Alongside the English professionals Charlotte Thompson and Gabriella Cowley, the young French amateur Lucie Malchirand leads the French Open after a first round in 68 (-3).

  • Lacoste Ladies Open de France: Lucie Malchirand's sunny day
    Malchirand Lucie - © ASO / Timothé Renaud

Despite her seventeen years, Lucie Malchirand showed this Thursday a remarkable maturity to reverse a situation badly embarked during the first round of the Lacoste Ladies Open de France. Author of a very bad start - a double bogey from the 1 after a drive on the left - the Marseille-La Salette player managed to quickly regain the upper hand: “After this error, my goal was just to make pars, to take greens in regulation. I made a nice birdie at 3, which allowed me to get back to my game, my routines. I then had a lot of success in putting, I have a few birdies that fell and I hit the ball really well, ”she said with a smile on leaving the recording.

With no less than six birdies against a single bogey at 13, the player of the French women's team returned a card of 68 (-3). “I'm happy to have received an invitation to this tournament, which is my first at this level among the pros. And the fact of having started well motivates me a lot for the future! The number 12 in the world amateur rankings shares this Thursday evening the lead of the French Open with the English Charlotte Thompson and Gabriella Cowley. A blow behind in 69 (-2) follow the Spaniard Laura Gomez Ruiz, the Swedish Jenny Haglund and the Argentine Magdalena Simmermacher.

Contested under a strong heat, this first round did not generally smile on the French women. Of the seventeen involved in this 30th edition, only one other accompanies Lucie Malchirand under the par: Anne-Charlotte Mora. While she was pointing at +2 after five holes, the Nantaise struggled to bring back a good 70 (-1) which placed her seventh.

“I hit my irons a little closer to the flags than usual, and my driver was pretty straight so it was easier to put the putts on! It's my first French Open since I turned pro in January, so it's really great, ”she said after her game. With a card of 71 (par), Anne-Lise Caudal points to a promising 17th position, only three strokes behind the leaders. And just behind in 72 (+1), Émie Peronnin, Céline Herbin, Joanna Klatten and the other French amateur Agathe Laisné shared 28th place.

Check out the full leaderboard of the first round: click here.

To read our last article on the same subject :

Lacoste Ladies Open de France 2020: place to show!