Aki Iwai, the newly turned 24-year-old from Japan, got off to an excellent start at the Amundi Evian Championship, shooting a -8 63 in the first round.
Iwai started the day with four pars, but made birdies on five, seven and nine to go out with a -3 32. The back nine was much of the same story, with birdies on 11, 12, 15, 16 and 18.
More important perhaps than all of her birdies though, was bogey avoidance. It is rare to go around without a bogey on the Evian Resort Tournament Course. The track has so many tricks and quirks to it that players make mistakes even when it seems to be a good shot. If she can continue to minimize those bad holes, she will be tough to catch.
Iwai didn’t do anything particularly exceptional. She did drive the ball well with 11/13 fairways hit. She hit 15 greens in regulation and had a solid 27 putts. Just every part of her game was in solid form, leading to some great results.
Iwai is in her second year on the LPGA Tour, where she won her first event last season at the Portland Classic. When she is in excellent form, she can throw together scores like this. The question remains if she can maintain that form.
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