The first round schedule of the Chevron Championship, the first women’s major of the season taking place from today until Sunday in Texas, placed the two Spanish players present in the tournament, Carlota Ciganda (-4) and Carla Bernat (PAR) in the first matches of the morning session. For both, these first 18 holes at the Jack Nicklaus Signature Course at The Club at Carlton Woods, in The Woodlands, serve to draw very positive conclusions.
The Navarre golfer, who likes the course and achieved a notable sixth place in last year’s edition at this same venue, fighting almost to the end for the victory, has started the week shining. And that’s despite committing a painful double bogey on her first hole of the day, which made the round an uphill battle. But little by little she settled down, finding her game, hardly missing a fairway, to finish attacking strongly on the back nine.
Carlota, who had started playing from the 10th tee, recovered the two lost strokes with birdies on the par-five 13th and the par-four 14th. However, before closing the first half of her round, she committed two more bogeys on the par-four 15th and 17th. Until she placed her ball on the 1st tee of this American course, she found the inspiration to show why she is one of the contenders for victory in this first women’s Major of the year.
In the first six holes of the second half of her round, the front nine of the course, Carlota made four birdies to go two under par in the standings. But she saved the best for the par-five 8th, where she sealed an extraordinary eagle, sinking a putt from eight metres, which places her high up in the standings, a couple of strokes off the provisional lead. With an average distance of 277 yards from the tee, 13 out of 18 greens in regulation, and 27 putts, the Navarrese closed with 68 strokes, her great start placing her in the provisional top 3.
For the debutant Carla, after the emotions experienced in recent days, with her victory in Augusta, her nine practice holes alongside Carlota, or yesterday’s pro-am with Nelly Korda, the reigning champion of the tournament, the debut was a battle from which she emerged unscathed, greatly boosting her confidence. With three birdies and three bogeys, always fluctuating between one over par or one under, she ended up signing a card of 72 strokes, level par, placing herself among the top 25 with several matches yet to finish and the afternoon session still to come.
Carla was long from the tee, with an average of 279 yards, and wasn’t bad in fairway percentage, with 10 out of 14, but she lacked precision with the irons. With only 11 out of 18 greens in regulation, she had to recover too often, one of them from the sand, to save tricky situations. Even so, she can say she played her first round of the Chevron much better than the reigning champion, a Nelly Korda who, with her parents on the course, closed her first 18 with five over par…
The lead was held by China’s Yan Liu (-7), with a sensational round of 65 strokes with seven birdies and no mistakes, and South Korea’s Haeran Ryu (-7), with an identical card. Ariya Jutanugarn (-4), Manon De Roey (-4), Brooke Mathews (-4), and Angel Yin (-4) are other players who have started this Chevron wonderfully, positioned high up in the standings… with the afternoon session still to come.
Afternoon Session Update
Until 18:25, when the day was suspended due to weather conditions, none of the players in the afternoon session had been able to catch the two leaders. Hyo Joo Kim (-5) came closest, with a round of 27 strokes to place third on her own. Favourites like Georgia Hall (-3), Lilia Vu (-1), and Jeeno Thitikul (-1) took positions ahead of what promises to be an exciting Friday at the Chevron.
