Golf: Ko five shots behind clubhouse leader

Lydia Ko. Photo / Getty Images.

Lydia Ko was five shots behind the clubhouse leader as she turned to play the back nine in her opening round at the New Zealand Open at Clearwater.

The teenager birdied the 12th but three holes later signed for a bogey 5 after pulling her drive left on the 15th.

She parred home to make the turn in even par 36, the same as her teenage playing partners Charley Hull and Su Oh.

Denmark's Nanna Koerstz Madsen and the USA's Samantha Troyanovich were the clubhouse leaders after both went five under in the morning. Madsen was bogey free while Troyanovich had one bogey around six birdies on the fine putting surfaces.

Hannah Green, an Australian amateur and American pro Beth Allen led early before being caught as the winds kept gusting in from the north-east.

Thousands followed Ko and her group from the time she walked to the 10th tee to begin her round.

Ko's drive was the shortest of the group but down the middle from where her fairway metal slid into a greenside trap on the par five. Her explosion shot came up a bit short but she safely two-putted.

Her partners also had pars but they all had to wait for some time as Oh needed a ruling from officials about a drop from casual water.

Ko made her first birdie at the par four 12th as the breeze started to puff up even more with locals predicting it would get stronger later in the day.