HALL LEADS AFTER FIRST ROUND

The Ricoh Women’s British Open champion was on two-under-par after five holes at La Quinta Resort when play was suspended due to heavy rain on Thursday afternoon.

After she returned to continue at 8.45am on Friday, she bogeyed the seventh and birdied the long eighth to make the turn in two-under and then picked up two birdies on the 16th and 18th holes.

Just before rushing back to the 10th tee to begin her second round at 12.50pm, Hall said: “I started this morning on the sixth green and I holed my three-footer and then I actually hit it close all day. I didn’t hole many putts but I kept it steady. On 17, I didn’t hit a very good tee shot but I managed to get a par and it was good to get a birdie on 18. Overall it was very steady and I hit a lot of greens which was good, because I gave myself chances. You’ve got to stay patient. It’s quite tough out there because it’s really wet and you’ve got to try and avoid the rough.”

The defending champion Azahara Muñoz and Olivia Cowan completed rounds of 68 and joined Michele Thomson and Anne Van Dam on three-under-par, to be one stroke off the lead after the first round.