France’s Agathe Sauzon fired a flawless round of 66 (-6) to take a two-shot lead at the Lavaux Ladies Open from an international trio including last weeks’ winner Tiia Koivisto, Welshwoman Lydia Hall and England’s Cara Gainer.
Golf De Lavaux looked sensational in the Swiss sun and despite the rain threatening to break through the clouds, the whole field stayed dry and Sauzon was the first to make the most of the scoreable conditions.
Wasting no time, the 28-year-old from France made a birdie on the par three 2nd before promptly holing her second shot from the fairway on the par four 3rd hole for eagle.
“I didn’t even see it go in, I hit a 7iron from 140m and actually missed it left but it bounced and rolled towards the hole and luckily went in.”
Finishing in T14 last year, Sauzon is familiar with the Swiss parkland layout and despite achieving five top-10 LETAS finishes last season, is still in search of her maiden victory.
After heading out in 33 shots, Sauzon continued to play flawless golf, repeatedly hitting fairways and greens, and added another three birdies to her card to match her opening nine and come back in 33 to sign for a 66.
“I’m really pleased with my round and I love the course, there are some holes that you have to play safe but there are a lot of birdie opportunities and the greens are running really well so it is easy to make some putts. I’m looking forward to tomorrow.”
Unfazed by tomorrow’s weather forecast, Sauzon added,
“You just have to stay patient with the rain and do everything you can to stay dry. Where I live is usually windy, so I’ll be more ready for that.”
Trailing by two strokes at four-under-par is recent winner and Order of Merit leader, Tiia Koivisto. The in-form Finn who had a roller-coaster round including seven birdies, a double-bogey and a bogey en route to a 68 and was matched by LET winner Lydia Hall and last week’s runner-up Cara Gainer.
A further shot adrift in T5 at three-under par is a number of big names including the highest ranked player in the field Sanna Nuutinen, Slovenian teenage prodigy Pia Babnik and defending champion Maria Beautell.
Despite closing with a couple of bogeys, the defending champion commented,
“I played really well, I missed a couple of greens and let it slip at the end but you can fire at the pins more this year so there is every chance of a low score tomorrow. I have great memories here and I have a good feeling about the rest of the week.”
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