Ko, Ariya among top seeds for Match Play

WORLD No. 1 Lydia Ko and Thailand’s third-ranked Ariya Jutanugarn are among the top seeds for the LPGA Lorena Ochoa Match Play event that tees off in Mexico City.

South Korean-born New Zealander Ko, who withdrew from last week’s LPGA Texas Shootout with a left eye infection, tops the rankings for the 80th week in a row entering the 64-player event, the LPGA’s first match-play tournament since 2012.

Ko, who turned 20 last week, meets Mexico’s Ana Menendez in a first-round match while Ariya opens against American Amy Anderson but faces a possible second-round match against sister Moriya Jutanugarn, who opens against Canada’s Alena Sharp.

South Koreans Park In-Bee, ranked sixth, and Chun In-Gee, ranked fourth, are also top seeds in their brackets in a showdown that trims the field to 32 and 16 the first two days, then offers two rounds each on Saturday and Sunday to decide a champion.

Park, who won the 2015 Ochoa Invitational stroke-play crown but missed last year’s event with a thumb injury, opens against Taiwan’s Chien Pei-Yun while Chun’s first foe is Belgian Laura Gonzalez Escallon.

China’s seventh-ranked Feng Shanshan is a second seed in Ko’s quarter of the bracket while South Koreans – No. 9 Jang Ha Na, 10thranked Park Sung Hyun and No. 12 Kim Sei-Young – own the other second seed slots. – AFP