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EVANS, Ga. — Hannah Darling of Scotland capped off a wild remaining 9 holes with back-to-back birdies Wednesday for a 6-under 66, giving her a one-shot lead within the Augusta Nationwide Ladies’s Novice and one massive step towards getting again to the house of the Masters.
Darling, a two-time Curtis Cup participant, made just one par on the entrance 9 at Champions Retreat, a course softened by in a single day rain that led to a one-hour delay.
Ingrid Lindblad of Sweden, No. 1 on this planet newbie rating who got here again for a fifth 12 months at LSU for moments like this, had an opportunity to hitch Darling till lacking a 5-foot birdie putt on the par-5 18th.
Lindblad opened with 67 and was joined by Francesca Fiorellini of Italy and Eila Galitsky of Thailand, who hammered a fairway steel to three ft for eagle on her remaining gap. Galitsky is a former Ladies’s Novice Asia-Pacific winner.
Darling began her second 9 with three straight birdies, together with a 30-footer, adopted with a pair of bogeys that slowed her momentum and bounced again with three birdies during the last 4 holes.
And to suppose her mission within the opening spherical was to play boring golf.
“I believe the most important factor for us is simply staying within the second and staying within the course of,” Darling mentioned. “I do not like occupied with what’s occurred earlier than. I performed some nice golf, however I used to be nonetheless simply occupied with what was to return subsequent and staying very current, so I could not even inform you what number of greens I’ve hit.”
Lindblad is enjoying the Augusta Nationwide Ladies’s Novice for the fourth time. She tied for third in 2021 and was runner-up in 2022. Going up in opposition to Rose Zhang final 12 months, Lindblad opened with a 78 and by no means recovered, lacking the reduce.
“Final 12 months I felt quite a lot of stress,” she mentioned. “This 12 months I used to be simply making an attempt to be right here, be current. I often play higher once I suppose much less, and I believe I did that as we speak.”
The second spherical Thursday is at Champions Retreat, and the highest 30 and ties advance to the ultimate spherical at Augusta Nationwide on Saturday.
Lottie Woad of England, the No. 3 participant within the ladies’s newbie rating, was at 68.
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