WA’s Whitney Hillier is sitting outright second at the Tenerife Open de Espania on the Ladies European Tour after an outstanding opening round of 66.
Seven birdies and just one bogey made up Hillier’s round on the stunning Costa Adeje course on the south west of the island of Tenerife on the tougher side of the Round 1 draw, with much windier conditions later in the day.
Sitting just a stroke back of Trish Johnson on 7-under, Hillier has made a trend of starting strongly on the Ladies European tour, having twice held the lead after round one this year in Italy and Sweden.
Hillier told the LET website “I played well today and the only bogey I made was on three and I made birdie straight after that. I was like, ‘Wow! It just clicked.’ Obviously it was windy so it was a bit of a grind and I was hitting punch shots all day and just reading the greens really well. It was just another good day out. I’m slowly learning how to deal with pressure so I hope I can finish a lot stronger and have fun.”
Other Western Australians on tour:
Brett Rumford: T44 at the Wales Open (European Tour)
Greg Chalmers: T98 at the Web.Com Championship
Stephen Leaney: T29 at the ANA Open (Japan Tour)
Scott Strange: T49 at the ANA Open (Japan Tour)
Rick Kulacz: T101 at the Selangor Masters (Asian Tour)
Six Western Australian professionals will be competing on tour this week as the competition heats up near the end of the golfing season.
Brett Rumford, Greg Chalmers, Whitney Hillier, Scott Strange, Stephen Leaney and Rick Kulacz will be teeing up in five different countries.
WEB.COM TOUR – GREG CHALMERS
There’s a lot on the line this week for Chalmers, who has one more week to defend a return to the US PGA Tour.
Chalmers sits 139th on the PGA Tour money list, outside the crucial top 125, however his 39th placing on the Web.Com tour “The 50” list means he is well in the running to earn PGA Tour status in 2014/15 with a decent finish at the Web.Com Tour Championship at TPC Sawgrass this week.
“There is no doubt I am in a better position than many guys are but at the moment I am just trying to stay focused on hitting the best shots I can and see what results I get,” Chalmers told the AAP.
“I know it sounds simple but I am trying to stay away from any ‘where do I have to finish’ thoughts.”
Leaderboard
EUROPEAN TOUR – BRETT RUMFORD
Rumford is sitting 106th in the European Tour Order of Merit this year with just over 200,000 euros in earnings. Rumford has a guaranteed tour card in 2015 thanks to his tour European Tour wins in 2013, but he will be looking to make a move up the standings this week in Wales at the ISPS Handa Wales Open.
LADIES EUROPEAN TOUR – WHITNEY HILLIER
Whitney Hillier will start this week at the Tenerife Open de Espania. Hillier sits 88th on the LET Order of Merit and has made five cuts, including a top 10 finish at the Italian Ladies Open.
JAPAN GOLF TOUR – SCOTT STRANGE AND STEPHEN LEANEY
ANA Open
ASIAN TOUR – RICK KULACZ
Selangor Masters
Rick Kulacz will be looking to reignite his career when he returns to the scene of his second Asian Tour victory at this week’s Selangor Masters in Malaysia.
