Marina Alex knew Royal Troon would be a challenge. With gusts forecasted to blow more than 30 mph during the day, Alex knew she had to fight hard against the Scottish temperamental weather. She had five straight pars to open her round but double-bogeyed the par-5 sixth after barely carrying a cross bunker about 170 yards out from the hole. That was the only blemish on her card and she more than made it up by the end of the day, adding three birdies to sit at -1 after 18 holes at the AIG Women’s Open, tied for second heading into Friday.

“I was able to take advantage of a couple breaks in the weather. I felt like it was super windy and raining but then there were lulls here and there. It just played so different, obviously, than the practice days and different than what we would have even expected it to play under I think like a normal prevailing wind,” said Alex. “So it's funny, the easy holes played very challenging and the holes that are mentally super difficult were short, so it's just kind of trying to manage that and taking advantage of the fact that the challenging holes were birdieable in some ways today.”

Alex said she is appreciative of the opportunity to play at such an historic venue that has hosted The Open nine times. It only motivates the American to continue her strong play through the next couple of days, despite what the weather may throw her way.

“There's been so many years where we've been trying to get on the same – I would just say the same level as men's golf and it kind of starts with the golf courses in my opinion and just seeing what the women are capable of on the same venues I think just really helps bring the level of our sport up a notch, and it's important that we're playing here,” said Alex. “The announcement that we had, I think it was yesterday or the day before, for the upcoming five years was so cool. I think it's just we're all kind of like reinvigorated about this whole championship, and I think it's going to be great moving forward.”

Marina Alex Feeling "Awesome" After First Day At AIG Women's Open

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