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Teenager Ko sets the pace in Australian Open

New Zealand 15-year-old amateur golfer Lydia Ko holds the early clubhouse lead in the Australian Open after a stunning first round at Royal Canberra.

Australian Open broadcast times on ABC 1:
Friday, February 15 – 3.00pm*
Saturday, February 16 - 2.00pm*
Sunday, February 17 - 1.00pm*

* LIVE in the eastern daylight saving states of NSW, ACT, Victoria & Tasmania.
Fresh from her win in the New Zealand Open last week, Ko set the pace on Thursday with a 10-under-par 63.

Columbian Mariajo Uribe, 27, is one shot further back on 9-under after an opening round of 64 in pristine morning conditions in Canberra.

Best of the afternoon group was Jiyai Shin of South Korea who is another shot further back on 8-under.

Australia's former world number one Karrie Webb, in her quest to win the Australian Open for a fifth time, was 2-under after her first round, tied for 34th place.

The best placed Australians after the first 18 holes were Katherine Hull-Kirk, Kristie Smith and Sarah Jane Smith, all tied for eighth spot on 5-under.

View the Australian Open's full scoreboard here
But the star of the day was Ko, though her round began with a bogey on the 10th.

Not to be deterred, she followed that up with four successive birdies and then an eagle on the 15th thanks to a brilliant wedge shot from 75 metres out.


AUDIO: Media Call: Lydia Ko (ABC News)
Another bogey followed but there were seven more birdies to come to give her an opening round of 63.

"After my bogey on the first hole I thought 'oh, what's today going to be like,'" Ko said after her round.

"But after a couple of birdies I settled down and felt fairly comfortable."

Ko said she was pretty nervous to start off with playing alongside world number one Yani Tseng and another former teen star in Michelle Wie.

Teenage golfer Lydia Ko
PHOTO: Star in the making ... Lydia Ko tees off at Royal Canberra. (AAP: Lucas Coch)
'Pretty inspiring'

Tseng had a solid opening round of 68 while Wie shot a disappointing 1-over-par 74.

It was Ko's best round in a tournament, surpassing the 8-under-par she shot when winning the NSW Open as a 14-year-old.

Despite heading Tseng on the scoreboard Ko said she was in awe of the world number one out on the course.

"It was pretty inspiring," Ko said.

"Today was a really good round for me but I do know that there are many things I do need to improve.

"She (Tseng) was pretty much faultless in my way."

Tseng hadn't met Ko before Thursday, and she was impressed by the amateur's performance.

"I mean she still looks 15, I don't know how she hit the ball that well, I don't know, I wasn't even close to her when I was 15", she said.

"You can tell she is very relaxed, I don't think she even knows that after 13 holes she has only made one par."

Ko has won three professional tournaments to date but heading into the Australian Open said she is not ready to give up her amateur status just yet.

"At least not this year," she said on the eve of the event.

"We don't want to rush anything and I haven't seriously talked about it with my parents or my coach."
by jaclynseo | 2013-09-05 12:21


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by jaclynseo

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