LAS VEGAS — Stewart Cink birdied seven of the final 11 holes Thursday for a 7-under 64 and a share of the first-round lead with Martin Laird in the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open. ADVERTISING LAS VEGAS — Stewart Cink
LAS VEGAS — Stewart Cink birdied seven of the final 11 holes Thursday for a 7-under 64 and a share of the first-round lead with Martin Laird in the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open.
Cink had a bogey-free round at TPC Summerlin in his first start since dropping out of the FedEx Cup playoffs after the second event. He won the last of his six PGA Tour titles in the 2009 British Open.
Laird also had a bogey-free round. He played the front nine in 5-under 30 and added birdies on Nos. 15 and 18, holing a 50-foot putt on the last. The Scot won the 2009 event and lost in a playoff in 2010 when Jonathan Byrd made a hole-in-one on the fourth extra hole.
Scotland’s Russell Knox was third at 66.
Jarrod Lyle, Bo Van Pelt, Hideki Matsuyama, Sam Saunders, Brian Stuard and Andrew Svoboda shot 66.
Lyle is making his second PGA Tour start since a recurrence of leukemia some 18 months ago. The Australian tied for 31st last week in the season-opening Frys.com Open in Napa, California.
FedEx Cup winner Billy Horschel had a 71. At No. 13, he’s the top-ranked player in the field.
WORLD MATCH PLAY CHAMPIONSHIP
ASH, England — Defending champion Graeme McDowell’s comeback fell short in a 2-and-1 loss to Mikko Ilonen, and Henrik Stenson rallied from three holes down to edge Francesco Molinari 2 and 1 in round-robin play in the World Match Play Championship.
Joost Luiten beat Alexander Levy 4 and 3 to improve to 2-0 in the Larson group. McDowell and Ilonen are 1-1, and Levy — the winner of the rain-shortened Portugal Masters last week — is 0-2. After round-robin play in the four four-man groups, the top two in each group will advance to the quarterfinals at The London Golf Club.
Victor Dubuisson improved to 2-0 in the Gabrielsson with a 3-and-2 victory over Shane Lowry. Lowery and Pablo Larrazabal are 1-1, and Stephen Gallacher is 0-2.
In the McCormack group, Patrick Reed, Paul Casey, Jamie Donaldson and Jonas Blixt are all 1-1. Reed beat Casey 2 and 1. Stenson and George Coetzee top the Palmer group at 1-0-1, Thongchai Jaidee is 1-1, and Molinari 0-2.
LPGA KEB-HANABANK CHAMPIONSHIP
INCHEON, South Korea — Haeji Kang shot a 5-under 67 to take a two-stroke lead over five players, including three fellow South Koreans, after the first round of the LPGA KEB-Hanabank Championship.
Defending champion Amy Yang, Lee Il-hee and Mirim Lee were in the group at 69 Sky72’s wind-swept Ocean Course along with Australia’s Minjee Lee and Scotland’s Catriona Matthew.
Fourth-ranked Suzann Pettersen of Norway and American Brittany Lincicome topped the group at 70.
Second-ranked Inbee Park, in position to move to No. 1 in the world with a win in the absence of top-ranked Stacy Lewis, opened with a 71. Park married swing coach Gi Hyeob-nam on Monday in Seoul.
Third-ranked Lydia Ko of New Zealand shot 73.
U.S. Women’s Open champion Michelle Wie opened with a 76. She’s making her first start since withdrawing during the first round of the Evian Championship in September after reinjuring a stress fracture in her right hand. Women’s British Open winner Mo Martin had a 78 in her return from a thumb injury.
