Hannah Darling hopes Women's Scottish Open fightback can be 'turning point'
‘I wasn’t in a great place after nine holes but actually hadn’t played that badly’
Hannah Darling is hoping her back-nine fightback in the first round of the ISPS HANDA Women’s Scottish Open can be a “turning point” in her season.
The Broomieknowe player reached the turn in 40 at Dundonald Links, having found herself on the back foot after taking a double-bogey 7 at the fifth.
But, after starting for home birdie-birdie at the Ayrshire venue and covering the inward journey in 35, she salvaged a three-over-par opening effort.
It left Darling sitting in a tie for 46th at the end of a tough opening day in windy conditions and in the hunt to make the halfway cut in the $2 million event.
“I wasn’t in a great place after nine holes but actually hadn’t played that badly,” she said. “I made a couple of mistakes. There was wind and a couple of really tricky pin positions.
“But I was proud of how I reset on that back nine. It’s not easy on that nine but I holed a couple of good putts when I needed to and hung in there. Proud of the effort.
“On 10, I had a three-footer and on 11 was maybe 30 feet. I heard my mum and friends cheering that one. That was nice, it got me some momentum and it felt like a turning point.”
Darling, who is in her rookie season on the Ladies European Tour, has been working hard with her coach Ian Muir and psychologist Will McConn.
“I’ve not played badly this season, but the scores haven’t reflected that,” she added. “But that’s golf. It’s not that far away and I’m very grateful to get the chance this week. Hopefully this can be a turning point of the year.”
On a day when American Lauren Coughlin, the 2024 winner, and Korean Jenny Shin shot matching 66s to set the pace, Scottish No 1 Gemma Dryburgh had to settle for a 78.