ABU DHABI // Olafia Kristinsdottir overcame personal tragedy to shoot a seven-under-par 65 to take a one-stroke lead on the opening day of the inaugural Fatima bint Mubarak Ladies Open.
The Ladies European Tour (LET) rookie from Iceland fired five birdies on the front nine and four more on the back stretch, but bogeyed the 14th, at the Saadiyat Beach Golf Club on Wednesday.
The chasing pack behind Kristinsdottir consists of American Beth Allen, Sarah Kemp of Australia, another LET rookie Olivia Cowen of Germany and Finland’s Minea Blomqvist.
“It was a great round,” Kristinsdottir said. “I was feeling a bit blue today because yesterday my aunt passed away, so today’s round was for her.”
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“I think I’ve been doing pretty well, since it’s my rookie year, and I’ve been learning a lot. I missed two cuts by one, so that’s a little bit tough, but overall I’m pretty happy with my year.”
Allen bogeyed the second but recovered with three birdies on the front nine and four on the back to share second on 66.
“I played really well,” she said. “I putted really well. I like this golf course, so I’m happy that I played well.
“I played nine holes on Monday morning and then in the Pro Am on Tuesday. It’s long in places but there are also some reachable par fives and the par threes are good.”
Allen needs a third-place finish to overtake Shanshan Feng for the Order of Merit.
“It’s on my mind, but I’m trying to do what I’ve been doing all year,” she said when asked if the Order of Merit was her objective.
“I want it really bad, so of course I’m thinking about it. I’m just trying to play good golf and if it happens, it happens.”
“It was a good start so we’ll see what comes,” Cowan said. “I think I hit 18 greens and I was hitting a lot of fairways, I only missed one, so that was a strong part of my game.”
LEADERBOARD:
1 Olafia Kristinsdottir, ISL -7
2 Beth Allen, USA -6
= Sarah Kemp, AUS -6 = Olivia Cowen, GER -6
= Minea Blomqvist, FIN -6 6 Christine Wolf, AUS -5
= Gemma Dryburgh, SCO -5 = Isi Gabsa, GER -5
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