Casandra Alexander fired an opening round of 64 (-8) to lead by two strokes at the end of the first day of the 2026 Wistron Ladies Open.
The South African star went out in the afternoon wave at Sunrise Golf and Country Club making her first birdie of the day on the second hole.
Related: Pornanong Phatlum rises again to win fourth HWIO
She made further birdies on the sixth and eighth holes to make the turn in 33 (-3) before adding birdies on holes 11, 13 and 14.
The Ladies European Tour (LET) Order of Merit leader then finished with a flourish sinking her eagle putt at the last to sit atop the leaderboard on eight-under-par.
View this post on Instagram
“My back was a little tight on the range, so I hit some dodgy shots there and I said to Doug [caddie] that my back is feeling tight so let’s see what happens,” said Alexander. “I got onto the course and felt a lot better.
“I started racking up a few birdies, obviously bogey-free helps because every birdie counts. I had a bit of a slow end between the turn, but I think I capitalised on most of the par-5s. I hit a lot of good wedges, so that was converting into birdies every now and then. I was quite happy and then finishing off with an eagle is always nice.
“It was special. Yani [Tseng] is really cool. It’s not my first time playing with her, she’s a really nice girl and I really enjoy playing golf with her. She’s up for a chat and if you ask for advice, she’ll give it to you. She’s still got it, I’ll be honest. She hit a shot and it was just pure. I really enjoyed it and looking forward to tomorrow and the rest of the week.
“If you look at the weather and what it says the speed is, we’re on the top of the hill, so you can double that. Our practice conditions were super windy, but we did look at the forecast going into the week. We practiced the wind, but we also had a game plan for if it wasn’t as breezy. It did pick up a little when we turned on 10 and some of the more exposed holes on the back nine for us, but definitely not like anything we practiced in.
View this post on Instagram
“We’ll go out there tomorrow, when you shoot a really good score you have got to be really patient the next day, so I know Doug is already going to give me a whole chat about that. It really is helpful, so just nice and patient tomorrow and set up a couple of birdie opportunities and see if we can convert them.”
Cheng-Hsuan Shih of Chinese Taipei is in solo second place after a bogey-free round of 66 (-6) on day one.
Shih had no dropped shots with birdies on holes one, seven, nine, 12, 14 and 16.
“This round was all good especially my putting. The second shot on my last hole went into the water, but that was my only mistake of today. The rest of the round was very good,” said Shih.
“I was focused on myself in the round. I know Sunrise Golf and Country very well. Every time, I come back here I’m very comfortable and I can enjoy my game here.”
Six players are in a share of third place with Germany’s Helen Briem, Austria’s Emma Spitz, Hong Kong’s Ginnie Ding, home star Pei-Ying Tsai and English duo Alice Hewson and Hannah Screen all on five-under-par.
View this post on Instagram
Two-time LET winner Briem began her day with three consecutive birdies before back-to-back bogeys on four and five.
The German star added a birdie on six, made a bogey on the eighth hole and then added another birdie on the 12th hole.
Briem made an eagle on the par-5 13th before finishing with a birdie at the last to be five-under-par.
“I had a pretty good start, I birdied the first three holes which gave me some confidence that I can definitely play well. That was a good start. Overall, I’m really happy. I had a little bit of trouble on the mid part of the round, but the finish was good. I’m really with today,” said Briem.
“I continued where I started the round and tried to hit the greens and give myself good opportunities and maybe give the putts a chance as well. It was going into the right direction again. [On the eagle] I hit a pretty good drive; I hit my 6-iron to seven metres to the flag and then holed the putt. A pretty easy eagle.
“I had a really good practice sessions with my coach last week, I knew I was making good things. The question was whether you could do it in the tournament rounds as well. It was good and I did lots of things I practiced with him.”
Austria’s Spitz was bogey-free on the opening day with birdies on the seventh, eighth, 11th, 12th and 16th holes.
