Major champion Georgia Hall wasted no time in laying down a marker at the inaugural Aramco Saudi Ladies International presented by Public Investment Fund, carding a course record 65 to lead by one after a low-scoring opening day.
Out in the morning wave, Hall charged to a six-under front nine of 30 en route to bagging a new Royal Greens Golf & Country Club women’s record of seven-under par.
Her bogey-free round left her leading by one ahead of her Welsh namesake Lydia Hall (-6), with Finland’s Ursula Wikstrom and Denmark’s Emily Pedersen – who leads the Race to Costa Del Sol rankings – both on five-under, two shots ahead of the wider chasing pack.
“I’m pleased with today. I tried to make the most of the morning tee-time. It was still pretty windy in my back nine but I’m very happy with my round,” said Hall, who won the Women’s British Open in 2018.
“I got off to a very fast start and managed to keep the putts going in the hole, which is always a good thing. My pace putting was very good today, so hopefully I can bring that into tomorrow.
“I think it’s going to be pretty windy tomorrow afternoon like this afternoon, so I’ll have to play it a little ‘Linksy’ I think.
“I love it out here. It’s great to come to a new country and this golf course is fantastic. It’s a real test with some tricky holes and I look forward to continuing that tomorrow. I’m still very focused. It’s only Day One at the end of the day, we’re not even halfway through.”
Advantage
Lydia Hall, who carded eight birdies in a six-under 66, said: “I’m really pleased with how I started. I got off to a fast start in the back nine – my front nine – and I think it was the nicer nine to play to get the score going. It was definitely an advantage to start on hole ten this morning as you didn’t have much of a wind, the holes are a little shorter and there’s not many you’re going into the wind.
“I’ve been playing fairly solidly over the last couple of weeks even though scores haven’t showed, but I putted really well today as you can imagine from the score.
“It’s nice to see two Halls at the top for a change!”
Sweden’s Linda Wessberg, Tonje Daffinrud of Norway and Nobuhle Dlamini – Swaziland’s first ever professional golfer – all sit on three-under-par.
