It was a solid start for Englishwoman Bronte Law on Thursday at the ISPS Handa World Invitational. The 28-year-old carded a solid three-under 70 at Castlerock on day one, making four birdies and one bogey to sit one off the lead of Switzerland’s Kim Metraux, England’s Gabriella Cowley, Sweden’s Ellinor Sudow and Australia’s Karis Davidson on the same course of the mixed, double-venue event, co-sanctioned with the DP World Tour and LPGA.

Starting her day on the par-4 10th hole, Law grabbed a birdie early on the par-5 11th, and then made two more on 14 and 16, both of which are par 3s. She dropped a shot on 18 to turn in 35 but birdied the par-5 3rd hole to erase her mistake, parring out to finish with a 70 and sit one back of the lead. Law was incredibly pleased with her performance on a difficult, windy day in Northern Ireland and will look to build off this strong first-round showing over the next 54 holes.

“Those into-wind holes were very challenging,” said Law, who hit 11 of 14 fairways and 13 of 18 greens. “Some pin positions there is not much green to work with, and when a gust of wind blows in your face, it makes that landing area even smaller. So being smart with where you want to leave yourself. You know you’re not always going to hit all the greens, so leaving yourself in position to where you are more likely to make up and down. Thought I managed that pretty well today. I think that’s the key when you’re playing this style of golf course. I think it’s a lot of fun. But you have to stay switched on all day.”

Law will now set her sights on Galgorm Castle Golf Club, a venue that differs drastically from the links-style golf she played at Castlerock, a change in pace that will take some adjustment from the LPGA veteran.

“I’m going to go over there on the putting green now and get to grips with the green speeds because they’re slightly different, hit some shots on the range,” Law said. “Just kind of get out of the wind mentality for links courses and a little more target golf as it will be out there tomorrow. It’s been playing a little softer, so, yeah, very different.”

Kim Metraux. LET

It was a steady day for Swiss star Metraux, who only had one dropped shot on her card and rolled in five birdies.

“Just overall a really solid day,” said Metraux. “I started off well with a birdie on one and that kind of got me going through the round.

“I managed to not really miss many greens. The only one I missed was when I made bogey on 15. I was a bit unfortunate to make a bogey on a reachable par-five, but overall I was just really solid from tee to green and managed to drop a few putts, which was really nice.

“Links is definitely something different than what we play year long, but we did play Scottish two weeks ago. That kind was good preparation I guess for today and most of the tournaments we play on LET, although not links courses, we’ve had quite a windy season.

“Galgorm is very different from here. It’s like two completely different worlds. A lot softer course with thick rough, so it’s definitely a different challenge, but if I keep hitting fairways and greens we’ll be in good shape.”

England’s Cowley got off to a solid start making birdies on the third, eighth, 10th and 11th holes.

The 27-year-old dropped a shot on the 13th but soon bounced back with birdies on 15 and 17, but unfortunately found trouble on the last and ended with a bogey for her round of four-under.

“For my birdie on 10, it was playing quite tough into the wind,” she said. “I hit a really good drive and hit 5-iron and it was just perfect; I holed a good putt. I made a few birdies today which was nice.

“Being on a links course it was windy this afternoon, so I was just trying to manage the ball flight and the kind of shots that we’re trying to hit. I think the course was playing tough, but there were obviously a few par-fives that we can reach which was good for us.

“I like Galgorm. I played there for the last few years, so looking forward to tomorrow. My plan is similar to today. Trust what I’m doing and hit the shots that I need to hit and play good golf.

“Obviously completely different course, completely different style. It’s not so much managing how much it runs out and how much the wind will affect it. It’s about picking a good number and committing to it.”

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Morgane, who is two years younger than Kim, closed with four birdies in a row to set the early target at Golf Club Margara in Fubine Monferrato, before she was tied by her sister two groups later.

Bringner joined them late in the afternoon after a career-low round of on the LET, which included an eagle on the par-5 fifth.

The 24-year-old from Gothenburg said: “I hit a good drive to the middle of the fairway and then a 6-iron to the green, three metres from the pin and made the putt. It’s my first Italian Open so I’m enjoying it.”

Bringner won the Swedish Matchplay Championship on the LET Access Series last July and finished fifth on the Order of Merit to earn her LET card for 2022. She added: “It was a very solid round. I have been waiting for some good scores for a long time now so it feels good to have made some putts and hit some good shots. It’s a very nice golf course with good views, so I’m enjoying being here.”

Morgane added: “We’ve played together in the same group three times as amateurs, but not as professionals, because they never pair us together,” said Morgane, who graduated from the Epson Tour to become a rookie on the LPGA Tour this season.

“In college and in amateur tournaments, we always played together. Since graduating and turning pro, we haven’t played on the same tour, so it’s fun to have a few times where you can be together and share dinners and so on.

“We push each other to do better and at the same time we don’t want to be beaten by the other. It’s good, healthy competition.

“It’s fun. We always have that kind of inside competition. When I saw that she was one shot ahead on the last, I thought, I’ve got to tie it, so it was a bit of extra motivation to make that on the last.”

It's a three-way tie at the top in Italy, with Kim Metraux, Morgane Metraux and Sofie Bringner all shooting 67 (-5) to lead the way after the first 18 holes ??#RaiseOurGame | #LadiesItalianOpen

— Ladies European Tour (@LETgolf) June 2, 2022

When Morgane chose to forego last year’s Olympic Games in order to earn her LPGA card via the Epson Tour, Kim went to represent Switzerland in Tokyo.

“I was playing in America on the Epson Tour and I won the qualifying event for Evian (the 2021 Island Resort Championship),” Morgane explained. “Evian and the Olympics were back-to-back and if I had played in both I would have missed four tournaments in a row in America and I may not have finished in the top 10 and lost the opportunity to get my LPGA card. Evian was my dream growing up, but it was a hard decision. I definitely do not want to miss the next Olympic Games in 2024.”

The sisters are in a rich vein of form. Morgane tied for third place in the Mithra Belgian Ladies Open on Sunday, while Kim finished second in the recent Joburg Ladies Open and feels that her game is trending in the right direction, so there is a real possibility of them featuring in a play-off together in the final round on Saturday.

However, there are three multiple LET champions lurking just two strokes behind with two rounds to play: this year’s Investec SA Women’s Open champion Lee-Anne Pace from South Africa, the recent Australian Women’s Classic – Bonville winner Meghan MacLaren from England and Nuria Iturrioz of Spain. Alongside them are Italian amateur Carolina Melgrati, 19, from Monza, Lombardia and Tereza Melecka from the Czech Republic.

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