PACIFIC PALISADES, California: Former winner Robert Allenby led an Australian tidal wave at the top of a congested Northern Trust Open leaderboard Thursday after opening with a four-under-par 67. Allenby, champion here in 2001, recorded four birdies in a flawless display at Riviera Country Club to join compatriots John Senden and Aaron Baddeley in a nine-way tie for the early lead. Also at four under were Britain's Martin Laird, Swede Carl Pettersson and Americans Bill Haas, long-hitting J.B. Holmes, Ben Martin and Spencer Levin before play was suspended for the day in fading light. Two more Australians, Stuart Appleby and Geoff Ogilvy, finished the opening round two strokes off the pace. World No. 4 Phil Mickelson, a Riviera fan favorite and winner here in 2008 and 2009, birdied his first two holes before bogeying three of the next four on the way to a 71. Allenby, a four-time champion on the PGA Tour, was especially delighted with his form on a cool, sun-splashed day at Riviera after missing two cuts in his first three starts on the US circuit this season. Triple major winner Padraig Harrington of Ireland opened with a 68 to finish the day level with former world number ones Vijay Singh of Fiji and American Fred Couples, plus Britons Luke Donald and Brian Davis. US Ryder Cup player Bubba Watson withdrew from the Northern Trust Open because of a stomach injury after opening with a 76. Kim still leads In Thailand, In-kyung Kim of South Korea birdied her final hole to card a 1-over 73 and hold onto the lead by a stroke midway through the LPGA Thailand Friday. A day after firing a record-equaling 63 on the Pattaya Old Course at Siam Country Club, Kim struggled throughout the second round. She endured four bogeys on the front nine, earned her second and third birdies of the round on the 10th and 14th holes, dropped another shot on the 15th, then sank a 6-foot birdie putt to finish with an 8-under 136 total. By the end, her three-shot lead to start the day was trimmed to one over top-ranked Yani Tseng (71) and Michelle Wie (68), who were at 7 under. Cabrera-Bello leads in India In New Delhi, Rafael Cabrera-Bello was glad he had kept a spare driver handy when he carded a three-under-par 69 in the second round to take the clubhouse lead at the Avantha Masters Friday. The Spaniard, whose stunning final round of 60 won him the Austrian Golf Open title in 2009, dropped two shots in his last three holes but still led at eight-under, thanks to the reserve driver he just happened to arrive in India with. Trailing him by one stroke was a group of six, including the Indian duo of Jeev Milkha Singh and Shiv Kapur, when bad light cut short the day's proceedings. Singh was three-under for the day after 11 holes, while Kapur added a bogey-free 65 to his opening round of 72 to stay in contention for his maiden European Tour title.
