Georgia Hall cards opening round 69 to share lead at Aramco Saudi Ladies International

KING ABDULLAH ECONOMIC CITY:  England’s Georgia Hall carded an opening round 69 at the Aramco Saudi Ladies International presented by the Public Investment Fund to share the lead with German rookie Sophie Witt after a wind-battered opening day on Thursday.

The former British Open champion headed to the last set banking on what would have been a remarkable two-shot overnight advantage, accrued while enduring the strongest of the Royal Greens Golf & Country Club’s infamous afternoon winds, which today reached a testing 40km/h.

However, a self-admitted “brave” attempt to reach the water-guarded closing green in two saw her land in the trap, leading to a double-bogey finish and a shared first-day lead at three-under-par.

Hall said: “It was tough out there. The conditions are the hardest conditions I’ve ever played in.

“I was very happy with the way I played. I putted really well.  I holed some good putts for par, which is very crucial. I just really stayed patient. I’ve done the best I could and was really proud of the way I played.

“I tried to go for it (on 18). I had a 6-iron and I wanted to give it a go but then obviously it made it tough from there.”

On the savage conditions, the 25-year-old said: “It was definitely a different golf course today. Hopefully tomorrow morning will be calmer. I would love for it to be maybe a one-club wind instead of maybe five like it was today. But, yeah, we’ll take what we get!”

A run of three back-to-back birdies in her opening four holes saw the world No. 25 get into her stride early, on a track where she holds the course record. One more birdie on the par-five ninth hole sent her out at four-under-par, before a battling one-over-par back nine as the winds picked up.

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