Linda Henriksson
Finland’s Linda Henriksson saved the best until last, finishing in the final group of the day with a 4 under par, 68, to lead by one shot in the ASGI Ladies Open at Gams Werdenberg Golf Club, near Zurich in Switzerland.
Henriksson is playing in her first competitive event since the LET’s Lalla Meryem Cup at Golf de L’Ocean in March and has spent a week with the Finnish National team at PGA Catalunya in Spain, to warm up for this tournament.
With perfect weather conditions, the Finn struggled over the first eight holes to find some rhythm but holed a long birdie putt on the ninth hole, to take her to one under par and set up the 25-year-old for a strong finish. Henriksson birdied the 10th, 13th and 18th to cover the back nine in 33 shots.
“It helped a lot when I holed the putt on nine, I had a good feeling about the back nine. It wasn’t anything special, I just made the birdies that I had to and didn’t miss any short putts, so it was good.”
Henriksson leads by one shot from Germany’s Nicole Goegele. The German brought back good memories of her playing days on the Ladies European Tour, with opening round of 69, 3 under par.
The 40-year-old professional retired from the LET to start a family and now runs her own golf school with her husband Thomas at St Eurach Golf Club, near Munich in Germany.
Goegele played the front nine in 32 strokes, with birdies on the 2nd, 4th, 7th and 9th. A double bogey on the par three 11th halted her charge but an eagle three on the final hole put her back at 3 under par and second place on her own.
Six players are tied at 2 under par, Sweden’s Johanna Gustavsson, Daisy Nielsen from Denmark, Malaysia’s Ainil Bakar, Iceland’s Olafia Kristinsdottir, and Finns Elina Nummenpaa and Annika Nykanen.
Play will commence at 8.00 tomorrow morning.
