Ashley Lau made a strong debut at the Le Golf National, the venue for the Paris Olympics. The first-time Olympian recorded an even-par 72 on the challenging Albatross course, finishing tied for 13th alongside world number one and defending champion, Nelly Korda from the United States.
Lau had a shaky start, dropping shots on the third and fourth holes. However, she regained her rhythm with a birdie on the fifth, finishing the front nine with a one-over 37. Her back nine was a mix of birdies on the 10th and 14th holes and dropped shots on the 13th and 15th. She closed her round with a cool birdie on the 18th to finish even-par for the day.
Having arrived in Paris early to acclimate to the conditions, Lau had the chance to get in several practice rounds last week. She shares the tied 13th position with 12 other golfers, including Aditi Ashok of India, Rose Zhang of the United States, Attaya Thitikul of Thailand, and Lydia Ko of New Zealand.
Celine Boutier of France
France’s Celine Boutier delivered a stellar performance, carding a superb seven-under 65 to take a three-shot lead over South Africa’s Ashleigh Buhai, who finished with a four-under 68. The difficult course saw only these two players breaking 70. Boutier, the defending champion of the LPGA Maybank Championship, thrilled the home crowd with seven birdies and a chip-in birdie.
Lau starts her second round at 4.33 Malaysian time.
