South Africa’s Casandra Alexander carded a five-under-par 67 on Thursday to be sitting in a share of fourth place after the first round of the Ladies European Tour’s KPMG Women’s Irish Open at Dromoland Castle in Newmarket-on-Fergus in County Clare.
Alexander made her only bogey of the day on the 10th, rolling in birdies on the first, fourth, fifth, 14th, 15th and 18th holes. She was just two shots off the lead which was held by India’s Diksha Dagar after her seven-under-par 65. Gurleen Kaur of the United States and France’s Emma Grechi shared second one stroke back. Alexander shared fourth with Kirsten Rudgely of Australia.
“A few more putts dropped for me today than what I have the past couple of weeks,” said the 24-year-old Alexander. “I’m hitting the ball really good, I’m happy with where the swing is at. I have just got to trust my lines and hit good shots.
“I feel like my time hasn’t come yet to win on the LET, but I have just got to be patient and that’s the hardest thing knowing that you have been in contention a few weeks this year and not finishing off. I don’t think I did anything wrong in those situations, I just think it wasn’t the right time for me and I hope this week it is.”
Cara Gorlei opened with a two-under-par 70 to be in a share of 22nd with 10 other players, one of who was Lee-Anne Pace. Nicole Garcia was a further shot back on one-under in a share of 33rd, while Stacy Bregman battled to a two-over 74 and a share of 84th. Lejan Lewthwaite had a three-over 75 for a share of 99th.
