Artis and Oh share early lead at Australia Classic

Rebecca Artis and Sarah Oh came out blazing in the opening round of the Australia Classic on Friday as the Australiasie pair each shot seven-under 65 to take a three-shot lead at the Twin Creeks Golf and Country Club.

In the first China LPGA Tour event to be held overseas, Pan Yanhong was the top Chinese following a round of 68, tied for equal third with Thailand's Wichanee Meechai at the A$150,000 tournament, a co-sponsored event with Australian Ladies Professional Golf.

Australian Stephanie Na, Thai Hathaikorn Wongwaikijphaisal and China's Zhang Weiwei, Zhou Jiayi and Ye Ziqi were equal fifth at 69.

Artis, ranked 137th on the Rolex Women's World Rankings, was eight-under through 17 holes but dropped her only stroke at the par-four last to stay in the hunt for her first ALPG victory. She credited her strong start to some recent training after finishing equal 34th in her last start at the Lalla Meryem Cup in Morocco.

"I played really good, I hit the ball really solid, being doing some pretty solid work last week on the Gold Coast after Morocco, fixed my swing up a bit. Been doing a fair bit of technical stuff but got it back on track and I hit the ball really good today, hit some pretty high quality iron shots."

With the rain letting up right before her round, Artis said the conditions were perfect from the first green onwards.

"The greens were soft, so you could fire at the pins," said the New South Wales native. "I hit it fairly close, probably didn't have a putt there for a stretch over four metres."

Oh, a Korean who moved to Australia as a teenager to pursue a golf career, birdied her last two holes to grab a share of the lead in her bogey-free round. Despite having limited preparations for the tournament, the 26-year-old said she was delighted with her round.

"It is very surprising to be honest, but I am up there so I have a great chance this week. I just need to get the game back going," said Oh, winner of the Moss Vale Classic in January.

"Everything worked pretty well. My driver was a bit rusty but the fairways are pretty wide. I hit a few good iron shots out there today. I had a couple of three-footers and a couple of tap-ins as well. I did hole a very long putt on the 17th, it was like 50 metres away. I was on the right side and I was on the left and I drained it."

After making the turn at one-under 35, Pan got her game going when she reeled off three consecutive birdies to start the back nine. The 31-year-old then picked up another stroke with a birdie two at the 17th hole before closing with a bogey five at the last.

Even after having to battle through the wet conditions the past two days, Pan, a four-time winner on the Tour, said she was still thoroughly enjoying Twin Creeks and playing in Australia for the first time.

"I tried to focus on my game and not give too much pressure," said the Heibei native. "I did make some mistakes on the course, but I still told myself to forgive. I'm an aggressive player, I prefer to keep the positive strategy next two days."

Australia Classic first round leading scores (China unless stated):

65 - Sarah Oh (Australia), Rebecca Artis (Australia)

68 - Pan Yanhong, Wichanee Meechai (Thailand)

69 - Zhou Jiayi, Hathaikarn Wongwaikijphaisal (Thailand), Stephanie Na (Australia), Zhang Weiwei, Ye Ziqi

70 - Alison Whitaker (Australia), Cathryn Bristow (New Zealand), Whitney Hillier (Australia), Michelle Koh (Malaysia), Nikki Campbell (Australia)

71 - Lin Yezhou, Tanaporn Kongkiatkrai (Thailand), Vicky Thomas (Australia), Katelyn Must (Australia), Grace Lennon (Australia)

72 - Wu Sha, Zhang Yuyang, Nikki Garrett (Australia), Tamie Durdin (Australia)

73 - Rachel Heatherington (Australia), Saraporn Chamchoi (Thailand), Tiranan Yoopan (Thailand), Li Dan, Chen Liqing, Ajira Nualraksa (Thailand), Stacey Keating (Australia) Endi