Golf: Five tie for lead in Korea Open

CHUNANN, South Korea: Japanese teen star Ryo Ishikawa shot a 70 in the opening round of the Kolon-Hana Bank Korea Open on Thursday but was three strokes off the five joint leaders.

Koreans Kim Dae-Sub, Kang Kyung-Sool, Kim Dae-Hyun, Park Boo-Won, and Australian Michael Wright finished the day in a tie for the lead on four-under-par 67 at the Woo Jeung Hills Golf Club near Seoul.

However all eyes were on Ishikawa, 17, and fellow young superstars Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland and New Zealander Danny Lee, who both carded 71s.

Ishikawa, who claimed the Fujisankei Classic on Sunday, was followed by dozens of Japanese photographers but calmly finished under par after firing five birdies, one double bogey and two bogeys.

"It takes a bit of adjusting playing here in Korea. It's an OK start and I have plenty of time to work myself into position. The conditions are different and I really need to work on my feel around the greens," said Ishikawa.

His victory at the weekend was his third win in the last six Japan Tour events and saw him usurp McIlroy as the youngest player to reach the top 50 on the Official World Golf Ranking.

The Japanese wonder kid birdied the par-five 18th in stark contrast to his playing partner Lee who finished bogey then double bogey.

"I had a solid start and was going along well but made a mess of things at the end. I have been doing a lot of that recently. It's disappointing," said Lee, who claimed the Johnnie Walker Classic early this year as an amateur.

McIlroy started on the back nine and struggled making the turn in two over. However, he rallied with birdies on the third, fifth and sixth.

"It's a difficult course, really quite tight so level par is not a bad start. I did well to get things back to even," said McIlroy.

Defending champion Bae Sang-Moon also carded a 71 while compatriot An Byeong-Hun fired a 75.

An, an amateur, became the youngest winner of the US Amateur Championship last month when he lifted the trophy aged just 17. The youngest winners previously, both at 18, were Lee, last year and Tiger Woods. - AFP/de

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