Lee-Ann Pace carded a level-par 71 in the opening round of the Lacoste Ladies Open de France on Thursday to trail the trio of leaders by three shots.
She made birdies on the ninth and the 14th, but bogeys on four and 18 prevented her for going under par and being even closer to the lead.
Next best of the three South Africans in the field was Stacy Bregman who had a costly double-bogey six on the 13th to finish two over, while Lejan Lewthwaite had par-three troubles with a double-bogey on the 170-yard fifth, and, two holes later, a quadruple seven on the short 133-yard seventh. She signed for a seven-over 78 for a share of 72nd.
Pace has the English duo of Charlotte Thompson and Gabriella Cowley in her sights after the pair carded opening rounds of three-under 68. They were joined at the top of the leaderboard by French amateur Lucie Malchirand.
