Sweden’s Linnea Strom tops MKLO leaderboard after round one
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One day as many players struggled with the form of the PGA Baobab Course at Vipingo Ridge in Kilifi, Sweden’s Linnea Strom took a fantastic round of 4-under par 68 to top the scoreboard and gave herself a two-shot cushion on her way into the second round.
She carded a decent first nine, hit birdies on the second, sixth and seventh holes but lost shots on the fourth and eighth holes for a total of 35. She had an excellent back nine and carded a total of 33 with the help of birdies on the 11th. , 13th, 14th, 15th and 18th. Her only spot on the back nine came on par-4, 16th, where she dropped two shots.
After the round, Linnea said:
“The wind was tricky out there, and the course was pretty solid, so if you do not hit it where you want it can bounce anywhere. I played steadily today, I had eight birdies, but I made some mistakes too, but overall I’m quite happy with the score, there are still some things I need to find out, especially in the right to left wind, but hopefully I can solve it tomorrow and continue to play well.
“I do not mind the wind, when I play in the wind I have to remind myself to be a little more relaxed, and that’s something I’ve been trying to work on for the last year. So today I knew I had to be relaxed to have a good swing and keep a good pace, so I think I managed to do well today. I had a good game plan and I enjoyed out there with my caddy. The training has gone pretty well, I had a couple of good training days here, and I like the course, but I really had no expectations. “
“I’ve been working on a few things in my game and my swing at the moment, and it helps in terms of points because I take away expectations, and I just want to go out there to keep improving and working on the stuff I’ve been working on.”
The final round as second was Emma Grechi from France, who shortened a round of 2-under par 70. She shortened 35 on the first nine, after punching birdies on the second and eighth holes, with the only losing stroke coming first. In the back nine, she shortened a similar score of 35 with birdies on the 11th, 13th and 15th and single shots on the 10th and 12th.
After the round, Emma said: “I had many ups and downs, but I just had to focus on my strategy and hit the greens and make the putts. I started in the morning, but after the first nine I had some wind, so I had to to take on the flags and be aggressive and try to make my putts, and all that happened, so it’s good. I came here to see if what I worked on in the winter works or if I have to try something else, but I think that it’s good – I’m happy and I think my coach will be happy. “
Amy Boulden from Wales and Julia Engström from Sweden joined Linnea and Emma as the only four players to play under par. Both ended in a draw in third place, after carding rounds of 71.
It was a tough start for the Kenyan contingent, with Bhavi Shah and Faith Chemutai occupying the bottom two places on the scoreboard with preliminary rounds of 20 over par and 17 over par respectively. Naomi Wafula finished the round tied at 87th place with a score of 11 over par, while Mercy Nyanchama finished the round as the highest ranked Kenyan at 7 over par.
Round two of the event starts tomorrow at 7:45. Magical Kenya Ladies Open is sponsored by the Government of Kenya – through Magical Kenya, Ministry of Sports, Sports Fund; Huawei, Johnnie Walker, Safaricom and Centum.