Lydia Ko has started the Evian Championship in sparkling form. Photo: AFP
Lydia Ko has given her her bid to make the LPGA Hall of Fame a solid boost with a splendid opening round at the Evian Championship in France.
The New Zealand star is in a tie for fourth after a six-under par 65 in one of the LPGA Tour's five majors, one shot behind joint leaders Patty Tavatanakit, Gemma Dryburgh and Ingrid Lindblad.
Ko had a bogey at just the second hole in Évian-les-Bains, but recovered with birdies on the next two holes. She birdied 11, 12 and 13, before finishing brilliantly with another on the final hole.
Ko, who won the Evian Championship in 2015, has 26 LPGA Hall of Fame points. Another major win would get her past the minimum 27 needed for induction.
Tavatanakit, of Thailand, and Dryburgh of Scotland each had five birdies on the back nine, while Lindblad of Sweden started on No. 10 and had five on the front nine, Reuters reported.
Ko is one of six players one stroke back from the leaders, while world No. 1 Nelly Korda shot a two-under to be tied for 21st place with 16 others.
Meanwhile, Ko's compatriots Daniel Hillier and Ryan Fox have also had strong starts at the Scottish Open at the Renaissance Club in North Berwick.
Hillier registered five birdies and a sole bogey in his opening round, sitting in a tie for 23rd after four-under 66. He is four shots behind leader, American Justin Thomas, while Fox had a three-under 67 to be in a tie for 34th. Fox had three birdies in his bogey-free round.
Thomas stands one shot clear of South Korea's Sungjae Im (63), who bogeyed the first and 17th holes on his opening 18 but has a stroke on five players tied at six-under, including Sweden's Ludvig Aberg, Justin Lower, Germany's Maximillian Kieffer, China's Haotong Li and Belgium's Thomas Detry.
Ko, Hillier and Fox [https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/sport/521549/golf-daniel-hillier-ryan-fox-and-lydia-ko-chosen-for-paris-olympics were named as New Zealand's golfers for the Paris Olympics earlier this week.
- RNZ / Reuters