Georgia Hall and Louise Duncan both shot a three under par round of 69 to share the lead on day one at Carnoustie.
At Carnoustie, Louise Duncan got enthusiastic support from her local fans.
After a fantastic first round in scoreable conditions at Carnoustie, Scottish amateur Louise Duncan is one stroke off the lead in her first Women’s Open.
Duncan, 21, admitted to was “shaking like a leaf” on the first tee but overcame her nerves to shoot a four-under 68.
Nelly Korda, the world number one, Madelene Sagstrom of Sweden, and Kim Sui-young of South Korea are tied for first place in the clubhouse.
Georgia Hall of England was also denied a share of the lead after her outstanding round finished with a bogey on the 18th.
Going into the 18th, Hall, the 2018 winner, was tied for fifth place with Korda, Sagstrom, and Kim, who had all completed earlier in the day.
Hall’s par putt, however, lingered on the edge of the hole, resulting in a 68.
Duncan, Duncan, Duncan, Duncan, Duncan, Duncan, Duncan, Duncan, Duncan, Duncan, Duncan, Duncan, Duncan, Duncan, Duncan, Duncan, Duncan, Duncan, Duncan, Duncan, Duncan, Duncan, Duncan, Duncan, Duncan, Duncan, Duncan, Duncan, Duncan, Duncan, Duncan, Duncan, Duncan, Duncan, Duncan, Duncan, Duncan, Duncan, Duncan, Duncan, Duncan, Duncan, Duncan, Duncan, Duncan, Duncan, Duncan, Duncan, Duncan, Duncan, Duncan
Duncan, who qualified by winning the Women’s Amateur Championship, stated, “It was a crazy amount of fun, I wasn’t anticipating it at all.”
“I took each shot separately, without getting ahead of myself, and started the ball moving.”
“I was so anxious at first that I couldn’t place the ball on the tee because I was trembling like a leaf. It was a relief to get it down and hit the ball cleanly.”
Early on, big stars set the tone.
Korda, who won the Olympic championship in Tokyo earlier this month, is hoping to cement her status as the women’s game’s new star with a win on the Scottish links.
The 23-year-old American’s eight birdies were offset by three bogeys as he took advantage of the comparatively mild weather conditions for the early starters.
Sagstrom, 28, had a one-shot lead heading into the 18th hole, but he, too, ended with a bogey to fall behind Korda.
Korda is hoping to build on a spectacular year in which she won the PGA Championship and Olympic gold, claiming she thrives on being seen as the person to beat by the rest of the competition.
She told Sky Sports, “You try to be in the position of being the favorite to win.”
“It feels wonderful, but you’re aware that you’re a target.” I’m going to view that as a positive and see how things proceed.
“I’m exhausted after the Olympics, but I’ll give it my best during the next five days. It’ll be great to go home next week and sleep in my own bed for the first time in six weeks.”
Korda said in her first round: “I’m overjoyed. We didn’t have much breeze today, to be honest. It was extremely cold in the morning, but the wind remained calm, which I took advantage of.”
Calm Hall takes use of his previous expertise to get a foothold in the race.
Korda and Sagstrom saw Kim overtake them at the top of the scoreboard in the afternoon when they returned to the clubhouse following their morning starts.
Kim, the 2019 Women’s PGA winner, was on a tear from the sixth hole, making six birdies in the following nine holes.
After a bogey on the 16th, she was tied with Hall, Korda, and Sagstrom in a four-way tie, but the English golfer fell back with that last bogey.
Despite this, Hall was delighted with her round, which included six birdies sandwiched between bogeys on the sixth and final holes.
“I’m really pleased with my round; I didn’t make many mistakes and took advantage of the calm conditions,” Hall remarked.
“You have to be patient; you may assume you’ll be able to create more birds quickly, but it’s not that simple.” On the back nine, I took advantage of it.
“I try to stay as level as possible on the first day. Because anything may happen on this course at any time, I try to remain as cool and level as possible until the last putt is made.”
