New Zealand teen amateur Lydia Ko has dominated the first round of the Women’s Australian Open golf championship with a career best 10-under-par 63.
Ko finished her round as the morning groups’ outright leader, one shot clear of Colombia’s Mariajo Uribe at Royal Canberra Golf Club on Thursday.
In equal fifth place, five strokes off the lead, was world No.1 Yani Tseng, who was playing alongside Ko.
“I feel I’m getting old,” the 24-year-old Tseng said.
“She just looks like a child, she still looks like 15 but, the way she’s playing golf, she looks like a pro.”
Starting her round on the 10th hole, 15-year-old Ko began slowly by bogeying her first hole of the day.
However, she soon went on a rampage, shooting six-under in the next five holes.
The shot of the day was on the 15th hole, where she eagled the par 5 with a wedge shot from 89 metres out.
“I didn’t really see it go in, someone else told me that it backspinned in and, yeah, it’s pretty cool after a bogey on the first hole,” Ko said.
Ko dropped a shot the next hole, before scoring two more birdies to finish the front nine without a single par in just 30 strokes.
Her back nine was looking just as dominant until she bogeyed her second last hole of the day to finish two shots better than her previous best scorecard of eight-under.
Ko’s playing group also included her childhood idol and former teenage sensation Michelle Wie, who finished the day one-over-par.
“I was in a really good group to start off with. I was pretty nervous when I saw the draw and that I was playing with two big names,” Ko said.
“But it was fun out there and, with a good round, it makes it better. Yani and Michelle, we had really good conversations so I think it made it more enjoyable.”
US golfer and world No.3 Stacey Lewis is leading the afternoon groups’ charge to chase down Ko, with a score of four-under after eight holes.
Queenslanders Katherine Hull-Kirk and Katelyn Must are the leading Australians in the tournament, posting first-round clubhouse scores of five-under and four-under respectively.