Taylor makes history

Lancashire’s Kirsty Taylor shot the lowest score in the history of the Ladies’ European Tour today with an 11-under-par 61 in the first round of the Wales Ladies’ Championship of Europe at Machynys Peninsula near Llanelli.

The previous record was 62, and the 34-year-old broke the barrier thanks to a five-foot eagle putt at the par-five 18th. She also had nine birdies in halves of 30 and 31 in near-perfect calm conditions.

Without a win in 10 years on tour, the English player led by two from Australia’s Nadina Taylor, with defending champion Trish Johnson, one of four players to share the previous record of 62, in third place on 65.

“It was a day when everything went right,” said a delighted Taylor, whose husband, Alastair, was her caddie.

“I’ve been struggling with my irons recently, but something clicked midway through the pro-am on Wednesday and today I holed everything in sight.”

The longest putt was from 60 feet from the back edge of the 16th and it was a glorious three-wood shot that set up the eagle at the 481-yard last.

“I didn’t really feel nervous standing over the putt at the last, I was just enjoying the whole experience,” Taylor continued.

“My previous best score was six under, so this is far and away the round of my life.”

Johnson, who won at Royal Porthcawl last year, had seven birdies in a flawless round, and she suggested: “The wind needs to blow to make it tough. We had virtually no wind on the front nine and conditions couldn’t really have been any easier.”

Laura Davies had a round of two halves. Starting at the 10th, she birdied the first three holes and eagled the 18th. But she could only come home in 37 for a 68.

“I started off well but a three-putt bogey at the second seemed to stop the flow,” she said.

“After that, I just couldn’t seem to make any birdies.”

Johnson was the only other player to shoot 11 under in the tour’s 26-year history with a 62 at the 1996 French Open, while Norway’s Suzann Pettersen had a 10-under 62 at the 2003 HP Open in Sweden and Karine Icher, from France, had a seven-under 62 at last year’s Catalonia Masters.

Finland’s Minea Blomqvist twice shot 62 as a rookie last year. The first was nine under at the Central European Open and the second was 10 under and the lowest score ever by a man or woman in a major at the Weetabix Women’s British Open at Sunningdale.