Aberdeen duo Dryburgh and Thomson lead in Australia

Scots Gemma Dryburgh and Michele Thomson both got off to flying starts in the New South Wales Open, the second event of the new Ladies European Tour season.

The two Aberdonians – Dryburgh is now based in England but Thomson recently became attached to Paul Lawrie Golf Centre – share the lead after posting five-under-par 67s at Dubbo Golf Club on the banks of the Macquarie River.

Thomson, whose best finish on the LET was second in the 2017 Hero Women’s Indian Open, set the clubhouse target with a morning effort that contained six birdies, including five on the front nine.

She dropped her only shot of the round at the par-3 18th, but it was still a great day’s work for the 31-yearold, who seems to have regained her mojo after a tough 2019 campaign.

“It was pretty steady,” said Thomson. “I hit a lot of fairways and greens and holed some really nice putts, so it was quite enjoyable.

“It was nice to feel that the driver was going to go straight, because you’re looking around about you and there are a lot of people who are not finding the fairway. I just wanted to give myself chances and that’s what I did.”

Dryburgh, who had a career-best fourth place finish on the LET in last week’s Australian Ladies Classic, had a burst of three birdies in the last six holes in the afternoon.

She said: “I hit my driver quite well. I only hit eight fairways, which is quite low usually, but the fairways are very narrow here, so it was a good day off the tee.

“I made a lot of putts as well.iwasseeingthebreaks really well. My putting has been improving and that’s been the missing piece over the last couple of years.”

The Scottish pair lead by one from Sweden’s Camilla Lennarth and Germany’s Olivia Cowan, with Swede Julia Engström, India’s Diksha Dagar and Australian Breanna Gill a stroke further back. Kylie Henry and Laura Murray were next best among the Scots with a par-72, followed by Alison Muirhead (74) and Kelsey Macdonald (75).