Avani shoots bogey-free 68 to lie T10th, Tvesa is T32nd in South Africa

Capetown, Apr 11 (PTI) India's Avani Prashanth fired the best opening round of her rookie season as she opened with a bogey-free 4-under 68 to be Tied-10th at the Investec SA Women's Open here.

Avani had two birdies on either side of the Par-72 course and trailed leaders France's Perrine Delacour and Germany's Aline Krauter by three shots.

Tvesa Malik had three birdies in the first holes and then dropped a double bogey. She steadied herself to pick one more birdie on the back nine on 15th and parred the others for a 2-under 70 and was Tied-32nd.

Diksha Dagar, Pranavi Urs and Tvesa Malik shot an even par 72 each to be Tied-68th.

Avani birdied the third and the fifth and then added two more on the 11th and the 17th as she played superbly. She found 13 of the 14 fairways and 17 of the 18 greens.

Delacour carded a bogey-free round with an eagle on the third hole to make it a solid start. The 31-year-old, who plays on both the LPGA and LET, kept the momentum going with a birdie on the next hole and went on to add four more to her scorecard.

She had captured her first LET title at the 2024 Dormy Open Helsingborg in Sweden and will be aiming to add a second to her name this week.

Germany's Aline Krauter dropped her only shot of the day to finish seven-under 65, in sunny and still conditions. She had eight birdies across the front and back nine so kept consistent throughout the 18 holes.

The tight leader board had three players in a share of third place, including Namibia's Bonita Bredenhann, Czech's Sara Kouskova, and France's Lucie Malchirand, on six-under 66. There was a hole-in-one on 14 from Bredenhann.

Four players sit in a share of sixth place on five-under par at the end of the first day. Germany's Laura Fuenfstueck, South Africa's Gia Raad, Austria's Emma Spitz, and France’s Nastasia Nadaud, all fired rounds of 5 under 67. PTI COR APA APA