Stewart Cink finishes strong to tie for PGA Tour lead in Las Vegas

Stewart Cink birdied seven of the final 11 holes Thursday for a seven-under-par 64 and a share of the first-round lead with Martin Laird in the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open in Las Vegas.

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 five-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 65. Jarrod Lyle, Bo Van Pelt, Hideki Matsuyama, Sam Saunders, Brian Stuard and Andrew Svoboda each shot 66.

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Haeji Kang shot a five-under 67 to take a two-stroke lead over five players, including three fellow South Koreans, after the first round of the LPGA’s KEB-Hanabank Championship at Incheon, South Korea.

Lee Il-hee and defending champion Amy Yang shot 69s along with another South Korean, Mirim Lee. Australian Minjee Lee and Catriona Matthew of Scotland were also tied for second on the wind-swept Ocean Course at the Sky72 Golf Club.

There were eight golfers tied for seventh another shot back, including No. 4-ranked Suzann Pettersen of Norway and American Brittany Lincicome.

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.

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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 while 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 group with a 3-and-2 victory over Shane Lowry. Lowery and Pablo Larrazabal are 1-1 while 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.