Golf: Pranavi is tied-29th in Riyadh

Riyadh, Nov 1 (IANS) Pranavi Urs, who got into the draw late, opened with a bogey free 2-under 70 that placed her T-29 at the end of the first round of the Aramco Team Series presented by PIF – Riyadh.

Pranavi, who is coming off a fair season, during which she has had four Top-10s, was Tied-15th in her home event, the Hero Women’s Indian Open last week. She started from the tenth and had one birdie on each side of the Riyadh Golf Course.

Diksha Dagar was T-67 at 1-over 73 with three birdies and four bogeys as she also began on the tenth tee.

Three players shared the clubhouse lead as Charley Hull, Pia Babnik and Luna Sobron each finished at seven-under-par.

The LET order of Merit leader, Chiara Tamburlini carded 3-under 69 to be Tied-17.

Hull came out at a blistering pace, with four birdies and an eagle wrapping up her front nine of six-under-par, as she began the hunt for her first win since 2022 at this week’s Golf Saudi organized event

The English star, who has been finished in second place twice on the series this year, added a further two birdies to her scorecard, before walking off with a bogey on the 18th.

Also in the clubhouse at seven-under-par was Slovenian Pia Babnik, winner of the Aramco Team Series presented by PIF in Jeddah in 2021, aged just 17.

Spaniard Luna Sobron found herself at the top of the leaderboard early in the day, finishing the day at seven-under-par.

There was also a hole-in-one early in the day, as South Africa’s Cassandra Alexandra walked off with an ace on the sixth hole – a 165-yard par-three.

Tamburlini edges closer to make history as the first team captain to win back-to-back events

In the team element, the Ladies European Tour’s shining star Chiara Tamburlini led her team to equal the record of 23-under-par, a single day scoring record for the series. After winning the team event in Shenzhen, Tamburlini is keen to become the first ever captain to win successive titles.

Tamburlini’s group is made up of Anne-Charlotte Mora, Mimi Rhodes and amateur Teniel Chu – who contributed with an incredible 11 net birdies to the team score.

--IANS

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