Kiwi golfer Lydia Ko's mistake-free opening round has put her right in the mix as she looks to defend her Lotte Championship crown in Hawaii.
Ko shot an opening round of 69 on Thursday to sit three shots back from Australian leader Hannah Green in a tie for 10th.
Starting on the back nine, Ko opened with seven straight pars before she hit two consecutive birdies on the par-four 17th and par-five 18th to take a promising start into the front nine.
Ko added a third birdie on the par-four third before finishing her round without incident to sign off with a three-under 69.
The 24-year-old said she was content with her first round.
”The wind picked up quite a lot over my back nine, which is the front nine, so it made it a lot tougher out there,” Ko said.
The back-to-back birdies on the back nine gave her confidence at the halfway mark, Ko added.
”I made a really good up and down on 16," she said.
“Then was able to make good birdie on 17...I think it is one of the tougher holes out there, so to kind of have that one and have a good momentum and birdie 18 I think set the day up to kind of keep it going.
“I feel like there could have been some that I wish had fallen, but at the same, I holed two really good par putts, and sometimes these are more crucial than the birdies."
Green topped the leaderboard on Thursday with eight birdies and two bogeys.
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