KUALA LUMPUR: Pauline Roussin-Bouchard kept her cool amid the sweltering Malaysian heat to put up a flawless eight-under 64 to lead the Maybank Championship field by one stroke at Kuala Lumpur Golf and Country Club (KLGCC).
Frenchwoman Roussin-Bouchard, whose rookie season on the tour was 2022, is still looking for her first LPGA win and has three top-10 finishes.
The 26-year-old set the pace on opening day with a composed display, combining accurate iron play with a sharp touch on the greens to head the US$3mil (RM12.3mil) LPGA Tour event.
American Sophia Schubert, who also joined the tour in 2022 and has no wins and three career top-10 finishes, was tied for second place after a seven-under 65 with Japan’s Miyu Yamashita, who won last year’s Malaysian tournament after a three-way playoff.
Roussin-Bouchard said lessons from last year’s tournament, where she finished tied 60th with rounds of 71-80-70-66, helped her avoid the sluggishness that had affected her game in the heat.
“My challenge today was to keep the inside voice under control and not get ahead of myself.
“Last year taught me that the heat can make me too calm and sluggish – it was hard to move through routines.
“So I made a conscious effort to have a little pep in my walk today and that was the biggest lesson from last year.”
With preferred lies in play following heavy overnight rain, the Frenchwoman made the most of her opportunities to produce a flawless round.
“When days like that happen, pretty much everything goes well. It was just a good balance of good golf from tee to green,” she said.
It was also a productive day for compatriot Perrine Delacour, who dropped just one shot to put herself in contention in tied fourth alongside England’s Charley Hull after shooting a six-under 66.
“I think I was just being in the rhythm with my caddie. We were just getting back off three weeks break and I’m really thankful to be here in Malaysia for the tournament.
“I was just enjoying every moment of it and then had some fun in there,” said Delacour, who only made one bogey on her opening scorecard.
World No. 3 Ryu Hae-ran, a Major winner this year at the Women’s PGA Championship and at the Evian Championship, withdrew before her first round tee time for an undisclosed reason.
LEADING FIRST ROUND SCORES
64: Pauline Roussin-Bouchard (Fra);
65: Miyu Yamashita (Jpn), Sophie Schubert (US);
66: Charley Hull (Eng), Perrine Delacour (Fra);
67: Arpichaya Yubol (Tha), Choi Hye-jin (Kor), Hwang You-min (Kor), Robyn Choi (Aus), Liyana Durisic, Julia Lopez Ramirez (Spa);
68: Gina Kim (US), Ayaka Furue (Jpn), Achiraya Sriwong (Tha), Amy Yang (Kor), Nataliya Guseva (Una), Aki Iwai (Jpn), Maja Stark (Swe), Kang Min-ji (Kor), Yin Ruoning (Chn);
69: Liu Yan (Chn), Lindy Duncan (US), Ko Jin-young (Kor), Cassie Porter (Aus), Celine Boutier
(Fra), Linn Grant (Swe), Angel Yin (US), Lee Mi-hyang (Kor), Yuri Yoshida (Jpn);
70: Yu Liu (Chn), Soo Bin-joo (Kor), Kim A-lim (Kor), Nanna Koerstz Madsen (Den), Karis Davidson (Aus), Erika Hara (Jpn), Hsu Wei-ling (Tpe), Aditi Ashok (Ind), Esther Henseleit (Ger);
Other Malaysians
74: Genevieve Ling, Natasha Andrea Oon;
75: Mirabel Ting;
76: Kelly Tan.
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