Hot start lifts Germany's Gal to LPGA lead

Germany's Sandra Gal got off to a sizzling start Thursday and ended the day with an eight-under-par 64, seizing a one-shot lead after the first round of the LPGA Titleholders. Gal teed off on the 10th hole at Tiburon Golf Club and reeled off six straight birdies. She then played par golf until a lone bogey of the day came at the par-three fifth. But she bounced back with birdies at six, eight and nine to match the tournament record and edge ahead of Canada's Rebecca Lee-Bentham. Gal, 28, said she opted to attack from the start in the final event of the season, which is open to players with top-three finishes this year. "I thought this tournament was a little different than the other ones, so I thought I'm just going to be really aggressive and just go for everything because really all you want to do is win here," she said. "Any other place it doesn't really matter that much. So that's kind of the mindset I had and I think that really helped me and I just kept rolling in putts. Started with six in a row, so that was kind of fun." Lee-Bentham also teed off on 10, opening with back-to-back birdies. She added two more birdies at 13 and 14 and another two shots at 17 and 18 before her only bogey of the day at the second. She made two more birdies coming home, including at the par-four ninth, her last, giving her sole possession of second place ahead of Sweden's Anna Nordqvist, China's Feng Shanshan and US teenager Lexi Thompson. Feng holed out for eagle at her last hole, the ninth, to grab her share of third on 66. American Sandra Changkija was alone in sixth place after a 67, while world number one Park In-Bee headed a group of six players sharing seventh on four-under 68. New Zealand's 16-year-old Lydia Ko, who is making her professional debut at this final event of the 2013 season, carded a one-under-par 71 that put her tied for 30th in a group that also included defending champion Choi Na-Yeon of South Korea. Although Ko has won four professional tournaments as an amateur -- including back-to-back LPGA Canadian Women's Open titles in 2012 and 2013, she admitted her first round as a pro was fun but "hectic". "I tried not to think too much about it and stay calm," said Ko, who will become an LPGA tour member next season. "It didn't feel too odd or special or slow or whatever today. That actually surprised me, I thought I would be much more nervous. And actually one of the good things was I actually wasn't thinking about any money or related stuff, I just tried to play my game." Ko ran into trouble with a double-bogey six at the third and a bogey at the seventh, but she responded with birdies at the eighth, 12th, 15th and 17th. "I gave myself opportunities, and par is sometimes good and all I can do is just set up birdie putts and then some will go in and some won't," she said. Source:AFP