Cantlay shares lead at Riviera; Woods six back

LOS ANGELES » Patrick Cantlay returned to what amounts to his home course on the PGA Tour and shot a 5-under 66 to share the lead at the Genesis Open.

It sounds like a plot that belongs to Tiger Woods, who also grew up 40 miles away and returned to Riviera for the first time in 12 years. Woods lost a ball in a eucalyptus tree, recovered from a rugged start and shot 72.

Cantlay shared the lead with Tony Finau, who had four birdies in his opening five holes.

Cantlay grew up in Long Beach and played at UCLA, where he was the No. 1 amateur in the world. Because of back problems that kept him out of golf for three years, this was his first time playing Riviera in five years.

Woods opened with a birdie by playing the short par-4 10th to perfection. His fourth shot was sailing toward the eucalyptus trees, and before long, Woods was riding in a cart back to the tee. The ball was never found, presumably lost in the tree. He made double bogey. Woods finished by playing his second shot to the ninth green from a bunker on the 10th hole. He still managed par.

In between was mostly a decent day with Woods converting seven putts inside 10 feet, a mixture of pars and birdies, in a 72.

“I’m not that far off to really putting some good numbers out there,” Woods said. “I’ve got to clean up my card — too many bogeys out there. If I can just clean that up, I can start making my way up the board.”

Woods played with Justin Thomas, who had a 69, and Rory McIlroy, who had a 71.

They had the largest gallery of the day, most of them to see Woods, who had not played at Riviera since 2006. It was never hard to figure out where Woods was on the golf course

TJin Young Ko takes 1st-round lead

ADELAIDE, AUSTRALIA » Jin Young Ko made six birdies on the back nine in her LPGA Tour debut to take a two-stroke lead in the opening round of the Women’s Australian Open on Thursday.

Ko, playing in one of the final afternoon groups at Kooyanga, carded a 7-under-par 65 to move past second-place Jiyai Shin, a fellow South Korean.

Asked about her goals for the week, Ko replied: “First one is make the cut, second one is enjoy.”

Former world No. 1 Lydia Ko of New Zealand was among a large group tied for third with 68s, three strokes behind.