Ana Peláez (+1) seems to be slowly recovering from the mistake that both she and her caddie made when using a meter in the Women’s Open, which led to her being disqualified when she was about to pass the first cut of her career in a Major. A very hard blow that the Andalusian is trying to recover from as soon as possible.
Just six days later and more than four thousand eight hundred kilometres away, the Andalusian has handed in a commendable scorecard of 73 strokes at the start of the FM Championship being held at the TPC Boston. A round of one over par that allows her to dream of looking towards the top positions of the table. The first small step has already been taken.
However, the Spanish player’s round has had many ups and downs. The Malaga player was close to the top positions when she went two under par, but three stumbles in the final stretch of the course at holes 13, 15 and 18 made her lose ground.
This Friday the Spanish player will have a good test to see if she is able to completely forget what happened at Saint Andrews. In the last six tournaments she has competed individually (she played with Azahara in pairs at the Dow), she has handed in an average of 74.66 strokes on the second days. She will need to improve these records if she wants to stay in the top positions.
Carlota Ciganda (+2) has not had the best of starts and continues with a somewhat irregular streak. Three birdies and five bogeys place her right on the provisional cut limit of the tournament. She will need a good second round to fight for important things in Boston.
Beyond the leader, Marina Alex (-4), there is a real initial jam with almost thirty players between minus three and minus one.
This test is the last test before the Solheim Cup which starts in two weeks. It has not been the best start for Pettersen’s players. The best placed is the Swedish Sagstrom (+1), with a round of one over par, placed within the top fifty of the tournament. The next is Carlota with the aforementioned scorecard of 74 strokes. Things have gone worse for Anna Nordqvist (+3), Albane Valenzuela (+4) or Celine Boutier (+5). Five players from the European team present in Boston and none have started with some finesse.
The comparison becomes harder when several players from the North American team have started plugged in from the first minute. There are five players from the team captained by Lewis who are among the top twenty of the first day. Lauren Coughlin (-3) continues to show why she is one of the most in-form players in the world right now. She is unstoppable. On the other hand, Sarah Schmelzel (-2) and Lexi Thompson (-2) prove the captain right with their respective choices. Allisen Corpuz (-3) and Megan Khang (-3) also give reasons for the American crowd to get excited. Things have gone worse for Andrea Lee (+1), Rose Zhang, Jennifer Kupcho and Alison Lee, all with +3.
The Solheim is a particular competition and in which the previous balance is of no use, but if we have to stick with the results of the last few months, the reality is that the European team has reasons to be worried.
Azahara Muñoz (+5) has had a bad first round and has left TPC Boston with an initial scorecard of 77 strokes. The Andalusian will have to row a lot this Friday to have options to play the weekend. Three players have not been able to finish the start of the tournament due to lack of light and will complete the two holes they have left first thing in the morning.
