An eagle on 18 on Tuesday helped Nicole Garcia to a one-under-par 71 in the opening round of the Saudi Ladies Team International being played at the Royal Greens Golf & Country Club in King Abdullah Economic City in Saudi Arabia.
In addition to her eagle, Garcia made birdies on two, four 10 and 13, and dropped shots on seven, eight, 12, 14 and 15 as she ended the day in a share of 14th place behind first-round leader Sanna Nuutinen of Finland, who carded si-under-par 66 to lead by two in the 54-hole tournament.
With $500,000 up for grabs, the three-day 36-team event offers a serious pay-day for LET players, being behind only the Women’s and Scottish Opens – and its sister tournament played last week, the Aramco Saudi Ladies International – in the weight of its prize fund.
There are 36 teams comprising three LET professionals and an amateur who will play over yhree days. The best two scores will be carded per hole, with the winning team pocketing the lion’s share of the prize money. The top 10 teams and individual players come Thursday will also earn a cut of the prize money.
Lee-Anne Pace and Nobuhle Dlamini of Swaziland were on level-par, Casandra Hall on two-over and Stacy Bregman had to retire.
