Fernandez and Tamburlini lead Irish Women’s Open

First round leaderboard for the Women’s Irish Open

-5 A Swayne (USVI), -6 B Fernandez (Esp), -5 C Tamburlini (Swi), -5 A Screen (Eng), L Pettersson (Swe), M Sagstrom (Swe), and M Rhodes (Eng)

class=”ssrcss-1xjjfut-BoldText e5tfeyi3″>Selected others: class=”ssrcss-1xjjfut-BoldText e5tfeyi3″>-3 C Hull (Eng), class=”ssrcss-1xjjfut-BoldText e5tfeyi3″>-2 G Hall (Eng) class=”ssrcss-1xjjfut-BoldText e5tfeyi3″>-1 L Maguire (Ire), + 2 A Nordqvist (Swe).

After the opening round of Carton House, Spain’s Blanca Fernandez and Switzerland’s Chiara Tamburlini shared the Women’s Irish Open lead.

A group that includes English trio Lottie Woad, Mimi Rhodes, and Hannah Screen is one shot back, but home favorite Leona Maguire is five points clear.

Fernandez and Tamburlini made the most of the challenging circumstances, which included a swirling wind and a few showers.

Both golfers recorded seven birdies and one bogey during the round, with Tamburlini chipping in once on three of the final four holes.

World number one amateur Woad and Screen on five under, along with world number one amateur Alexandra Swayne, Madelene Sagstroem, and Lisa Patterson, who represents the United States Virgin Islands, were joined by Order of Merit leader Rhodes. The sextet is only one shot off the pace in a crowded leaderboard.

Indeed, only two strokes separate the top 19 players from Emma Fleming, who won the Victorian Amateur Championship last month, with 11 more a shot back.

Maguire finished day one with a 72, which put her and three other Irish players on one-under-par despite a frustrating day on the greens.

Sagstrom scored the best round of the five, while England’s Charley Hull (-3) and Georgia Hall (-2) are in good shape heading into day two, which means a number of Maguire’s Solheim Cup team-mates had a strong start.