KAPOLEI: Lizette Salas, Su-Yeon Jang, Beth Allen and Eun-Hee Ji shared the lead at 5-under 67 on Wednesday halfway through the first round of the LPGA Lotte Championship.
Stacy Lewis and 42-year-old Becky Morgan were in the group at 65 after the morning session at Ko Olina Golf Club.
Salas, who played for the U.S. in the last two Solheim Cups, fired a career-low 62 in the final round of the 2013 Lotte, then lost a playoff with Suzann Pettersen. Jang is playing on a sponsor exemption for the second time. She finished fifth last year.
Allen became the first American to finish first on the Ladies European Tour Order of Merit last year.
Hawaii’s Michelle Wie, the 2014 Lotte champion, shot 71.
Lydia Ko, ANA Inspiration winner So Yeon Ryu and Ariya Jutanugarn — the top three players in the world — played together in the afternoon. The tournament ends Saturday. --AP