Defending champion Lydia Ko shot a five-under 67 to seize the early lead at the LPGA Tour’s Swinging Skirts Classic tournament on Thursday.
The world No. 1 from New Zealand looked confident and comfortable in the first round, much like she did last year when she picked up her first professional win at the event.
“I read most of [the greens] really well,” Ko said. “I tried to be confident with the reads I had. It’s tough here so you can’t really be overly aggressive.”
Photo: AFP
Ko, who turned 18 yesterday, has won six times on the LPGA Tour. Her first win came at the 2012 Canadian Open as an amateur.
Juli Inkster, 54, posted a four-under 68 and she was tied for second, one stroke behind Ko at the Lake Merced Golf Club. The Solheim Cup captain was joined there by Jang Ha-na of South Korea and Thailand’s P.K. Kongkraphan.
Inkster has not won an LPGA Tour event since capturing her 31st career victory in 2006.
Photo Courtesy of Swinging Skirts LPGA Classic
“Age matters in a lot of things, as far as how your body feels, how far you hit the ball and how much time you can put into it — but you can still go out there and compete at 54,” Inkster said.
World No. 2 Stacy Lewis headlines a group of four players tied for fifth at three-under. Lewis finished the first round alongside Morgan Pressel, Caroline Hedwall and Choi Na-yeon.
Ko began her round with four straight pars before making her way up the leaderboard.
Inkster, Jang and Kongkraphan all shared the early clubhouse lead. Ko drew level with four birdies in five holes from No. 5.
Following a par at 10, Ko briefly dropped back to three-under for the day with her lone bogey at the par-four 11th.
Ko then took the lead for good when she drained back-to-back birdies on 13 and 14, getting her to five-under. She ended her day with four consecutive pars to finish with a 67.
Jang started quickly, making five birdies and two bogeys on her front nine along with two pars. On the back nine she rolled in three more birdies and two bogeys.
Among Taiwanese players, Hou Yu-sang was the best-placed after a 72 left her in a share for 28th.
On 73 were Chen Meng-chu and Hsu Wei-ling. Candie Kung and Hsieh Yu-ling were a further stroke back, while Tsai Pei-ying, Chen Szu-han, Chien Pei-yun and Yani Tseng had rounds of 76.
Further adrift were Babe Liu, Min Lee, Pan Yen-ling, Cheng Ssu-chia, Yu Han-hsuan and Lin Tzu-chi, while Yeh Hsin-ning, Hung Jo-hua, Kuo Ai-chen and Shih Huei-ju all had rounds in excess of 80.
Additional reporting by staff writer
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