Three Australians share the lead after the opening round of the New Zealand Women&aposs Open in Christchurch. In tough conditions at Clearwater Golf Club on Friday, Tamara Johns, Nikki Campbell and Sarah Oh fired rounds of three-under 69 to be one stroke clear at the top of the leaderboard. A group of three players – including in-form American Alison Walshe and local hope Lydia Ko – are tied for fourth at two-under while four players shot rounds of 71 to finish the day at one-under. In the 54-hole tournament co-sanctioned by the Ladies European Tour and the Australian Ladies Professional Golf, only 10 players could break par for the day and the majority of those posted that score in the morning, when conditions were slightly easier. Johns managed six birdies in her round, Campbell found five, while Oh picked up a shot on her final hole to catapult into a share of the lead. All three dropped shots during their round, with Johns culpable of making a mess of the short par-three 11th hole and only able to sign for a five. The highest-ranked player in the field – world number 19 Angela Stanford – could only manage a 78, while European number one Carlota Ciganda shot a 74. Former world number ones Laura Davies (74), Sophie Gustafson (78) and Anna Nordqvist (79) also struggled and have plenty of work to do on the weekend to get back in contention.
Author: Omnisport