Stacy Lee Bregman opened with a one-under-par 71 on Thursday in the opening round of the Ladies European Tour’s Comunidad De Madrid Ladies Open for a share of 30th after 18 holes of the 72-hole tournament.
Bregman made six birdies, three bogeys and a double-bogey, and was four shots off the first-round lead which was shared by Swedes Jessica Karlsson and Maja Stark, and Agathe Sauzon of France. The three leaders were one stroke ahead of a group of four players on four-under.
Bregman got off to a good start with birdies on the first two holes, but she bogeyed the par-four fourth. There was another birdie on the fifth, and a bogey on the seventh. She made her double on the 10th, followed it with a birdie on 11, dropped on 13, and come home with a final birdie on 16.
Stark, the Race to Costa del Sol leader, has recorded two second place finishes and a win in the last three weeks on the Ladies European Tour and continued to feature at the head of affairs after carding six birdies and one bogey, despite struggling with her driver.
Sauzon’s round contained five birdies, two bogeys and an eagle on the 513-yard 11th hole. The 30-year-old from France said: “I was playing great and I didn’t make any bogeys on the front nine and I was hitting it quite close, but I just couldn’t make the putts. The eagle came after a driver, three-wood and a three-metre putt, so that was good.”
Karlsson made eight birdies and three bogeys to share the lead, despite a recent illness. The 29-year-old Swede says she still feels fatigued after contracting the coronavirus in January and has been told by medical professionals that she likely has long Covid.
Nobuhle Dlamini had an opening level-par 72 to share 42nd, while Nicole Garcia was on one-over in 60th. Lee-Anne Pace had a two-over 74 and Lejan Lewthwaite carded a three-over 75.
