Cool Kenny eases into contention

Golf Correspondent

Friday 4 May 2012

She lost her full European Tour card by just €500 last season and is scrambling about for starts this term, but Lynn Kenny could not be happier.

Lynn Kenny en route to an opening round of 70

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Nick Rodger

Yesterday, at a bright but bitterly breezy Archerfield Links near Gullane, the 31-year-old's carefree approach to the game was rewarded with a two-under 70 in the first round of the Aberdeen Asset Management Ladies' Scottish Open which left her three shots behind France's Anne-Lise Caudal, who eased to the front with a neatly assembled 67.

Kenny, the former Scottish women's amateur champion from Dunblane, has been chipping away at the coal face of the European circuit since 2006 but those toils finally took a toll on the ever-optimistic Scot's morale. Now, however, there is a fresh approach."I felt like I was on a treadmill and going nowhere, despite all the hard work I was putting in," said Kenny, whose best result at the top table was a share of fifth in the Scottish Open at The Carrick on Loch Lomond back in 2007. "It all became a struggle and a constant slog. Now that I've lost my card, I view every start I get as a bonus and I'm enjoying playing for a change. I was trying too hard and putting all sorts of pressure on myself but now I feel much more relaxed."With this renewed enthusiasm for her profession, Kenny's mood was lifted further by an eagle on the par-5 second, where she holed her third shot from just under 80 yards, as she tucked herself in among the early pacesetters. "I left a few chances out there but all in all it was a very good day," added the Stirling University graduate, who has been handed the opportunity to fill the gaps in her schedule with an invitation to next week's Turkish Open.Kenny was accompanied in a share of fourth place by her fellow Scot, Carly Booth. The 19-year-old from Comrie, fresh from her maiden professional victory in France, swiftly found herself on the back foot when she found the bunker with her opening drive and racked up a bogey, but a haul of five birdies helped to repair the damage during a round that she described as "pretty boring". Heather MacRae, the former British women's amateur strokeplay champion who is now a PGA pro at Gleneagles, was on course for a similar score until she leaked shots at 17 and 18 and had to settle for a level-par 72.Instead of compatriot MacRae, Kenny and Booth were joined in the posse on two-under by Rome's Diana Luna, who is well used to occupying such a lofty position. She is a Countess after all, having married into the Italian aristocracy. There was no need for the gathering press pack to bow in her presence, though. "I don't like talking about it, it's a bit gossipy," said the five-time Ladies' European Tour winner, who let her clubs do the talking yesterday and almost aced the par-3 eighth when her 8-iron tee-shot reared up inches short of the hole.Luna's playing partner, Catriona Matthew, didn't fare as well as she opened the defence of her title with a two-over 74. The 42-year-old from North Berwick, who romped to a 10-shot victory in last season's championship, never found her touch on the slow greens and her progress was hindered further by a wayward drive at the ninth which found the water and spawned a double-bogey. Matthew at least finished on something of a high with a birdie putt of barely three-feet on the 18th. "It was just my range," she said wryly, after a frustrating day at the office. "I had plenty of chances but I just couldn't get the pace of the greens and kept coming up short." Glasgow's Kylie Walker, fifth behind the rampant Matthew a year ago, joined her on a score of 74 and also expressed a similar annoyance with her putting form, a problem that was highlighted by a three-putt on the ninth which led to a double-bogey. At the head of affairs, Caudal, who won the Portugal Ladies' Open in 2008 and has had 10 top-10 finishes on the European circuit since then, made some purposeful early strides with three birdies over his first six holes which helped to stamp her authority on proceedings.The 27-year-old finished the day two strokes clear of Sydney's Sarah Kemp, who produced a strong, late thrust with birdies at 17 and 18, and California's Hannah Jun, who led the field after round one here last year and eventually claimed the runners-up spot.While Jun enjoyed a happy return to Scottish soil, there wasn't much of a homecoming for Glasgow's Janice Moodie, the Florida-based LPGA Tour winner, who spilled five shots in six holes from the second on her way to a 79.

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Cool Kenny eases into contention

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