Golf roundup: Lydia Ko moves into tie with Lexi Thompson at LPGA event

Lydia Ko delivered a clear message to her LPGA Tour rivals Friday. She’s having fun again — and she’s ready to start winning again.

The 20-year-old New Zealander shot an eight-under-par 64 and grabbed a share of the lead with Lexi Thompson at 15-under 129 with one round left in the Indy Women in Tech Championship. If Ko puts together one more solid round Saturday, she could finally pick up her first win since July 2016.

“I know I’ve still got a whole, full 18 holes tomorrow to go, but I think really the key was that I’ve just kind of enjoyed being in this position and being able to hit some good shots and give myself some good looks at birdie,” Ko said. “When you start doing that, it builds your confidence and you’re not dwelling on, `Hey, am I going to hit a good shot or a bad shot.’ I think that’s kind of the mindset that I’ve kind of gotten into the last few months.”

While playing partners Anna Nordqvist and Stacy Lewis, the winner last week in Portland, Ore., struggled, Ko took advantage of the wide fairways and receptive greens and started playing like the world’s No. 1 player— a title she held for more than 80 consecutive weeks.

Now No. 8 in the world, Ko started on the back nine and opened with consecutive birdies to tie Thompson at 9 under. Ko finally broke the tie with a birdie at No. 15, then took charge with five straight birdies on the front side to reach 16 under. The only glitch came on No. 8 when Ko missed the green to the left and slid her par putt to the right for a bogey.

Thompson equaled Ko’s 129 total with a 66 after he opening-round 63. The 22-year-old Florida player closed out the front nine with three birdies on the final four holes then adding birdies at Nos. 13 and 14 to tie Ko. But Thompson’s birdie putt at No. 16 missed just to the left of the hole and she wound up scrambling for par on the final two holes when her approaches went through the greens.

The final threesome Saturday might not need to do much scoreboard watching. Candie Kung made nine birdies and shot a 64 to reach 14 under.

Ashleigh Buhai was fourth at 11 under after a 66, and Cristie Kerr (67) and Amy Olson (68) were 10 under. Sandra Gal was tied with Kung at 14 under, then bogeyed the par-three 15th and hit two drives into the water on the par-four 16th en route to a 10. She finished with a 73 to drop eight strokes behind the leaders.

Amateur Erica Shepherd was at five under after a 68.

Lewis made the cut on the number at two under with rounds of 72 and 70. Nordqvist failed to advance, shooting 74-71 to finish at one over.

Hend leads European Masters by one shot

Scott Hend of Australia shot a seven-under 63 to follow his opening-round 64 and leads the European Masters by one stroke after the second round in Crans-Montana, Switzerland.

Hend had an eagle and five birdies, four from the 14th hole onward, to lead South African Darren Fichardt whose 63 left him alone at 12 under.

Three shots further back were Thongchai Jaidee of Thailand, Fabrizio Zanotti of Paraguay, and Todd Sinnott of Australia.

A group at eight under included European Ryder Cup player Matt Fitzpatrick of England and American Julian Suri.

The lowest score on a sunny day in the Swiss Alps was a 62 by Englishman Lee Slattery, 13 shots better than his opening round. Tommy Fleetwood, the European Tour leader, missed the cut at 2-over after a par-70 round.

Sutherland, Day share Champinons lead in Japan

Kevin Sutherland and Glen Day shot seven-under 65 to share the first-round lead in the Japan Airlines Championship, the first PGA Tour Champions event in Japan.

Winless on the 50-and-over tour, Sutherland has had at least a share of the first-round lead in three of his last four events. He ended up losing to childhood rival Scott McCarron — a stroke back — the previous two times, finishing second three weeks ago in in the Dick’s Sporting Goods Open in upstate New York and tying for third last week in the Shaw Charity Classic in Calgary.

Sutherland and Day each closed with a bogey. Sutherland three-putted the par-four ninth at Narita Golf Club, and Day, also winless on the senior tour, dropped a stroke on the par-four 18th.

McCarron has won three of the last six events to tie Bernhard Langer for the tour victory lead with four.