Ko, Lee start well; Daly leads in Prague
WELLINGTON: Lydia Ko and Danny Lee have both made good starts to their respective golf tournaments in North America.
Ko is tied for third after the first round of the Canadian Open in Saskatchewan.
Her opening round 6underpar 66 has her two shots behind the leaders, Mariajo Uribe, of Colombia, and Ariya Jutanugarn, of Thailand.
Ko has won the Canadian Open three times, twice as an amateur in 2012 and 13 and then once as a professional in 2015.
Meanwhile, Danny Lee is tied for fifth after the first round of the latest PGA tournament in New Jersey.
Lee fired a 4underpar 67 to be one shot behind the leaders, the Americans Jamie Lovemark, Vaughn Taylor, Brian Stuard and Kevin Tway.
Lee needs a good result this week to improve on his current Fedex Cup ranking of 103 to continue his season.
The top 100 after this tournament advance to next week’s second leg of the playoffs.
On the European Tour, American John Daly rolled back the years with an errorfree 8underpar 64 in his opening round at the Czech Masters in Prague to grab a share of the lead.
Daly, a former British Open and US PGA champion who has failed to make the cut in a major since 2012, started strongly at the Albatross Golf Resort with birdies on his first three holes before adding two more to turn in 5 under.
The 52yearold, nicknamed ‘‘Long John’’, birdied three more times on the back nine to equal the course record, showing that his booming drive is still a powerful weapon.
New Zealander Josh Geary had a 1underpar 71 and is tied for 87th. — RNZ