Former tennis phenom Gabi Ruffels attends Wimbledon, then co-leads Amundi Evian in France
The daughter of two tennis pros, Ruffels first excelled at tennis back in Australia before abruptly switching to golf. She was 6 years old the last time she attended Wimbledon and didn't remember much.
"I went with my boyfriend and also we went kind of as guests of Todd Woodbridge, who was a doubles champion and really good friends with my dad. My dad coached him throughout his whole career," said Ruffels of her father Ray.
"So it was nice meeting up with them. He got us into the member's only area which was so cool. It was such a cool experience. Yeah, it's just kind of like a perspective switch as well from golf to kind of get in the tennis world."
Ruffels' opening bogey-free 6-under 65 gives her a share of the lead in France with fellow Aussie Grace Kim, Jennifer Kupcho, Andrea Lee and Leona Maguire, who was buoyed by a mid-round ace. Minjee Lee, winner of last month's KPMG Women's PGA, sits one shot back at 5 under while world No. 1 Nelly Korda holds a share of seventh at 4 under.
"I didn't drive it very well, especially with my driver, so I'm going to the range after," Korda told her sister Jessica, who was working for Golf Channel, after the round. "Going to FaceTime my coach, Jamie (Mulligan), and kind of figure out what was going on.
"I had two misses and that's never good on a tight Evian golf course with the rough being pretty thick. Putting as the day went on progressively got better."
While it's more of the same for players like Lee and Kupcho, the recent winner of the Meijer LPGA Classic, Ruffels hasn't had a top 10 yet this season. The 2019 U.S. Women's Amateur champion noted that she's been working hard on her swing with instructor Bret Lederer and was pleased with Thursday's results.
"My irons were really good but I made a lot of putts, too," said Ruffels. "I made a lot of putts outside like 20, 25 feet which really helps out here. Then made some good putts inside 15 feet."
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