GIVEN what she experienced on a golf course a few weeks ago, Michele Thomson wasn’t going to let the trifling matter of a bogey at her first hole in round one of the Trust Golf Women’s Scottish Open cause her much anguish.
After the harrowing tumult of watching her dad, Graham, collapse with a heart attack while caddying for her at a Ladies European Tour event in Finland last month, scribbling a five on to your card at a par-four seems all very trivial.
“Golf’s just golf and whatever happens, that’s life,” said the Aberdonian with a new sense of perspective.
Thankfully, Thomson’s dad made a full recovery and was treading the Dumbarnie Links in fine fettle yesterday while watching his daughter put on a shimmering show.
A wonderful, course record seven-under 65 propelled the Scot to the head of the pack as she responded to that early stumble at the opening hole with a scorching surge that just about left a waft of burning rubber hanging over the greens.
The salvage operation began immediately with an eagle on the second and, despite leaking another stroke on the fifth, Thomson reeled off four birdies in a row around the turn before a trio of gains on her last six holes saw her dash over the line.
Thomson was up and about long before the larks began wearily flapping at the snooze button and she made the most of her 7am tee-time and capitalised on the calm, inviting morning conditions. Well, she did once she got the first hole out of the way.
“Obviously, with it being the Scottish Open you’ve still got the nerves on the first tee and I just hit a bit of a ropey drive,” said the 33-year-old of those initial jitters. “But I stood up on the second tee and just re-started.”
That re-start was a bit like thumping the Ctrl Alt Del keys when your laptop goes on the blink and Thomson got logged back into the task in hand. “On the second, I hit a great drive down the middle and had 240 yards and just thought, ‘I've got adrenaline here, just go for it,” she said of that three on the long second. “I made the eagle and from there it snowballed.”
As she marched off the 18th green, after gilding the lily with a birdie on the last, a fist-bump of approval from her manager and mentor, Paul Lawrie, underlined the majesty of the former Curtis Cup player’s round.
Lawrie, the 1999 Open champion, actually holds the men’s course record at Dumbarnie with a 63. “I didn’t realise that until I came in,” added Thomson with a smile.
That grand effort from the former Scottish Women’s Amateur champion left her two shots clear of Jasmine Suwannapura, Solheim Cup player Anne van Dam and the reigning US Women’s Open champion Yuka Saso, who came home in 31 en route to a spirited 67.
It marked an impressive debut on Scottish soil for the 20-year-old from the Philippines. “It's summer but we're wearing jackets,” said Saso as she mulled over the Scottish weather.
Van Dam, meanwhile, was one-over after five holes but a telling thrust that was bolstered by an eagle and two birdies in four holes from the sixth ignited her round and left the Dutch woman lurking menacingly.
With Thomson plonking the saltire at the summit, another Scot, Kelsey MacDonald, also made a fine fist of it in the increasingly tough conditions that greeted the later starters. MacDonald harnessed the strengthening wind and pieced together a neatly assembled four-under 68 that featured two birdies and an eagle on the 15th to tuck herself in among the frontrunners.
Lydia Ko, the former world No 1 who claimed the bronze medal in the women’s Olympic event last week, opened her bid for silverware in Fife with a two-under 70. “My ball-striking was really good but I think I had 35 or 34 putts,” reflected Ko as she pinpointed where her progress had been hindered. Ko was joined on that mark by the evergreen Laura Davies, who covered the back nine in three-under on her way to a battling 70. The 57-year-old’s competitive drooth remains unquenchable.
Stacy Lewis, the winner of the Scottish Open last year, began her title defence with a 71 to sit alongside a posse of players which includes the reigning AIG Women’s Open champion, Sophia Popov, who bogeyed her last three holes.
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