Local favorite Michele Thomson leads Women’s Scottish Open

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This article was published 12/08/2021 (1831 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

FIFE, Scotland (AP) — Michele Thomson of Scotland shot a 7-under 65 on Thursday at Dumbarnie Links to take the first-round lead in the LPGA Tour’s Trust Golf Women’s Scottish Open.

Thompson, the 33-year-old Ladies European Tour player from Aberdeen, rebounded from an opening bogey with an eagle on No. 2. She birdied seven of her final 11 holes at Dumbarnie Links.

“Probably had a little bit of a nervous start I would say,” Thompson said. “Obviously, being at The Scottish Open, it’s my fourth one now, but obviously still got the nerves off the first tee and hit a bit of a ropey drive and just made bogey from there, which was fine. Stood up on the second tee and just restarted.”

U.S. Women’s Open champion champion Yuka Saso, Jasmine Suwannapura and Anne van Dam were second at 67.

“We got lucky with no wind this morning and being able to score 5 under, it’s totally a good day for me,” Suwannapura said.

Mi Jung Hur, the 2019 winner, was at 68 with Nanna Koerstz Madsen, Yealimi Noh, Ryann O’Toole, Kelsey MacDonald, Lauren Stephenson, Atthaya Thitikul, Olivia Cowan, Sarah Schmelzel and Becky Morgan. Defending champion Stacy Lewis opened with a 71.

“Here’s only one thing. Just keep (the ball) low,” Hur said. “If it’s helping, you can keep it low, too, but especially in the hurting, you have to keep it low for sure.”

Ranked 599th in the world, Thompson is winless on the LET and LPGA.

“I don’t want to get too far ahead of myself,” said Thomson, who turned professional in 2009 and became a police officer for a few years before returning to the game. “Just want to play every hole as it comes and see what happens at the of the week.”