PRICE IN FRONT AFTER DAY ONE OF THE PGA CHAMPIONSHIP GOTHENBURG
England’s Emily Price produced the best round 68 (-4) to top the leaderboard after the first round of the PGA Championship Gothenburg, an LET Access Series event co-sanctioned with the Ahlsell Nordic Golf Tour.
The Birmingham based rookie got off to a brilliant start carding three birdies in the first nine holes and just one bogey after missing a short par putt.
At the turn, Price continued the fine form with two birdies on the back nine.
Speaking about today’s round Price said: “I felt pretty good out there today, my game followed on from last week which made things simple.
“I hit the ball well, made few mistakes and also did well on the greens.”
At Varbergs Golf Klubb last Friday, 24-year-old Price produced the best 18-hole scorecard to emerge the winner after the Big Green Egg Swedish Open was reduced to a one-day-tournament due to severe weather.
Now Price is looking to make it two wins in a row and confirm her place in this year’s winner circle after last week’s tournament carried no Order of Merit points.
“I didn’t really feel any pressure off the back of last week, I just like to treat each round as a new day and a new challenge.
“I can’t control anything but myself in the moment, so I try to do that as best as I can and let the rest take care of itself.
It has been an incredibly successful rookie season for Price who has also had four top-five finishes this season and currently ranked third on the LETAS Order of Merit list.
“Today, I just tried to commit to every shot, play simple and smart and it got me in with a solid round one.
“Tomorrow I’ll reset and give it my best as always. One shot at a time and see where I am at the end.”
One shot behind Price there is a three-way tie for second place with Spain’s Harang Lee, Sweden’s Josefine Nyqvist and Danish amateur Marie Madsen all sitting on three-under-par.
Lee produced the best round of the morning, after a shaky start with a bogey on the first the 27-year-old soon fired up the flatstick to make four more birdies, three on the back-nine.
Speaking about her round Lee said, “My round today was just simple, I was hitting a lot of fairways and hitting a lot of greens, I think I hit 16 greens today.
“My long game was behaving, and my putting was ok. I was having fun out there and I was trying to stay in the present.
“We had great weather today which was good to have finally.”
Lee, who has split her 2023 season between the LET and LETAS has struggled to make the top end of the leaderboards, with her highest ranked position being 30th at the Terre Blanche Ladies Open in April.
Bilbao-born Lee has played on the LPGA after earning conditional status in 2018 and her first professional win came in 2020 at the Santander Golf Tour Cantabria.
“I do not have a plan tomorrow, just to keep it simple like today.
“I haven’t been playing so well lately so I am just trying to relax out there and have fun. That is something that I have been missing lately.
“I know I have the game to be up there so just need to focus on tomorrow and stay patient.”
Josefine Nyqvist on three-under-par was the highest ranked Swedish player after the first round.
The 29-year-old from Stockholm had a rollercoaster of a round carding four birdies, three bogeys and one eagle to sit in second place.
Speaking about her round Nyqvist said: “It was solid today. I hit a lot of fairways and greens and managed to roll in some putts and of course the highlight was the eagle on hole 15!”
Nyqvist has had a solid season on LETAS having only missed one cut at the Terre Blanche Ladies Open now she’s searching for a win on home soil.
“It’s always fun to play at home in Sweden! I’m really enjoying it!
“I felt pretty good going into this week and I really like this golf course. So, I was just excited to get out there. So far, my season could’ve been better, but I’m feeling that my game is going in the right direction.”
Round two gets underway at 8:00am local time.
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