Kildare's Lauren Walsh sizzled to an opening round of 67 at the Tenerife Women's Open to share the lead at Abama Golf with Denmark's early pacesetter Sofie Kibsgaard Nielsen on five under par.
The Dane held the outright advantage for most of the day, but Walsh's late bogey-free charge ensured the two-time Curtis Cup star of a place alongside her at the top of the leaderboard.
Walsh birdied three of her first five holes, with further birdies arriving on 10 and 18 on a day when the 24-year-old demonstrated impressive prowess with her putter.
"We were last out so it’s been a long day, but I played nicely," Walsh said after her round. "I hit it pretty consistently and holed a lot of putts.
"There’s a couple quirky holes so you have to plod your way around and play smart golf.
"It’s definitely tricky, but thankfully my coach has been out here quite a lot so he had me briefed on a lot of the golf course before I got here. So I sort of knew what to expect.
"In general, it sets things up very well for me and I’m really happy."
Kibsgaard Nielsen, who has yet to miss a cut in 2025 on the Ladies European Tour, registered six birdies and one bogey.
"It started off a little bit slow," she admitted. "But then I got it going and was able to hit some fairways.
"This course is not easy, so I just tried to stay in the moment and take one shot at a time."
England’s Eleanor Givens recorded six birdies and dropped two shots for a round of 68 to occupy second spot a shot further back, with France’s Ariane Klotz and the Dorthea Forbrigd from Norway joint-third on thee under.
Order of merit leader Mimi Rhodes stalks the leaders on two under, with the English woman sharing sixth place with 10 of her rivals, after a round of 70 which featured a hole-in-one on the par-three seventh.
HOLE-IN-ONE 🚨
— Ladies European Tour (@LETgolf) June 5, 2025
An ACE start for the Order of Merit number one, Mimi Rhodes 🍾 🙌#OpenTenerife pic.twitter.com/SQAU9uP9zG
