Venezuela’s Gilly leads in Sweden as home country reels from earthquakes
Venezuelan star overcomes immense mental strain to seize maiden advantage amidst tragic natural disaster back home
Korea - Venezuela’s Vanessa Gilly captured a poignant lead at the LET Access Series event in Sweden on Wednesday, putting golf aside to play for her disaster-stricken nation. The 24-year-old carded a flawless, bogey-free five-under-par 68 to move to the top of a leaderboard for the first time in her professional career. Her opening-round performance comes in the immediate wake of back-to-back earthquakes that struck Venezuela last Wednesday, tragically killing thousands of people. Gilly, who hailed from the capital city of Caracas, played through severe emotional distress with many of her close family and friends situated right at the epicentre of the destruction.
“Venezuela is going through a really hard time,” an emotional Gilly said after dedicating her performance to her homeland. “It’s just really tough right now mentally to be here in Europe, and life continues, and I’m just like, wake up and go play golf, while that’s happening in my country.” She expressed immense relief that her immediate family survived the disaster, noting that many of her friends are currently working on rescue operations to pull citizens from collapsed buildings.
The sporting challenge intensified later in the afternoon as heavy rain swept across the course from 4pm local time, making scoring conditions considerably more difficult for the later starters. Gilly managed to avoid the worst of the weather, hitting 13 greens in regulation and picking up five birdies, including a brilliant 10-foot putt on the par-five 10th hole after recovering from a greenside bunker. The Venezuelan star holds a slender one-stroke advantage over Wales’ Ffion Tynan, who sits alone in second place after opening with a highly commendable four-under-par 69.
A crowded chasing pack remains close behind, with Spain’s Clara Moyano Reigosa, Denmark’s Cecilie Leth-Nissen, and Sarah Skovgaard Bils sharing third place on three-under par. England’s Ellie Gower produced the best round of the tougher afternoon session, executing four birdies against two bogeys to post a two-under-par 71 alongside Finland’s Tiia Koivisto and Spain’s Maria Hernandez. The second round is scheduled to commence at 8am tomorrow morning, where the field will look to survive a standard cut for the top 45 professionals and ties ahead of Friday’s final round.