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Lydia Ko birdies way to top-five on LPGA Tour

Lydia Ko Queen City Championship LPGA golf
Lydia Ko made five birdies and no bogeys in the first round of the Queen City Championship. PHOTO: LPGA

Lydia Ko is just two strokes off the lead after the opening round of the latest stop on the LPGA Tour.


Ko fired a bogey-free five-under 67 in the first round of the Queen City Championship at TPC River's Bend, near Cincinnati, Ohio, on Thursday (Friday NZ Time), sitting in an eight-way share of fourth.


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Starting at the 10th hole, Ko, the current Olympic and Women's Open champion, made birdies at the 12th and 18th holes on the way out, before coming home with birdies at the first, sixth, and eighth.


The 27-year-old was accurate both off the tee, hitting 13-of-14 fairways, and on the approach, landing on 16-of-18 greens in regulation.


Ko, who sits fifth in the LPGA's season-long Race to the Globe standings, will tee off her second round on Friday at 8.20am local time (12.20am Saturday NZT).



Meanwhile, on the DP World Tour, Ryan Fox sits tied for 54th in defence of his BMW PGA Championship title after the first round on Thursday (Friday NZT).


Fox had five birdies, two bogeys and a double-bogey in a one-under 71 at the Wentworth Club in Surrey, England, to be six shots behind the leader, England's Matthew Baldwin.


Fellow Kiwi Daniel Hillier is another shot adrift in a share of 75th after an even-par 72 in the opening round, which featured three birdies and three bogeys.


Hillier will tee off his second round on Friday at 11.30am local time (10.30pm NZT), while Fox will go off alongside Rory McIlroy and Justin Rose at 12.25pm local time (11.25pm NZT).



On the Ladies European Tour, Canterbury golfer Momoka Kobori is tied for 31st after the first round of the La Sella Open in Spain.


Kobori signed for a one-under 71, which included three birdies and two bogeys, on Thursday (Friday NZT) at the La Sella Golf Resort to sit just four strokes off the lead. She hit 11-of-14 fairways and 13-of-18 greens in regulation.


Also in action this weekend will be Kiwis Steven Alker at the PGA Tour Champions' Pure Insurance Championship at Pebble Beach, and Fiona Xu and Amelia Garvey at the Epson Tour's El Dorado Shootout in Arkansas, with both tournaments starting on Friday (Saturday NZT).

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