Pamela Pretswell Asher recovers from ‘dramatic start’ to lead home challenge
She’d just failed to get out of a greenside bunker at the tenth – her opening hole in the first round of the Aberdeen Standard Investments Ladies Scottish Open at The Renaissance Club – and feared the worst.
“I was thinking if I didn’t get that second one out of the bunker I should probably just pick up!” the 30-year-old later admitted, half-joking, her feeling of dread having been replaced by then by a justifiable sense of satisfaction.
Advertisement
Hide AdAdvertisement
Hide AdAfter starting with a double-bogey 6, Pretswell Asher covered the remaining 17 holes in four under for an opening 69 to sit handily placed and the best among seven Scots in the $1.5 million event. Having taken time out before and after the birth of her daughter, Kristy, last November, it was an encouraging start for the Lanark-born player, who is playing through an exemption as she feels her way back into things.
“Given it had been more than a year and a half since I last played, I’d be nervous if it was a club medal, much less the Scottish Open, and I was more nervous than I realised and have been for a long time,” said Pretswell Asher after signing her first card since the Omega Dubai Ladies Classic in December 2017.
“When I gave my driver back to Ryan (caddie and husband) at the opening hole, my hand was shaking. But that’s my best score in an LPGA-sanctioned event by quite a bit, so maybe I should have had Kristy a while ago!”
After calming those nerves with a run of five straight pars, she got up and down from just short of the green for a birdie at the par-5 16th, holed ten-footers for birdies at both the first and second then completed a brilliant fightback by converting a five-footer for a 4 at the par-5 seventh.
“I thought I’d make it a bit dramatic with the start!” she said, laughing. “Tee shot was fine, edge of the fairway. I just pushed it and found the bunker on the right of the green. Had the dream lie – absolutely not – there was a heap of sand behind it and I didn’t get it out.
“But after that I didn’t really put a foot wrong. I was quite calm because I’ve been playing pretty well in practice. I just kind of hung in there. As Ryan was saying, the start was probably a pretty good thing for me to get the rubbish and drama out of the way first and then be pretty much stress-free.”
Carly Booth and Kylie Henry were next best among the home contingent with 70s, while Solheim Cup captain Catriona Matthew, who finished bogey-bogey, and Kelsey MacDonald both opened with 71s. “Obviously a disappointing finish,” said two-time winner Matthew. “I played pretty well, really. I had a couple of silly three-putts then messed up the last.”
Gemma Dryburgh, who has been enjoying an encouraging second season on the LPGA, had to settle for a 73 after starting bogey-bogey, with Michele Thomson also facing a battle to be among the top 70 and ties progressing to the weekend after a disappointing 75.