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Justin Leonard shoots a 65 to share lead at PGA Tour’s OHL Classic

Justin Leonard, shown during the Frys.com Open in October, shot a 65 in the opening round of the OHL Classic on Thursday.

Justin Leonard, shown during the Frys.com Open in October, shot a 65 in the opening round of the OHL Classic on Thursday.

(Cliff Hawkins / Getty Images)
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Justin Leonard got off to a quick start in what he expects to be his shortest season, opening with a six-under-par 65 on Thursday in the OHL Classic at Mayakoba in Playa del Carmen, Mexico, to share the lead with Aaron Baddeley, Shawn Stefani and Derek Fathauer.

Leonard, who moved from Dallas to Colorado during the summer, said he plans to play only 12 events this season to spend more time with his wife and four children. The former British Open champion is using his one-time exemption for being top 50 on the PGA Tour’s career money list.

The 43-year-old Leonard played bogey-free at El Camaleon before the wind and rain arrived and stopped play for 1 hour 14 minutes. The round was suspended because of darkness, and 21 players did not finish.

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Stefani was a runner-up last year at Mayakoba to Charley Hoffman.

Baddeley, a three-time winner, lost his card last season and failed to get it back through the Web.com Tour Finals. He is playing as a past champion, and got into the Mexico event through a top-10 finish last week. He tied for fourth in the rain-plagued Sanderson Farms Championship in Mississippi.

D.J. Trahan, another past champion, also got into Mayakoba through a top 10 in Mississippi. He was in a large group at 66 that included Charles Howell III and Patton Kizzire.

Matt Kuchar, at No. 16 in the world the highest-ranked player at Mayakoba, opened with a 72. He was in the same group as Mississippi winner Peter Malnati, who shot a 68, and HSBC Champions winner Russell Knox, who had a 70. Knox is playing his fifth straight week, going from Napa, California, to Las Vegas to Malaysia to Shanghai and now Mexico.

Inbee Park leads Lorena Ochoa Invitational

Inbee Park made a 15-foot birdie putt on the final hole for a four-under 68 and a one-stroke lead in the LPGA Tour’s Lorena Ochoa Invitational in Mexico City.

The second-ranked Park had seven birdies and three bogeys at tree-lined Club de Golf Mexico. She’s making her first start since withdrawing in China two weeks ago because of a cyst on her left middle finger. The South Korean star has four victories this season, winning two of the five majors.

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Angela Stanford, Suzann Pettersen and Minjee Lee were tied for second.

Stanford is coming off playoff loss to Sun-Ju Ahn last week in the Asian Swing finale in Japan.

Mexican amateur Gaby Lopez was tied for fifth at 71 with So Yeon Ryu, Azahara Munoz, Jaye Marie Green, Sydnee Michaels, Pernilla Lindberg and Mariajo Uribe. Lopez is a senior at the University of Arkansas senior. She was second this year in the NCAA tournament.

Garcia’s 64 good for one-shot lead at BMW Masters

Spain’s Sergio Garcia shot an 8-under 64 to take a one-stroke lead over France’s Victor Dubuisson and South Korea’s An Byeong-hun in the rain-soaked BMW Masters in Shanghai.

Garcia, who started his round on the back nine, made four birdies in his first five holes and added another five after the turn to offset one bogey. Dubuisson, the Turkish Airlines Open two weeks ago, and An each had seven birdies at Lake Malaren.

The event is the third of four in the European Tour’s Finals Series. The DP World Tour Championship is next week in Dubai.

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