Ko regains form, ties Thompson for Indy lead
INDIANAPOLIS — Lydia Ko shot an 8-under 64 on Friday to join Lexi Thompson atop the Women in Tech Championship leaderboard with one round left at Brickyard Crossing.
Winless in more than a year, the 20-year-old Ko had five straight birdies in the middle of her final nine before bogeying the par-4 eighth.
Thompson followed her first-round 63 with a 66, scrambling for par on the final two holes to match Ko at 15-under 129.
Candie Kung was a stroke back after a 64.
Sandra Gal was tied with Kung at 14 under, then bogeyed the par-3 15th and hit two drives into the water on the par-4 16th en route to a 10. She finished with a 73 to drop eight strokes behind the leaders.
PGA Tour Champions
CHIBA, JAPAN — Kevin Sutherland and Glen Day shot 7-under 65 on Friday to share the first-round lead in the Japan Airlines Championship, the first PGA Tour Champions event in Japan.
Winless on the 50-andover tour, Sutherland has had at least a share of the first-round lead in three of his last four events. He ended up losing to childhood rival Scott McCarron — a stroke back Friday — the previous two times, finishing second three weeks ago in in the Dick’s Sporting Goods Open in upstate New York and tying for third last week in the Shaw Charity Classic in Calgary, Alberta.
Sutherland and Day each closed with a bogey. Sutherland three-putted the par-4 ninth at Narita Golf Club, and Day, also winless on the senior tour, dropped a stroke on the par-4 18th.
McCarron has won three of the last six events to tie Bernhard Langer for the tour victory lead with four.
European Tour
CRANS-MONTANA, SWITZERLAND — Scott Hend of Australia shot a 7-under 63 on Friday to follow his opening 64 and led the European Masters by one stroke after the second round.
Hend had an eagle and five birdies, four from the 14th hole onward, to lead South African Darren Fichardt whose 63 left him alone at 12 under.
Three shots further back were Thongchai Jaidee of Thailand, Fabrizio Zanotti of Paraguay, and Todd Sinnott of Australia.
A three-player group on 8-under included European Ryder Cup player Matt Fitzpatrick of England and American Julian Suri, who both shot 65.
The lowest score on a sunny day in the Swiss Alps was a 62 by Englishman Lee Slattery, 13 shots better than his opening round.
Tommy Fleetwood, the European Tour leader, missed the cut at 2-over after a par-70 round on the scenic course at Cranssur-Sierre club.
Danny Willett, the 2016 Masters champion, was further adrift at 8-over. The Englishman, who won here in 2015, shot a 72.
Hend was runner-up in this event last year when losing in a playoff to Alex Noren of Sweden, the world No. 12 who is the highest-ranked player in the tournament.
Noren was on 3-under after a 67 Friday, alongside overnight co-leader Miguel Angel Jimenez. The 53-year-old Spaniard shot a 73 to follow his opening 64 and was in a tie for 32nd place.