Casandra Alexander turned around a shaky start in Thursday after three early bogeys in the first round of the Ladies European Tour’s Wistron Ladies Open Taiwan at Sunrise Golf and Country Club in Taoyuan City, Taiwan.
After Alexander made her third bogey in the first five holes, she got things back on track with birdies on seven and nine to turn in one-over. Then she got the birdie train on the rails with birdies on 12, 13, 15 and 17. That took her to a first-round total of three-under-par 69 and a share of sixth. She was three shots off the lead.
Chiara Tamburlini and Chonlada Chayanun were in a share of first place on six-under-par 66, a shot clear of Punpaka Phuntumabamrung of Thailand. Alexander shared sixth with four other players.
“A terrible start and terrible finish with some good in-between is, basically what it was today,” said the South African.
“My caddie has been sick, so I had a local caddie, and I was trying to figure things out in the beginning. I played nicely in-between, a three-putt on the last didn’t help much but it was alright. Not much more to it.
“I stuck a couple close, I had two tap-ins in the middle somewhere and I made a couple of six and eight-footers. I would say all in all everything was good. The fairways are wide here, so your tee shots don’t have to be perfect, the second shots were good and I had a good roll on the putter.”
Nicole Garcia opened with a two-under-par 70 for a share of 11th, while Lee-Anne Pace carded a two-over 74 and was down in a share of 54th.
