Lauren Walsh is a shot off the lead after her best LPGA round yet at the Portland Classic with American Mariel Galdiano out in front on seven-under par.
Galdiano made nine birdies at Columbia Edgewater Country Club as she posted her best round in an LPGA event since first qualifying for the tour last year.
Walsh’s card was clean for 17 holes – a long-range birdie putt at 11 one of the highlights of her round – but a dropped shot at the last did see her fall off a tie for the lead.
The Kildare golfer, in her rookie season on the LPGA Tour, had been struggling for form of late but after missing the cut in her last four events, she feels like she’s finally hitting her stride.
“My game has been feeling good for the last couple weeks,” she said. “I haven’t had the results to show for it, but it was just really nice to see everything come together today.
“I felt like I drove it pretty well, If you’re not hitting it in the thick stuff, you’re doing okay.”
Galdiano, 28, set herself back by bogeying the opening hole but immediately earned the stroke back with a birdie at the par-3 second. She strung three birdies together from the fifth to the sevent before a busy back nine that featured five birdies and just one more bogey.
This is just her fourth start on the LPGA Tour this season after a less-than-fruitful rookie season that saw her miss eight cuts in 14 events.
“It feels really good,” Galdiano said. “I mean, it’s a tough grind. Last year was my rookie year and I didn’t play as well as I wanted to, but I’m feeling a lot more confident in myself and in my game. So I know I can play out here. It’s just a matter of when, not if.”
Tied with Walsh for second are Thailand’s Arpichaya Yubol, Germany’s Olivia Cowan, Australia’s Grace Kim, South Korea’s Hye-Jin Choi, Colombian amateur Maria Jose Marin and the Philippines’ Bianca Pagdanganan.
Marin had five consecutive birdies five to nine and added a pair at the 16th and 17th on her way to a 6-under 66.
While Walsh is one shot off the lead, both Leona Maguire and Stephanie Meadow face a battle to be involved with the weekend’s action.
Meadow, who started at the 10th hole, had a mostly uneventful round with a bogey and two birdies but with the projected cut sitting right at -1, she’ll have to pick it up in the second round.
Maguire is a shot further back on level par but needed four consecutive birdies to get there as she recovered for a poor start.
Also starting on the 10th, Maguire made the turn at +2 thanks to three bogeys and a birdie on her opening nine holes. A double bogey on the third really derailed things before she finished strongly to give herself a chance of making the cut.