It was an opening round that had rather more bogeys than she would have liked, but Casandra Alexander finished the first round of the Ladies European Tour’s Aramco Korea Championship at New Korea Country Club on Thursday on one-under-par.

Her 71, with four birdies and three bogeys, put her in a share of 29th after the first round, six strokes behind the leader, Czechia’s Patricie Mackova. She fired an opening round of seven-under-par 65 to hold a two-shot lead over four players who were in a share of second place, with Japan’s Miyu Yamashita, Australia’s Sarah Kemp, Germany’s Olivia Cowan and England’s Lily May Humphreys all on five-under-par.

Alexander started her round on the 10th, and dropped her first shot on the 12th. There were two more bogeys on the 12th and 13th, but she kept herself at level-par for the opening nine with birdies on 13, 16 and 17.

Things became steadier for her on her homeward none, the front nine, as she parred her way around, making just a single birdie on the par-three fourth.

The only other South African in the field, Caitlyn Macnab, opened with a two-over-par 74 for a share of 69th place. There is a cut to the top 60 and ties at the halfway mark.

The 25-year-old Mackova equalled the course record set by Seojin Park in 2025, and it was also the lowest round of Mackova’s career. “I didn’t feel much special; I just hit my fairways and hit my greens and made myself a lot of opportunities for birdies. Some fell and some didn’t. I think I hit almost every green, maybe I missed two, so that was a help for the low score,” said Mackova.

“I haven’t had the best season; I struggled all over the summer and I switched a couple of people around me and it worked. I’m very happy that it worked because the results over the summer weren’t great, so I’m happy it’s working now.”