Sharp start for Canadian at LPGA Tour stop in Ohio

Canada’s Alena Sharp and rookie Youngin Chun of South Korea each fired a 7-under-par round of 64 on Thursday to share the lead after one round of the Marathon Classic in Sylvania, Ohio.

Four players are tied for third at Highland Meadows Golf Club, as American Stacy Lewis, Spain’s Azahara Munoz, Germany’s Caroline Masson and Sweden’s Jenny Haglund each shot 65.

World No. 8 Brooke Henderson of Smiths Falls, Ont., was in a group tied for 11th at 4-under 67.

Calgary’s Jaclyn Lee was five shots off the pace after an opening round 69, while Anne-catherine Tanguay of Quebec City was at even par 72.

Sharp sullied a first-hole birdie with a bogey at the second, but it would prove to be her only blemish of the day. She scored back-to-back birdies three separate times — at Nos. 3 and 4, 11 and 12 and 15 and 16 — along with a birdie at No. 8.

The Hamilton native is seeking her first LPGA Tour win.

“I’m hitting it really well, so I think I took advantage of a little bit softer greens,” said Sharp, who is in her 15th year on tour.

“Tomorrow afternoon, it’s not going to be like that. I hit a lot of good wedges. The challenge is on the tee shots to get the right spot on the fairway. I did that well today.”

The round by Chun was the best of her young career by three strokes in total and two strokes relative to par.

“I didn’t know I shot 64 today,” the 19-year-old told reporters with a smile. “The funniest thing I finish par ... and then I saw the leaderboard, and there is a seven-under, and I was like, ‘Who is that?’ I asked my dad, ‘I think I shot six, right?’ He said, ‘No, you’re seven.’ So it was me.”

At Silvis, Ill., Mexico’s Robertson Diaz fired a 9-under 62 to seize a two-shot lead over Adam Long and Russell Henley at the PGA Tour’s John Deere Classic.

Nick Taylor of Abbotsford, B.C., produced the best round of the day by a Canadian, opening with a 4-under 67 to sit five shots back.

Roger Sloan of Merritt, B.C., was at 3-under, one shot better than David Hearn of Brantford, Ont.

Mackenzie Hughes of Dundas, Ont., and Adam Svensson of Surrey, B.C., each carded a 1-under 70, while Ben Silverman of Thornhill, Ont., was at even-par 71 and Texas-based Austin Connelly shot a 72.