Bryce Molder wielded a red-hot putter on near-perfect greens, finishing with a four-birdie flurry to take a one-shot lead in Thursday's opening round of the Colonial tournament in Fort Worth, Texas. The 37-year-old American sank an 11-footer at the sixth, a 20-footer at the seventh, an 11-footer at the eighth and an 18-footer at the par-four ninth, his final hole, to shoot a flawless six-under 64 at Colonial Country Club. India's Anirban Lahiri, and Americans Patrick Reed and Webb Simpson, opened with 65s while the ominous figure of world number two and local favorite Jordan Spieth lurked just three strokes off the pace after carding 67. Spieth made a nice birdie-birdie start to excite the huge galleries watching his every move. Though he bogeyed the par-three fourth after finding a bunker off the tee, he picked up two more shots over his closing holes to end the opening round in touch with the lead. Molder parred his first nine holes in gloomy early morning conditions before catching fire on his back nine with a sparkling six-under 29. Molder was especially pleased with his birdie at the par-four seventh where his tee shot ended up in the right fairway bunker from where he struck a 146-yard approach to 20 feet. Lahiri, meanwhile, said he enjoyed playing on a layout that triggered memories of a course half a world away in his homeland. Jutanugarn one back of Kim Red-hot Ariya Jutanugarn put herself in prime position in pursuit of a third successive LPGA victory as she fired an opening seven-under 65 at the inaugural PGA Volvik Championship in Michigan Thursday. Jutanugarn bagged seven birdies in a bogey-free round that put her one stroke behind LPGA veteran Christina Kim, who has served as a friend and mentor to the 20-year-old Thai, who at one point missed 10 cuts in a row in her rookie season. "I'm just so proud of her," Kim, 32, said of Ariya after the American shot five-under 31 on her second nine for a sizzling 64 at Travis Pointe Country Club in Ann Arbor. "She's such an incredible young woman." The two friends enjoyed a nice cushion over the chasing pack, with Australian Minjee Lee, Ryu So-yeon of South Korea and American Alex Marina equal third on 68. Park In-bee, meanwhile, was forced to withdraw for the second week in a row due to a nagging thumb injury after gamely struggling to an 84 that included a quintuple-bogey nine on the par-four 10th hole. Park is planning to skip next week's ShopRite LPGA Classic and try to tee it up again and defend her title at the KPMG Women's PGA Championship major in a fortnight. — Agencies
