Andrea Lignell fired an opening round of 64 (-8) to hold a four-shot lead at the end of the first day of the MoreGolf Mastercard Open.
The Swedish player dropped her only shot of the day on the fifth hole but immediately made back-to-back birdies on holes six and seven.
Lignell rolled in another birdie on the ninth to make the turn in two-under at Varbergs Golf Klubb.
On the back nine, the 23-year-old went on a birdie spree rolling in six birdies to seal a round of eight-under-par and sit at the top of the leaderboard.
“I felt like I was solid off the tee today which really helped with both confidence and putting me in good positions,” said Lignell. “I stuck to my game plan really well and had some putts drop which was really nice to see.
“I had a great momentum going on the back nine, I hit a lot of good shots into the green and gave myself a lot of opportunities, which honestly helped my confidence seeing I had one opportunity after the other.
“My game has not been feeling that great lately, I have had a rough couple of months and have been trying to grind my way back. I started seeing it yesterday in the Pro-Am that my game was in a lot better place than in a long time, so I tried to feed off that for today’s round. I’m just very happy to see progress in my game.”
Lignell is from Gothenburg and is enjoying the extra comfort of being able to stay at home while playing on LETAS.
She added: “I have been looking forward to these two events for a while since I knew I would be able to stay at home which I love. It’s such a luxury coming home to your own bed and a home cooked meal every day.
“I’ll probably have my family coming one of the days and I also have one of my old teammates staying with me this week, Natasha, which is a lot of fun. I am just enjoying being able to play at home and being near family and my coaches.”
Three players are in a share of second place with Czechia’s Patricie Mackova, Scotland’s Louise Duncan and Sweden’s Louisa Carlbom all on four-under-par.
Mackova was in the first group to tee off this morning and rolled in six birdies and two bogeys for her round of 68 (-4).
“The course fits my game, I had to play a couple of holes smart, but in the end, I managed to hit the right club on most tee boxes,” said the Czech player.
“I needed a couple of holes to adjust and see where my game was. On the back nine especially, my approach shots were really good, so I got myself into some good birdie opportunities and some putts dropped.
“I had so much fun playing an LET event at home and although the result wasn’t my best, I saw a lot of positives that gave me confidence coming into this week.”
It was a similar story for Scotland’s Duncan, who also made six birdies and two bogeys for her round of 68 in Sweden.
Duncan explained: “I was hitting fairways and greens and taking my chances when I got them. I hit a 6-iron to six feet and then holed the birdie putt on fifth, which is a pretty tough hole, so I was over the moon with that.
“The other birdies mostly came on the par-5s, I did make a two on a par-3 which was nice. The par-5s this week are pretty gettable this week, so you know you’ve always got a chance.
“I had the week off last week and didn’t really do too much, I didn’t put too much pressure on myself. I have been hitting the ball well on practice days and I have had a few good rounds before my week off, but I haven’t been able to collect the three rounds together.”
Dutch player Marit Harryvan sits in outright fifth place after shooting an opening round of 69 (-3) at the MoreGolf Mastercard Open.
There are nine players one shot further back on two-under-par including Swedish duo Kajsa Arwefjäll and Emma Thorngren.
The second begins on Friday at 7.49 am (local time) and there will be a cut to the top 45 professionals and ties at the end of the day.
Follow all the action throughout the tournament on the LETAS social media channels – @letaccess on Instagram, X, and Ladies European Tour Access Series on Facebook – #RaiseOurGame #Access2Let #EnjoyTheGame.
