Five-way tie for lead on opening day of Aramco Team Series Jeddah

JEDDAH: Five players ended up level at the top of the Aramco Team Series in Jeddah after Thursday’s action at Royal Greens Golf and Country Club.

Ursula Wikstrom, Nicole Garcia, Virginia Elena Carta, Ana Pelaez Trivino and Johanna Gustavsson led the standings after the opening day, with Chiara Noja and Lucie Malchirand well placed just one shot back at four under par.

The early tee times were greeted with still, warm conditions, while the later starters had to deal with increasing winds in the afternoon. 

“I wasn’t great off the tee, my driving wasn’t great, but I putted really well. I holed some nice putts and I’m just going to try and keep that momentum going for tomorrow,” Gustavsson said. “It was just a good solid round, and it was great fun. I had a great time with the team and that’s the thing about these events, you think about the team score, and try and make birdies for the team, not yourself. That is just a bonus.”

Gustavsson won the team event in the Aramco Team Series event in New York in October so is no stranger to success in golf’s global series and added: “It’s obviously a bonus every time, if you finish well in the team event, it’s such a nice bonus. We are obviously going to try and finish as high as we can. I haven't looked at the scores yet but with being off in the morning, maybe we can post a nice score and put some pressure on them.”

Joint individual leader Wikstrom feels her game is shaping up nicely heading into the rest of the tournament and commented: “Recently, I've started to play a bit better, so things have been going a bit nicer. This morning, I didn’t feel very good standing over the ball when I got on the range. I thought I'm never going to get on the golf course today, but when I