Three-way tie for lead as Evian Championship gets under way

Sweden's Ingrid Lindblad, Thai Patty Tavatanakit and Gemma Dryburgh of Scotland shared the lead after the opening round of the Evian Championship on Thursday.

The trio set the pace on the first day of the fourth of five women's majors this season in Evian, France.

Dryburgh conjured up seven birdies to take joint custody of the top of the leaderboard with a round of 64.

Her haul of birdies matched that of Tavatanakit and first-season professional Lindblad.

There's a tight race following the first round of @EvianChamp, including a three-way tie at the top 👊

FULL LEADERBOARD ⬇️ https://t.co/u9TKje2LDl

— LPGA (@LPGA) July 11, 2024

Tavatanakit said: "I came out and didn't know what to expect. It was a really early morning tee time.

"I just played golf and it was a really good round. I hit the ball really solid."

Lindblad described her round as "simple".

"There are no flat lies so you're kind of always hitting into a green that's sloping one way and the fairway is sloping the same way, so you've just got to be careful where you hit the ball," she said.

"Just really got to commit to some shots out here and just trust that the ball is going to go one way."

Dryburgh, for her part, said her work with putting coach Nick Soto had paid off.

"I was putting well, kind of just seeing the lines really well," she commented.

Past champions Lydia Ko and Hyo-joo Kim were a stroke further back on a six-under 65, alongside Gaby Lopez, Hye-jin Choi, Lauren Coughlin and Ayaka Furue.

Last year's homegrown winner Celine Boutier began the defence of her title with a two-under-par 69, the same score as her Solheim Cup partner Georgia Hall whose day would have been a lot better without a pair of double bogeys on the first and 12th holes.

World No 1 Nelly Korda also signed for a 69, a week after being forced to withdraw from the Aramco Series event due to a dog bite.

The winner of the Aramco event, Ireland's Leona Maguire, lies eight shots off the leaders after a 72.

One player who won't have to worry about how she is getting home is England's Jodi Ewart Shadoff, who made a hole-in-one at the 16th to win a Porsche sports car.