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Lydia Ko will regret what could have been an excellent opening round of the last LPGA Tour event.
Ko had a share of the lead through 16 holes at the Drive on Championship in Georgia on Friday morning (NZT), only for an ugly triple bogey at par three 17 that derailed his round.
She rallied to birdie on the 18th, her sixth of the day, to shoot an opening round of 71 one down.
That leaves her tied for 26th, six shots behind American leaders Danielle Kang, who had no blemishes that day, and Jennifer Song, who shot searing seven-under-65.
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His compatriot, American ally McDonald, is a shot away in third place.
Earlier, Ko birdied two of his first three holes and three of four holes in the center section of the last nine.
Mike Comer / Getty Images
Kiwi Lydia Ko plays her tee shot on the sixth hole during the first round of the LPGA Drive On Championship in North Carolina on Friday.
The 23-year-old has five top-20 finishes in eight appearances since joining new swing coach Sean Foley in July, telling the media Thursday morning that the transition had been smooth.
“I think Sean has been able to clear up some of the questions in my mind and just make it simpler between the ears. Sometimes that’s the most important thing than learning something new.”
He has improved his ranking by 16 places since working with Foley, who now ranks 39th.
His Kiwi teammate Danny Lee recovered from a dismal start to save face and shoot an even par 72 in the first round of the final PGA Tour event, the Zozo Championship.
Lee bogey three of the first four holes to sit on one part of the early 77 gates, but birdied three of the last six holes to re-par in one part of 58.
Colombian Sebastián Muñoz leads after his 64 of eight under par, one better than Englishman Tyrrell Hatton.
