LPGA: Lydia Ko takes early lead in Canadian Pacific Women’s Open

The 18-year-old from New Zealand was the early leader at the Canadian Pacific Women’s Open after carding a 5-under-67 Thursday morning at the Vancouver Golf Club, the same Coquitlam course Ko won the tournament on in 2012 as amateur.

The tournament, which ends Sunday, is being played on the 6,681-yard, par-72 Vancouver Golf Club.

The group teeing off in the afternoon includes defending champion So Yeon Ryu, of South Korea, and Brooke Henderson, of Smiths Falls, Ont., the 17-year-old who became the youngest Canadian to win an LPGA or PGA Tour event with her victory last weekend at the Cambia Portland Classic.

Maybe this time Lydia Ko will get the cash. “I just feel very welcomed and it’s like coming home”.

“Obviously it’s great to get a really good start, but you can see there are some other really good scores and everybody’s playing their best”.

Danah Bordner and Sweden’s Pernilla Lindberg shot 68. “With some of the greens, especially on the front nine, being a little slopey, a three-footer might be as hard as a 15-footer going straight up the hill”.

Szeryk, who represents Canada in worldwide competitions, received an exemption into the field as one of the top Canadian players. They were the first two of her seven LPGA Tour titles. An otherwise solid round was spoiled when she double-bogeyed the par-4 15th hole after hooking her approach shot into the trees.

“When I was younger, we almost moved here”, Ko said. Langley’s Sue Kim opened with a 77.

World No 1 Inbee Park opened with a one-under 71 to be tied for 15th.