Lydia Ko Shoots Career-Best 60 to Lead Ford Championship

Lydia Ko fired a career-best 60 in the first round of the Ford Championship on Thursday, surging to a one-shot lead at 12 under par on the Cattail course at Whirlwind Golf Club in Chandler, Arizona. The 28-year-old New Zealander from New Zealand tallied 12 birdies with no bogeys, marking the lowest score of her professional career and coming just one stroke shy of the LPGA Tour's only sub-60 round.

Ko's hot start saw her open with four consecutive birdies after beginning on the 10th hole, a streak she said she had never achieved before. "I don't think I've ever actually started a round with four birdies, so it was nice to take advantage of the good start and continue that on my back nine," Ko said afterward. She added five more birdies on the front nine, including a 40-foot putt on the par-4 13th, which she described as the longest she had holed in some time. By the time she reached 10 under through 15 holes, the possibility of a 59 entered her mind, but Ko maintained her composure.

The turning point came on the par-5 seventh, where she missed a seven-foot birdie putt that would have kept a sub-60 score in play. "Honestly, I think I hit it a touch too soft and it broke a little...