The last thing Mimi Rhodes did before landing in South Africa this week to play the Joburg Open was to lift a trophy, the first of her career on the Ladies European Tour. She conquered the Ford NSW Open in Australia. Well, the next thing she did was to take the lead today at the Modderfontein Golf Club in Johannesburg. The Englishwoman, who honed her golfing skills in Andalusia, delivered a fabulous scorecard of 65 strokes (-8), with eight birdies and no bogeys. Another masterclass. It seems she has taken a liking to winning and is not about to stop. We will see, because this is just the beginning. She has a one-shot lead over South African Casandra Alexander (-7) and two over Shannon Tan (-6).
Harang Lee (-3) has also taken a liking to climbing the leaderboards. The Spanish golfer presented a scorecard of 70 strokes and is in ninth position, tied with Blanca Fernández (-3), another who keeps stringing together one good round after another.
Harang Lee is having a sensational start to the season on South African soil. Before the Joburg Open, she had played five tournaments there on the Sunshine Ladies Tour, the local South African women’s circuit. Her results have been excellent. She has achieved three top 10 finishes, and her worst classification was 27th. She has started the year very well and is determined to demonstrate it also in this, her first appearance of the year on the Ladies European Tour. She delivered a very good card with three birdies free of bogeys.
Meanwhile, Blanca Fernández continues her magnificent debut on the Ladies European Tour. In the fourth tournament she plays and her eleventh round, her average score is 70.3. An excellent record. It is worth highlighting how well she recovered from a painful triple bogey on the 17th hole, the eighth of her round. At that moment, she was at +2 for the day, so her score over the last eleven holes was an exceptional five under par, including an eagle on the 5th hole. Hats off.
Nuria Iturrioz (-2) fought a tough battle with the course, with six birdies and four bogeys (only two pars from 10 to 18), and Teresa Toscano (-1) found a wall on the greens. Her tee-to-green game was fabulous. She hit all 18 greens, but with 35 putts, it was impossible to make the most of her good golf.
Additionally, Marta Martín (PAR) is currently within the provisional cut of the tournament, which will take place this Friday after the second round. The other Spanish players will have to work hard to play over the weekend: Carmen Alonso (+2), María Hernández (+3), Ana Peláez (+5), and Luna Sobrón (+6).
Rain was the main protagonist of this first day, to the point that play was suspended because the course was waterlogged and play could not be completed. The Spanish players were able to finish. The question is whether they will be able to do so tomorrow or if they will have to wait until Saturday. It’s time to look to the sky and cross our fingers.
