Kildare rookie Lauren Walsh fired a six-under par 66 to share second place behind leader Mariel Galdiano in the Standard Portland Classic.
The touring professional for The Island made seven birdies and took just 24 putts as she chases her maiden win as a professional.
She’s tied for second place with Australia’s Grace Kim, Korea’s Hye-Jin Choi, Thailand’s Bianca Pagdanganan and Arpichaya Yubol, Germany’s Olivia Cowan, the Philippines’ Bianca Pagdanganan and Colombian amateur Maria Marin at Columbia Edgewater Country Club.
"I think today just everything kind of came together," said the Kildare native, who won her LPGA card at last year’s Q-School.
“My game has been feeling good for the last couple of weeks. I haven't had the results to show for it, but it was just really nice to see everything come together today.
"Drove it nicely, hit some nice iron shots, and held a lot of nice putts."
The Castlewarden golfer (25) arrived in Portland on the back of four missed cuts — three of them in Majors — but safely inside the top 100 in the rankings who keep their cards thanks to her third-place finish in May's ShopRite LPGA.
"That definitely gave me a big confidence boost," said 79th-ranked Walsh, who missed four of her first seven cuts before that result in Atlantic City. "Bit of a weight off my shoulders kind of thing.
"Then it was nice to get into a couple of majors over the summer.
“I really enjoyed those events and kind of my game was trending nicely. Just didn't quite get the scoring going. Couldn't get anything going for 18 holes.
"But, yeah, gave me a big confidence boost, and just to see things come together today was really nice."
As for her rookie season, she said: "Honestly, it's been really enjoyable, the highs and lows, everything in between.
"I've learnt a lot about myself and my game. Yeah, just working on all those things to keep getting better.
"I had a great experience on the LET the last two years, so I had the travel part down. But, yeah, no, it's been nice to be playing against the best players in the world out here."
Stephanie Meadow was 61st after a one-under 71 while Leona Maguire fought back brilliantly to shoot a 72.
Recently handed a Solheim Cup wildcard, the Co Cavan star was four over par after a double bogey six at the third (her 12th) but birdied the fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth to end the opening round tied for 78th.
Meanwhile, wild bears delayed play at the Ladies European Tour's Access Series event in Slovakia.
Thursday’s morning session was suspended at 10 am local time due to bear sightings on the course.
All players were safely evacuated to the clubhouse, and the "wildlife response team was deployed before play restarted at 11:15 am.
"Me, my granddad and my mom, we were having coffee," tournament leader Michaela Vavrova said. "I just got the notification.
"But there was nothing like a storm or anything. So, I'm like, this is a little weird. And the first thought that came to my mind was it's probably the bears.
"But I couldn't really believe it. And then we started getting messages and, yeah, there's a bear.
"I just came to the course earlier and had lunch, and we actually did some crosswords with the other Slovak girls. I took a little nap before playing, so it actually kind of helped me."
The unexpected bear sighting at TALE Ski Golf & Hotel Resort in the Low Tatras mountain range in central Slovakia helped Vavrova shoot a level par 72 to lead by a shot as she chases her maiden LETAS win on home soil.
Two weeks ago, at the Women's Irish Challenge, Vavrova also held a one-shot lead but slumped to a final round six-over 78 to finish tied-16th behind Beth Coulter at Malahide.
Article Link: Lauren Walsh hits opening 66 in Portland - News - Irish Golf Desk