship (at Prestwick) back to back this summer, also had a fantastic start and commented:
“I think today I handled the greens really well because last week the greens were a bit tougher for me. I didn’t do so well on the greens which led to my score being not too great for three days. I think my long game is pretty good this week and last week as well so I’ll just keep going with that and improving my short game to make more birdies.”
Australian Kristie Smith, Tania Elosegui of Spain and Christine Song of the USA ended the morning session at four under par, a shot ahead of Bree Arthur. The Australian had set her alarm at 5am for an early 6.40am tee time and was practising on the driving range under floodlights. She ended the morning session tied with Thailand’s Nontaya Srisawang, Frenchwoman Gwladys Nocera and Maria Hernandez from Spain.
EARLY FIRST-ROUND LEADERBOARD
Par 72
65 Veronica Zorzi (Italy)
66 Nikki Garrett (Australia)
67 Carlota Ciganda (Spain), Jing Yan (China) (amateur), Patcharajutar Kongkrapan (Thailand)
SCOTS' SCORES
73 Kylie Walker
75 Carly Booth
TO VIEW ALL THE SCORES
CLICK HERE
Veronica Zorzi set the Suzhou Taihu International golf course alight on Friday morning with a first-round of seven under par 65 to lead the Suzhou Taihu Ladies Open in China.
The 33-year-old Italian had seven birdies on a mild and slightly cloudy morning to end a stroke clear of Australian Nikki Garrett. The defending champion Carlota Ciganda of Spain finished the day a stroke further behind on five under par alongside 17-year-old Chinese amateur Jing Yan (pictured by Cal Carson Golf Agency at Prestwick earlier this year).
Zorzi, the two-time French Open champion from Verona, went out with three birdies on the third, fifth and eighth holes. She then fired three straight birdies from the 12th and added another at the long 18th.
“Seven birdies, no bogeys, very solid round. I hit 17 greens and 29 putts so happy with my game,” said Zorzi.
“Playing conditions were good and we had sunshine so it was better than yesterday. There was a little bit of wind, but not too strong, so the conditions were good.
“I wanted to stay really focused on the present. I said to myself at the start of this tournament, take it shot by shot. I’m very focused on what I want to do. That was my key thought for today.”
Zorzi tied for 22nd at last week’s Sanya Ladies Open, despite playing the last two rounds with a severely swollen little finger and suspected broken capillary. “Now it’s better. It’s almost normal,” she said.
Garrett’s flawless round was almost as outstanding with six birdies at the second, fourth, 10th, 15th, 16th and 18th holes.
“I hit my iron shots pretty close today so I had a 15 or 20 footer on the ninth and that was the longest putt all day so I hit my irons pretty nicely,” said the former Spanish and Tenerife Open champion.
“I missed a few putts but I didn’t get angry or frustrated or anything. I knew that if I kept hitting it close a few would drop and I was lucky they did, so an all round solid day.”
Ciganda and Yan also had blemish free cards, featuring five birdies. Ciganda said: “I felt very comfortable on the course and I am very happy with my round. I made five birdies and 13 pars and finished with a birdie on 18.
“I made good putts on one and four. I was hitting lots of fairways and greens and giving myself lots of chances. I just tried to stay in the present all the time and try to enjoy. I feel lucky to be playing here so it was fun. I was hitting good shots and talking to my caddie so we had a great day.
“I think five under is pretty good and if I do that the next two days, no matter if I win or not, I will be very happy. It’s a good start for the tournament.”
Singapore-based Yan, who won the Girls’ British Amateur Matchplay (at Fairhaven GC, Lancashire) and British Ladies’ Stroke play championship (at Prestwick) back to back this summer, also had a fantastic start and commented:
“I think today I handled the greens really well because last week the greens were a bit tougher for me. I didn’t do so well on the greens which led to my score being not too great for three days. I think my long game is pretty good this week and last week as well so I’ll just keep going with that and improving my short game to make more birdies.”
Australian Kristie Smith, Tania Elosegui of Spain and Christine Song of the USA ended the morning session at four under par, a shot ahead of Bree Arthur. The Australian had set her alarm at 5am for an early 6.40am tee time and was practising on the driving range under floodlights. She ended the morning session tied with Thailand’s Nontaya Srisawang, Frenchwoman Gwladys Nocera and Maria Hernandez from Spain.
EARLY FIRST-ROUND LEADERBOARD
Par 72
65 Veronica Zorzi (Italy)
66 Nikki Garrett (Australia)
67 Carlota Ciganda (Spain), Jing Yan (China) (amateur), Patcharajutar Kongkrapan (Thailand)
SCOTS' SCORES
73 Kylie Walker
75 Carly Booth
TO VIEW ALL THE SCORES
CLICK HERE
Labels: LADIES EUROPEAN TOUR
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