New Zealand teen amateur Lydia Ko showed why Karrie Webb said she’s ready to turn professional as she produced a blistering front nine in the first round of the Women’s Australian Open golf championship in Canberra.
Ko was seven-under-par after just 11 holes, one shot clear of Columbia’s Mariajo Uribe and South Korea’s Mi Hyang Lee in the early stages of the US LPGA Tour-sanctioned tournament at Royal Canberra.
In equal fourth place, two strokes off the lead, was world No.1 Yani Tseng, who was playing alongside Ko.
Starting on the 10th hole, 15-year-old Ko began slowly, bogeying the first and parring the second.
However she soon went on a rampage, scoring five-under in the next four holes.
The shot of the day was on the 15th hole, where she eagled the par 5 with a wedge shot from 75m out on the fairway.
Ko dropped a shot the next hole, before scoring two more birdies to finish the front nine in just 30 strokes.
Tseng had a steadier front, scoring five birdies and not dropping a shot.
Queenslanders Katherine Hull-Kirk and Katelyn Must were the best of the Australians currently out on the course in the monring at three-under-par.