Gemma Dryburgh is looking forward to the offseason, but that isn’t because the Scotswoman needs a break from the grind of LPGA Tour life.

A 32-year-old Dryburgh and her partner, Anne-Lise Bidou, recently announced via Instagram on Sept. 7 that they’re expecting their first child together, with Bidou due to give birth around Christmastime.

And with just three events remaining on the 2025 schedule, one of which, the CME Group Tour Championship, Dryburgh is still working to qualify for, the soon-to-be mother can’t help but excitedly anticipate the new chapter of her life that’s rapidly approaching, one that will see her don a new title of LPGA Mom.

“(We have a) little one on the way. Christmas Eve they're due,” Dryburgh said after the first round of the Maybank Championship. “Looking forward to that. It's going to change my life considerably. Looking forward to it. It's just kind of excited for the offseason to come in a few weeks. So get ready for that.”

But there’s still a bit of work to be done for Dryburgh before she can turn her full attention to baby preparations. She entered this week at the Maybank Championship at 79th in the Race to the CME Globe, 19 spots outside of the top-60 cutoff for entry into the season-ending CME Group Tour Championship.

With a pretty substantial amount of ground to make up and only berths in Malaysia, the TOTO Japan Classic and The ANNIKA driven by Gainbridge at Pelican left to do so, Dryburgh needs to throw things into gear quickly and rapidly race up the point standings if she wants to play her way into the field at Tiburón Golf Club.

And through one round at Kuala Lumpur Golf and Country Club, it seems that Dryburgh is more than up for that challenge.

The Scot opened her 21st start of the 2025 LPGA Tour season with a bogey-free, 7-under 65, a red-hot first-round effort that saw her card a whopping seven birdies to share second with Benedetta Moresco through 18 holes in Malaysia.

Dryburgh made a birdie on the par-4 1st hole and then picked up two more on the third and fifth holes to move to 3-under. She landed one final front-nine punch on the par-3 8th hole to turn in 32 at 4-under on the day and climbed to 5-under when she birdied the par-5 10th hole.

She then nabbed a pair of birdies on the par-4 16th and par-5 18th holes to polish off her 65, what is Dryburgh’s lowest round-one score since she fired a 65 on the first day of The ANNIKA at Pelican Golf Club last November.

“I think I hit every green today, so that always helps,” Dryburgh said. “I didn't really have any stressful putts out there, which was nice. Just kept it going and obviously nice to birdie the last and finish on a high.

“I was very consistent off the tee and hit some nice iron shots and the putting, I was seeing the lines on the greens. I got a good look (on Wednesday) in the pro-am and didn't quite putt as well (Wednesday). So I felt like I learned a lot from that.”

It’s been a pretty steady year for Dryburgh, who made 14 cuts in 20 events before teeing it up in the Maybank Championship. She has just one top-10 finish on her 2025 resume, a tie for sixth that Dryburgh tallied at the Dow Championship alongside her playing partner Cassie Porter, but the 32-year-old has recorded three additional top-20 results, most recently tying for 19th at the BMW Ladies Championship a couple of weeks ago in the Republic of Korea.

In terms of this week’s tournament, Dryburgh has appeared in both previous editions of the Maybank Championship, tying for 61st in 2024 and tying for sixth in the tournament’s inaugural year in 2023. And it’s that latter result that has given her a lot of confidence on which to lean at Kuala Lumpur Golf and Country Club as she pursues a strong finish at the Maybank Championship, one that has become quite critical at this point in the season.

“I've played well here in the past. Couple of years ago, I finished top 10, so it suits my eye,” Dryburgh said of this week’s venue. “There is always a hole, usually, that's like, oh, nervous for that one. I seem to like every hole out here. I like how the greens are kind of similar to where I play in New Orleans, grainy. So, it kind of suits my eye.”

With balmy temperatures to contend with at a golf course that gave up several low scores in the opening round, Dryburgh needs to both pace herself energy-wise and try to keep up with the early clip of the pack if she wants to be in the mix come Sunday afternoon in Malaysia.

But a shot at a second career LPGA Tour victory, a spot in the CME Group Tour Championship field and a guaranteed share of that event’s whopping $11 million purse are more than enough motivation for Dryburgh to keep the pedal down over the next 54 holes at the Maybank Championship.

Starting a family is expensive after all.

Gemma Dryburgh Puts Pedal Down Early at Maybank Championship

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