Good start for Pauline Rouss

Four laps to snatch a place among the first 70 and tied, and continue the adventure next week: this is the ambition of the 110 players who started this Thursday the Q-Series, final step in the marathon of access cards to the LPGA Tour. The first round was played this Thursday on the two tracks of Magnolia Grove, one of the eleven sites constituting the RTJ Golf Trail, a network of high-end golf courses created by the architect Robert Trent Jones throughout the state of Alabama.

And at the end of this day, the first Frenchwoman is none other than Pauline Roussin-Bouchard, who after having alternated three birdies and three bogeys snatched a 69 (-2) on the Falls Course thanks to an eagle at 18! La Varoise, accompanied this week by her trainer Alain Alberti, his cart Sebastien clement and his osteopath Francois Teissedre-Dalou, is in 25th position, in the peloton now led by the Danish Emily Kristine Pedersen, the Mexican Alejandra Llaneza and the Taiwanese Peiyun Dog, who played -6.

Second Blue on the leaderboard, Julie Aimé is in 40th place thanks to a solid 71 (-1) on the Crossings Course, where she alternated two birdies and a bogey. On the other route, after a hesitant start (bogeys at 1 and 3), Agathe Laisne fought well, making three birdies on the return to bring in a 71 (par) that leaves her 53rd in par. Single Emma Broze, who was playing on the Crossings, missed her entry: with four bogeys and a double, the Ligérienne played 78 (+6) and ended up 106th.