Lauren Walsh got off to an ideal start on day one of the DP World and Ladies European Tours’ co-sanctioned Scandinavian Mixed at Vasatorps Golfklubb in Hensingborg, Sweden.
The unique format sees 78 LET stars tee it up alongside 78 from the DP World Tour, competing together – albeit off separate tees – for the same prize, with $330,330 available for first place.
Starting on the first, Walsh got off to an ideal start with a long drive down the opening fairway and a wedge to six feet to set up an opening birdie, and moved to -2 with another birdie on the par-5 third. The par-5 sixth would prove to be the easiest hole on the course on day one, and after finding the greenside bunker in two, an excellent bunker shot to near tap-in range set up birdie number three and she’d make the turn at three-under.
Several birdie chances came and went as she reeled off nine straight pars from the seventh, but a good par save on 14 kept the momentum up, and two more birdies arrived in the final three holes to move her to -5 for the day and take up a prominent place on the leaderboard as the afternoon wave got underway and she’d eventually find herself in a tie for fifth at the end of the day’s affairs.
In her rookie season on the LET, Walsh currently lies 26th on the Order of Merit and with strong rankings points on offer in this mixed events, a good performance would likely see her wrap up her playing rights for the 2024 season and a place in the season-ending Andalucia Costa Del Sol Open De Espana.
“I felt like the conditions were nice this morning,” Walsh said afterwards. “I got off to a good start, three under through six. Then the wind picked up, so I was hanging on for a while. I hit it nicely, so it was stress-free. If I did miss a green it was on the fringe, and I was putting. The one green I did miss long in the rough, I chipped to a foot. It was very stress-free, which is nice in golf. They don’t come around too often. The wind picked up, but it was nice to pick up two birdies at the end as well.”
Sebastian Söderberg started his home tournament in fine fashion as he carded an opening round nine under par 63 to take a two-stroke lead.
Currently sitting in fifth place on the Race to Dubai Rankings in partnership with Rolex, Söderberg brought his red-hot form to Helsingborg, having recorded two runner ups and a third-place finish in his last four starts.
The Swede opened his round with consecutive birdies on the first and second holes, and made two more gains as he reached the turn four under par. A fifth birdie of the day on the tenth was quickly followed by an eagle on the par-5 12th and he carded two further birdies to sign for a flawless 63.
The 33-year-old is two strokes ahead of South Africa’s Dylan Frittelli, who won his third DP World Tour title earlier this season at the Bahrain Championship presented by Bapco Energies, and Englishman Alex Fitzpatrick. The pair also went bogey-free as they signed for seven under par rounds of 65.
One stroke further back is Malaysia’s Gavin Green on six under par, while the closest female challengers are home favourite Linn Grant and Walsh, who share fifth place with South Africa’s Louis de Jager and the Scottish pair of Scott Jamieson and David Law on five under.