Grant made history last weekend at the Scandinavian Mixed when she became the first woman in history to win on the men’s DP World Tour. And she is already on the trail of further success this week, captaining Bringner, Trish Johnson and amateur Peter Thompson to a 16-under-par opening round and a seat top of the pile, alongside Team Anne van Dam.

WATCH: Highlights from Day 1 of ARAMCO Team Series — London

However, it was Bringner that provided much of the Thursday fireworks for Team Grant, making no less than three eagles en route to her 66 — a score that has also given her the outright lead in the event’s concurrent individual contest where she sits one shot clear of England’s Georgia Hall and Sweden’s Jenny Haglund.

Bringner holed a putt of almost 30 feet on the opening green and barely took a backward step on her way to a seven-under-par tally.

The 24-year-old — who started and finished her round with eagles — said: “I haven’t been in this situation so many times, so it’s new for me. But yeah, it’s very fun and I played good today. I made a few mistakes but made three eagles, so that was really fun.”

For a long time it looked as if Hall would surge clear after a birdie blitz saw her race to seven-under-par through 16 holes. At that point it seemed as if she might match the nine-under-par course record she set in last year’s event. But the 2018 Women’s British Open champion found trouble off the tee at the last and ended up salvaging a bogey from a front-right bunker.

Hall said: “I played pretty flawlessly, to be honest. I could’ve holed many more putts but I managed to hit a lot of good iron shots close that gave me some tap-ins.”

Hall’s superb ball-striking was watched by her coach Robert Rock, the DP World Tour player.

She added: “It’s the first time he’s come to an event in the three years we’ve been together, so it’s really nice to have him here and watch me. We did a bit of work yesterday, just on the long game, the down-swing — only subtle changes, nothing big. Hopefully he’s quite happy with the way I’m hitting it. It’s one of my best long-game performances in a few months. I was going at a lot of pins and you can be aggressive on this course.”

[parone_video_player campaign=”262″ defaultlang=”en” feed=”51-all-videos”/]

Haglund made a strong move late in the day, making birdie at four of her last five holes. England’s Bronte Law is also among the close pursuers, one back from two off top spot.  Law piled up nine birdies as she followed a top-six showing in the US Women’s Open.

“I wasn’t really aware of how many I had made,” said Law when asked about her long list of gains. “I was just going with the flow, enjoying it out there. I think any time you post a number under par you did stuff right. I’m hoping to kind of continue that.”

Charley Hull finished birdie-birdie to join a cluster of players tied for fifth at four-under-par. In among that group is big-hitting Van Dam who is well poised to mount a challenge in both the Aramco Team Series London’s solo and team contests over the next two days.

Sound ? for @HullCharley ball striking ??#RaiseOurGame | #BringTheEnergy pic.twitter.com/XzVfOzT7g6

— Ladies European Tour (@LETgolf) June 16, 2022

However, in the team element the Dutch ace and her teammates will need to see off the inspired golf of Team Grant. Its senior member is former Solheim Cup star Johnson and she summed up succinctly their opening-day feats.

Johnson, 56, said: “Just to watch these guys play is a dream. They’re both utterly fantastic. They hit some extremely amazing shots between the two of them and it’s just great to watch.”

This week’s London leg is the second of five $1million Aramco Team Series tournaments on the LET calendar this season, following last month’s Bangkok opener — and preceding events in Sotogrande, New York and Jeddah.

The tournaments are famed for their unique format, in which three LET professionals play in teams with one amateur player.

The 36-hole team event, worth $500,000, concludes on Friday, while Saturday will see the lowest-scoring 60 players and ties battle it out for a share of a further $500,000.

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The post Linn Grant’s Super Swedes share lead at the Aramco Team Series — London after triple-eagle 66 from Sofie Bringner appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Matt Smith
With Sofie Bringner edging ahead of fellow Swede Jenny Haglund and home hope Georgia Hall at Centurion Club on Thursday, watch all the highlights from Day 1 of the Aramco Team Series — London here.

[parone_video_player campaign=”262″ defaultlang=”en” feed=”51-all-videos”/]

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Calling all weekend golfers
Shiv Kapur hails Asian Tour opportunities thanks to LIV Golf and Saudi Golf
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The post WATCH: Highlights from Day 1 of Aramco Team Series — London appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

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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The post Ladies European Tour: Swiss sister act as Metraux rolls into town at Italian Open appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.