England’s Rosie Davies hit a six-under par opening round of 66 to share the
lead of the Investec South African Women’s Open in Cape Town.

After a bogey at the first, Davies recovered with three successive birdies.

Despite dropping a shot again on the seventh, the 34-year-old picked up another five strokes on the back nine to take the clubhouse lead alongside Switzerland’s Elena Moosmann.

“Some say that the best rounds start with a bogey!” joked Davies.

“We definitely had the better of the weather conditions in the morning.

“It was nice and calm on the front nine, so I thought to myself if I can get a couple, whilst everybody is going to have to battle the wind in the afternoon, that will give me a little bit of an advantage.

“I rolled in the putts nicely, it was good. The golf course is stunning. It’s probably in the best condition that we play on in on the tour. The greens are perfect, the views. South Africa is incredible. We love coming here.”

Norway’s Julie Boysen Hillestad – who has announced she will stop playing at the end of the season – sits on her own in third at five-under par.

Order of Merit No 1 Bronte Law is among a group of seven players at four under, which includes fellow Englishwomen Annabell Fuller, Hannah Burke and Liz Young as well as South Africa’s five-time tournament winner Lee-Anne Pace.

Watch the final three days of the South African Women’s Open live on Sky Sports this weekend, with live coverage of the second round starting at 12.30pm on Friday on Sky Sports Golf. Coverage on Saturday and Sunday is from 12pm each day.

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