Thursday On the Links More professional golf results

LPGA TOUR KIA CLASSIC

CARLSBAD, CALIF.

Mirim Lee birdied all four par-5 holes and finished with a bogey-free 7-under 65 to take the first-round lead in the Kia Classic. Lee took the outright lead with an 8-foot putt on the par-5 fifth — her 14th hole in her afternoon round at Aviara — and hit a wedge to 3 feet to set up her final birdie on the par-5 eighth. The 24-year-old South Korean player won LPGA Tour events last year in Michigan and China. “Today was putting,” Lee said. Lee had only 25 putts, holing 40-footers for birdies on Nos. 16 and 17. She struggled last week in Phoenix, finishing 77th in the Founders Cup. “I practiced a lot this week,” Lee said. “I changed the grip.” Yani Tseng, winless in 70 starts since her victory in the 2012 event at nearby La Costa, had a 66. She finished with a 4-foot birdie putt on the par-4 18th after hitting a 150-yard, 7-iron shot from near a fairway bunker with the ball well above her feet — and water to the right of the green. “I never thought it was going to be that close,” Tseng said. “I was a little like unbalanced, so I kind of tied my shoes a little bit. Actually, there was one second in my mind I was like, ‘How about if I hit it in the water.’ I was like, ‘Oh, if I hit it in the water, I just go drop another ball. I got like a few birdies in my pocket and should be OK.’ So I was like, ‘If I make bogey, it’s no big deal.”’ The Taiwanese player birdied Nos. 7-9 and made a 20-foot eagle putt from the fringe on the par-5 10th. She dropped a stroke on the par-4 14th when she missed a 3-foot par putt and rebounded with a 3-foot birdie putt on the par-4 16th. .

Mirim Lee birdied all four par-5 holes and finished with a bogey-free 7-under 65 to take the first-round lead in the Kia Classic. Lee took the outright lead with an 8-foot putt on the par-5 fifth — her 14th hole in her afternoon round at Aviara — and hit a wedge to 3 feet to set up her final birdie on the par-5 eighth. The 24-year-old South Korean player won LPGA Tour events last year in Michigan and China. “Today was putting,” Lee said. Lee had only 25 putts, holing 40-footers for birdies on Nos. 16 and 17. She struggled last week in Phoenix, finishing 77th in the Founders Cup. “I practiced a lot this week,” Lee said. “I changed the grip.” Yani Tseng, winless in 70 starts since her victory in the 2012 event at nearby La Costa, had a 66. She finished with a 4-foot birdie putt on the par-4 18th after hitting a 150-yard, 7-iron shot from near a fairway bunker with the ball well above her feet — and water to the right of the green. “I never thought it was going to be that close,” Tseng said. “I was a little like unbalanced, so I kind of tied my shoes a little bit. Actually, there was one second in my mind I was like, ‘How about if I hit it in the water.’ I was like, ‘Oh, if I hit it in the water, I just go drop another ball. I got like a few birdies in my pocket and should be OK.’ So I was like, ‘If I make bogey, it’s no big deal.”’ The Taiwanese player birdied Nos. 7-9 and made a 20-foot eagle putt from the fringe on the par-5 10th. She dropped a stroke on the par-4 14th when she missed a 3-foot par putt and rebounded with a 3-foot birdie putt on the par-4 16th. .

TROPHEE HASSAN II

AGADIR, MOROCCO

Frenchman Adrien Saddier opened with an eagle and added five birdies in a 7-under round of 65 to lead Englishman Daniel Gaunt by one shot after the first round. Gaunt could have gone back to the clubhouse level with Saddier, or better, but bogeyed the 18th after birdies on the three previous holes. South African George Coetzee, Scotland’s David Drysdale and Englishman Chris Wood were two strokes back after 67s.