Ko finds birdies hard to come by

ROGERS — Lydia Ko signed her scorecard, signed a few autographs, then headed to the practice putting green as the Friday evening sun was setting on Pinnacle Country Club.

Ko, the defending Walmart

NW Arkansas Championship winner, admitted she didn’t leave herself many chances to go low after shooting a 1-under 70 in the first round.

“I didn’t have that many birdie opportunities,” she said. “This is probably the toughest I’ve played this golf course, because it was pretty breezy, at least for the first nine holes. But hopefully I’ll give myself more opportunities tomorrow.”

A quick look at the leaderboard showed that the LPGA golfers who teed off early Friday scored much better than the afternoon group. A brief weather delay forced golfers off the course mid-afternoon for about 45 minutes. When they returned to the course, they found the conditions had changed from warm and humid, to cool and windy. Very windy.

“I don’t think the cooler temperatures affected the golf course, but the wind and how strong it was

the bigger factor,” Ko said.

Ko, who scorched the field last year in a record-setting 17-under, went to 1-under with a birdie at the par-3, No. 3 hole, but gave it back with a bogey at No. 5. She birdied the par-3, No. 6, but again gave it back at No. 8 with a bogey.

It was that kind of round for the 20-year-old former world No. 1. Ko finished the front nine even-par with a par at No. 9 that set off a string of five straight pars. She picked up a birdie at No. 14, a par5, then again gave the stroke back with a bogey at No. 16. Ko finished the round with a birdie at No. 17 to go to 1-under, then made things interesting at No. 18.

Ko crushed a drive on the par-5 18th, but her second shot from the fairway rolled

through the green and up against the grandstand. She got a drop and chipped to within 18 feet, but ran her birdie put past the hole before saving par with a short comeback putt.

Last year Ko famously wore the Arkansas Razorback hat as she joked with fans on No. 17 on what the LPGA Tour calls “the loudest hole on the tour.” Ko said Friday’s round was more of the same as fans cheered the defending champion.

“Some fans were holding a sign with my head on it,” she said. “So it was really cool and the fans here are great.”

Ko was paired with perhaps the best grouping of the first two rounds with two other former tournament champions in the trio. Inbee Park, the former No. 1 player on the LPGA Tour and the 2016 Olympic gold medalist shot a 2-under, and 2012 champion Ai Miyazato finished with a 1-over for the day.

Miyazato, who has announced she will be retiring from the LPGA Tour after this season, said she enjoyed playing with Park and Ko.

“It was absolutely fun today,” she said. “I haven’t played with Lydia since maybe a couple of years ago, so it was really nice to see her play out there. And Inbee is always fun to play with, too.

“This was really just tough conditions this afternoon. When we teed off it was raining and the wind was blowing, and the delay for 45 minutes or so. And the wind did not settle down to the end.”

Ko, who enters today’s second round seven shots off the pace set by leader Sung Hyun Park, had a simple answer for her strategy to get back in the hunt for the title.

“Make a lot of birdies,” she laughed.

Ko will tee off at 8:36 a.m. on No. 10.

Ko