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Annabel Wilson posts a solid opening-round 71 at the Women's Irish Open, capping a frustrating season with a strong performance.
Annabel Wilson tees off on the first at the Women's Irish Open at the K Club, Co Kildare, on Thursday. Photograph: Nick Elliott/INPHOThe rain didn’t seem to matter at all to Annabel Wilson, not on this grey day, with the precipitation leaking downwards to soak the Palmer South course at the K Club.
The 25-year-old Northern Irishwoman discovered light at the end of the tunnel, her solid opening-round 71, one under, showcasing her talent in the KPMG Women’s Irish Open after a season to date which had proven so frustrating.
“I love what I do,” Wilson said, smiling. “It’s been an up and down season. Golf is up and down like that, but I’m still loving what I do.
” Wilson had entered this Irish Open on a run of six missed cuts and one withdrawal in her last seven outings in juggling between the‘Women’s golf is so strong here’: Leona Maguire hopes an Ireland player wins Irish Open Rory McIlroy looking to finish PGA Tour season on a high as he targets a fourth Tour Championship crown But, with former European Tour player Brendan McGovern a recent addition to her team as caddie, and also now working with coach Shane O’Grady, the evidence of turning a corner came with a scorecard of three birdies and two bogeys.and Olivia Mehaffey – that won a bronze medal in the world amateur team championship at the Espirto Santo Trophy.
That was followed by a star-studded collegiate career with UCLA and an amateur career that included reaching the semi-finals of the US Amateur Open and playing Curtis Cup in 2021.
“I’ve had a long career in a way. I’m still young enough, but I was lucky enough to play a lot of international golf at a young age, so it feels like I have been about for a while. Overall, I just love it. I love to play golf.
In my head, I wanted to get to the next level and play professionally. I’m fulfilling that in a way, so it’s exciting,” said Wilson, who is attached to Castlerock. Wilson, with the old head of McGovern on her bag, negotiated her way around the South Course with steadiness.
“Sometimes I like to explore the golf course, but I kept it between the hedges today, which is nice. I hit a lot of good shots and good approach shots, got up and down when I needed to.
Again, on the way in, it was just making good decisions because it was tough with all the weather and everything, but we did a really good job,” said Wilson of her solid start that gave her the prospect to make an impact in what is her third Irish Open appearance. That connection with McGovern – the long-time club professional at Headfort before his retirement last year – came about through coach O’Grady.
Of the impact McGovern has had in a short time working with her, Wilson said: “I could shoot one- or two-over and hit it unbelievable and you’re thinking, ‘What happened there? ’. So it’s nice for him to chip in and keep pushing me on, to get up and down whenever I mis-strike it sometimes.
“And having that is very encouraging and it’s helping me because that’s part of it: you need the grit. You need to get a score out of it whenever you’ve got maybe your C-game. You have to play well with whatever you have on the day.
” Such lessons are all part of a learning curve, even for someone who achieved so much so young, and the evidence of the first round was that Wilson was proving to be a quick and diligent learner.
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