Laisne’s Birdie Blitz Powers Her to Day-One Lead in Mauritius
In-form Agathe Laisne made an astonishing seven birdies in eight holes as shot a scintillating 64 to take command of the MCB Ladies Classic at Constance Belle Mare Plage in Mauritius after day one.
The French player made an incredible 10 birdies as well as two bogeys in the opening round of the Ladies European Tour event - the first ladies professional event to be staged in Mauritius. Laisne’s stunning round on Constance Belle Mare Plage’s award-winning Legend course got off to a relatively slow start when she made three pars, a birdie and a bogey to lie at level par after five holes.
But she burst into life at the par-five 8th, making the first of those seven birdies between there and the 15th. She dropped a shot at the exacting par-4 16th but immediately bounced back with a birdie on the gorgeous short 17th. Laisne’s spectacular round overshadowed the day’s play entirely, with Cara Gorlei’s 65 and Smilla Tarning Soenderby’s 66 put in the shade by the two-time 2026 LET winner’s exploits.
Starting on the 10th hole, Gorlei made two eagles – at the dog-leg par-5 4th as well as the risk-reward 18th - in her thrilling rollercoaster 65.
She also made six birdies but mixed in three bogeys in four holes on the back nine (her front nine) in an entertaining round.
Tarning Soenderby made eight birdies – four on each nine – as well as back-to-back bogeys, at the tricky par-5 6th and the short 7th that follows.
However, the Dane regrouped to come home in a flawless 32 that has her hot on Laisne’s heels in this historic event.
One of the pre-tournament favourites, Pia Babnik of Slovenia, was poised to sign for a five-under total, but made a triple-bogey eight after dropping no previous shots and making five birdies at Belle Mare Plage.
A host of players are on four under; Celina Sattelkau of Germany, England’s Lily May Humphreys, Alice Hewson, Ellen Hume, Diksha Dagar of India, Alexandra Forsterling of Germany and Swede Kajsa Arwefjall.
Casandra Alexander, who has led the LET order of merit for much of the early 2026 season, sits in a share of 12th after three-under opening round.
Play will resume tomorrow with the players in the lower half of the field striving to make the cut and be there for the final round on Sunday.
More on MCB Ladies Classic here.