The first round of the Hartford HealthCare Women's Championship saw a first of the season, with Fatima Fernandez Cano making a hole-in-one on Great River Golf Club's No. 1. It was the Spaniard's first hole of the tournament, setting her up well but also adding slight pressure to the remaining 17 holes.

"It was the first hole of the day, and with that hole location, I felt like it was not the hardest one," said Fernandez Cano. "I knew I had to clear a little false front like 7 or 8 yards on. I had a seven iron, which I basically knew that I had to hit it pretty good to get it to the hole. I hit a really good line. I think it landed four yards short, and we kind of saw it go in, but we weren't sure.

"It's pretty exciting to start a day like that. But then I just told myself it's just one hole. You have 17 more today and 53 more for the tournament. So, I just kind of tried to settle down the best I could."

While it's easy to ride on the adrenaline of a hole-in-one, the 28-year-old level set her expectations and was proud of how she managed her emotions. Outside of a lone bogey on the 5th, Fernandez Cano kept a pretty scorecard, setting herself up for an impactful moving day on Saturday.

"I actually managed really well," said Fernandez Cano. "I played well overall today, just very steady golf. If you think about it, being 2-under after one and finishing 3-under is not super good. But overall, it was super solid and just very, very steady. I'm very happy with it."

The Epson Tour winner has been navigating the ups and downs of professional golf since 2018. She graduated from the official qualifying tour of the LPGA in 2020 and 2021 and is also battling an injury that brought her back and fighting for her LPGA Tour card. In 2024, Fernandez Cano has made five cuts in six starts and has also participated in events on the Ladies European Tour (LET), earning top-10 finishes three times. These experiences have helped her rediscover her form.

"I think the whole year I was playing just like quite solid in general, but it just wasn't clicking as much as I wanted it to," said Fernandez Cano. "I went over to the Ladies European Tour, and I had some really strong finishes that made my confidence go up a little bit. I started hitting the ball a bit more solid. I was hitting pretty solid overall, but I was able to hit it off the tee a little bit better, make a few more putts."

She tees off Great River Golf Club's 10th at 2:09 pm on Saturday. Fans can follow along with live scoring HERE.

Fatima Fernandez Cano Finds Momentum Early in Connecticut

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