NEW DELHI – Defending champion Siddikur Rahman and three-time runner-up Shiv Chowrasia each shot 6-under 65 Thursday to take a share of the lead with three others in the first round of the Indian Open.

“This is a tight and narrow golf course. I’m a very accurate player so I really like this type of course,” Rahman said. “You always see me in good positions when I play here.”

Richard T Lee, Chapchai Nirat and Joakim Lagergren were also at the top of the leaderboard in the European and Asian Tour co-sanctioned event.

Mithun Perera and Kalem Richardson were two strokes behind. Miguel Angel Jimenez shot a 1-under 70 and is tied for 23rd.

MELBOURNE, Australia – South Korea’s Ilhee Lee took advantage of calm morning conditions at Royal Melbourne to shoot a 5-under 68 and take a one-stroke lead after the first round of the Women’s Australian Open.

Lee had four back-nine birdies while Ariya Jutanugarn bogeyed her final hole to finish with a 69. The 19-year-old Thai earned a spot in an LPGA tournament in Thailand at the age of 11, making her the youngest player to qualify for an LPGA tournament.

New Zealander Lydia Ko, playing her second tournament as world No. 1, shot 70 and was tied for third with Canadian Alena Sharp and South Korea’s Kwak Min-seo. The 17-year old Ko’s round included an eagle on the par-5 14th where her 25-foot putt dropped for a three.

Charley Hull and Melissa Reid of England, American Brooke Pancake and Gwladys Nocera of France were among a group of six tied for sixth with 71s, three strokes behind Lee.

American Jessica Korda, who won the 2012 tournament at Royal Melbourne, shot 72.

Defending champion Karrie Webb, a five-time winner, had a 73 while South Korean-born Australian Su Oh, who won last week’s Australian Ladies Masters in only her second start as a professional, birdied her opening hole but then slumped to a 79. English veteran Laura Davies shot 81.

Lee said she only made a late decision to come to Melbourne after her coach, World Golf Hall of Fame member Sandra Haynie, convinced her she had the game to contend on a course where she missed the cut in her only previous sandbelt appearance in 2012.

“It’s good to see how improved my golf is this year . because I was here in 2012 (and) how I see the golf course at that time and now is totally different,” Lee said.

“I see the right thing first, I see how I manage the golf course better and then my drive’s better than then and swing’s got better, putting’s better, everything’s much better than that time.”

Jutanugarn, who had seven birdies and three bogeys Thursday, has had a hot start to the year, finishing tied for 11th in the opening LPGA event in Florida before a playoff loss in the Bahamas two weeks ago.

“I have to keep on that roll. I really want to keep it,” she said. “I have a lot more confidence now.”

Ko said it was important to get a good start on such a difficult course.

“I tried to stay patient,” Ko said. “I didn’t hole that many putts but I didn’t make that many mistakes either, so that’s important.”

The Women’s Australian Open is sanctioned by three tours: the LPGA, Ladies European and Australian Ladies tours.

At 3-under, Hamilton, Ont.’s Alena Sharp is part of a three-way tie for 3rd with world No. 1 Lydia Ko and Min Seo Kwak. Lorie Kane sits T33 at 1-over.

Darren Clarke provided arguably the most emotional story line in the history of the Ryder Cup, and helped forge one of the competition’s most successful partnerships.

And to mark the start of the next chapter in the charismatic, cigar-chomping Northern Irishman’s Ryder Cup story, he was picked as captain of the European team for the 2016 event at Hazeltine.

Overwhelming player support and healthy respect for him on both sides of the Atlantic made Clarke a unanimous choice on Wednesday.

The five-man selection panel included Europe’s last three captains – Colin Montgomerie, Jose Maria Olazabal and Paul McGinley. All three guided the team to victory, in very different ways, to give Clarke a hard act to follow.

“I have big shoes to fill,” said Clarke, the British Open champion in 2011 and one of the most popular figures in golf.

Clarke played for Europe in five straight Ryder Cups from 1997-2006, winning four times. The last of these came at The K Club, where he helped the team to a record-equaling 18 1/2-9 1/2 victory over the United States just six weeks after his first wife, Heather, died following a long battle with breast cancer. Playing through grief, he won all three of his matches.

Clarke was a non-playing vice captain under Montgomerie in 2010 and Olazabal in ’12, which groomed him for the top job.

“The Ryder Cup has been a massive part of my life and my career, so to have the chance to lead Europe next year is a huge honor,” said the silver-haired Clarke, the first Northern Irishman to be given the captaincy.

Miguel Angel Jimenez of Spain and Thomas Bjorn of Denmark were also candidates for the role but Clarke was always the big favorite and ended up being the unanimous choice, Montgomerie said.

“I think he’ll be a very good communicator, which is most important as a captain,” Montgomerie said. “He has the respect of the players – that’s a given as Open champion – and his record in the Ryder Cup is very good.”

Clarke has won 11 1/2 points for Europe, with six points from eight matches alongside Lee Westwood putting them joint-second in the all-time list of most successful Ryder Cup combinations.

Top-ranked Rory McIlroy and recent stalwarts of the European team like Ian Poulter, Justin Rose and Graeme McDowell had given their backing to Clarke.

“That, to a large extent, crystallized my view on where the captaincy should go,” McGinley said. “It’s quite clear Darren got a lot of support.”

Clarke said he would be “foolish” not to follow the same formula as McGinley, who created a great camaraderie in the European team as it swept to a 16 1/2-11 1/2 victory at Gleneagles in September.

While the Americans created a task force in the wake of a sixth loss in the last seven editions of the Ryder Cup, all Europe had to do was put someone in place to take forward the template of success. Clarke is unlikely to be revolutionary in his approach to Hazeltine.

“With the team bonding and team spirit in Gleneagles, it’s something I’ll want to replicate,” Clarke said.

Clarke is popular in the United States and seems suited to be Europe’s captain for a Ryder Cup on American soil. Aside from winning the Open, the biggest victory of his career came in the U.S. when he beat Tiger Woods in the final of the WGC-Matchplay Championship in 2000.

The Associated Press reported Monday that Davis Love III would be the captain of the U.S. team, and is to be introduced on Tuesday. Love and Clarke are close friends.

“That would be wonderful,” Clarke said of coming up against Love. “He’s a gentleman and there isn’t a nicer man in our sport.”

Clarke said he will likely go for five vice-captains, as McGinley did. McGinley, though, said he would not accept the role if asked.

MELBOURNE, Australia – Only 17, top-ranked Lydia Ko says she’s already planning to retire from golf by the time she’s 30, and become a psychologist.

Ko makes her second start at No. 1 in Thursday’s first round of the Women’s Australian Open at Royal Melbourne along with Karrie Webb and Australia’s Su Oh, an 18-year-old who won the Australian Ladies Masters last week in her second start as a professional.

The South Korean-born Ko says she will soon start an on-line psychology degree to prepare for life after golf.

“I say my plan is to retire when I’m 30 so I’m not just going to go to the beach and hang out for the rest of my life,” Ko said Wednesday.

“There’s always a second career that comes along with it and I’m trying to build up towards it and, because I’m playing a sport, psychology links well with it.”

Ko finished second in the LPGA’s 2015 tour opener in Florida on Jan. 31 to become the youngest player of either gender to become world No. 1, breaking the record set by Tiger Woods by almost four years.

Ko, who moved to New Zealand from South Korea when she was six, travels from her Florida base with her mother, Tina. Her older sister, Sura, has an architecture degree.

“My mom will get me off my iPad and phone and tell me to work hard and look at the text books,” Ko said.

In her second year as a pro, Ko said she wasn’t putting too much pressure on herself to win a major this year.

“Last year I had two top-10 finishes (in majors) which was better than the year before when I had one,” Ko said. “I’m looking for more consistency in playing majors and then one day that will give me a chance to be around the lead.”

Webb won the Women’s Open at Victoria Golf Club in Melbourne last year for her record fifth title. South Korea’s Chella Choi was second, a stroke back.

“It makes you feel old when your rookie year was before these players were born, but when we’re competing against each other I don’t see age as a difference,” Webb said. “We all have the same goal.”

Following her 40th birthday celebrations in December, Webb said she hit the gym hard in the off-season, and hopes to compete for Australia at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics next year.

“I could get away with it when I was younger,” Webb said. “I have to be a bit more diligent now and my body tells me that.”

Also playing on the Royal Melbourne composite course beginning Thursday are South Korean players Na Yeon Choi, who beat Ko in the season opener, and So Yeon Ryu and Kyu Jung Baek, and No. 4-ranked Shanshan Feng of China.

LOS ANGELES – Davis Love III is getting another shot as U.S. captain in the Ryder Cup.

Two people familiar with the decision told The Associated Press on Monday night that the PGA of America has selected Love as captain for the 2016 matches at Hazeltine. They spoke on condition of anonymity because it has not been announced.

Golf Channel first reported that Love will be the next captain.

He is to be introduced on Feb. 24, when the Honda Classic is held at PGA headquarters in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida.

Love led the Americans to a 10-6 lead at Medinah in 2012 until Ian Poulter and Europe staged an improbable rally and matched the greatest comeback in Ryder Cup history.

This will be the second straight Ryder Cup that the U.S. gets a repeat captain, and it didn’t go so well the previous time. Tom Watson, at 65, was the oldest Ryder Cup captain and returned after a 21-year absence.

But he was out of touch with his team, made a questionable captain’s pick with Webb Simpson and benched Phil Mickelson for both sessions on Saturday. Europe won for the third straight time, extending its dominance.

The Americans appeared to be in disarray all week, and it spilled over into the closing news conference when Mickelson heaped praise on Paul Azinger’s winning formula in 2008 and asked why the PGA of America went away from that. With Watson sitting at the table, Mickelson said the captain never took any input from the players.

Out of that mess, the PGA of America organized a task force of players and former captains to build some continuity and tradition, similar to what Europe has done. Out of those task force meetings – the second and most recent one was at Torrey Pines two weeks ago – the PGA decided its best bet was with Love.

Azinger was mentioned as a possible candidate, and Fred Couples had the support of key players. It was not immediately clear if they were considered, or if Azinger wanted the job again. Azinger turned down an offer to be on the task force. Couples won all three times he was captain of the Presidents Cup.

Europe is expected to announce Darren Clarke as its captain. Love and Clarke are close friends.

The Americans have won the Ryder Cup only one time in the past seven tries.

PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. – Brandt Snedeker finds something that works and sticks with it.

He picked up a putter in 2005 on the Nationwide Tour and it has been with him since, except for a short separation last summer when the putts stopped falling. Snedeker, like most golfers, felt as if he needed to teach it a lesson and try something new. Actually, he wanted to teach “her” a lesson. And how did he choose the gender?

“She’s done pretty well over the last nine years, so I feel like it’s a marriage at this point,” he said.

His driver is made by a company that seems to promote something new every other month, and yet Snedeker is still using one made in 2010. In this era of technology, that practically makes it a relic. And those irons? He’s been using those since before Jordan Spieth came out on tour.

The equipment editor for Golf Digest figured out the resale value for the putter and the driver combined would be $34.

“That wouldn’t shock me,” Snedeker said. “If you see any more, I’m willing to buy them for that.”

That shouldn’t be a problem for Snedeker, who used them all quite handily and set the tournament scoring record for the second time in three years when he won the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am on Sunday. The victory was worth just over $1.2 million.

It was valuable in so many other ways.

For starters, it made him relevant again, a term Snedeker used when he realized at the start of the year he was no longer eligible for the events that attract the world’s best players. The seventh career victory got him into the Masters and the PGA Championship, and by moving up to a No. 31 world ranking, he can count on the four World Golf Championships, along with starting next year in Kapalua.

More than that, however, it justified a decision last summer to get away from something that had been working well.

He changed coaches.

Snedeker had been with Todd Anderson since the end of 2005 – about as long as he’s had that putter – and he won six PGA Tour events and over $20 million in earnings, which doesn’t include the $10 million bonus from his FedEx Cup title in 2012 right before he played in his first Ryder Cup. Golf can get stale, however, and it was a big move for Snedeker to seek out Butch Harmon a week before the U.S. Open.

“A class act,” Harmon said Sunday night. “It’s fun working with him. He has a quick wit, which fits with me. And he works hard. He was really good at one time and he got lost. I helped him find his way. Sometimes it’s more than just the X’s and O’s of the swing.”

Results were far from immediate. Snedeker had his worst year on tour and for the first time didn’t make it beyond the second FedEx Cup playoff event. Tom Watson wanted him on the Ryder Cup team for his putting, but Snedeker played his way out of the conversation.

But he kept working away, never losing hope he would turn it around. The payoff was a week at Pebble Beach that was close to perfect, and not just the weather. Snedeker made one bogey in 72 holes. When he wasn’t at his best, he figured out how to manage.

“He did a great job of helping me understand how I swing the golf club, what I need to do to be successful,” Snedeker said. “The great thing about Butch is he’s not technical at all. He instills confidence in you when you don’t even realize he’s doing it. We might have a three-hour practice session and he might say one thing about my swing and 15 things about the mental side of it, what you should be thinking in certain situations.”

Harmon treated Snedeker like any other of his clients. There were a few technical issues – his swing was getting out of position and too long at the top – but the goal was for Snedeker to understand the swing and how to fix it.

The other message from Harmon was to develop a safe shot when the swing doesn’t feel right. For Snedeker, that was teeing the ball lower and getting on top of the ball sooner, a shot that helped him on the back nine when he seized control and wanted to keep it.

Harmon loves the old-school work ethic of Snedeker. He also loves the refreshing pace with which he plays the game. Snedeker talks fast and walks even faster. He gives his hips a quick swivel as he sets up over the ball – maybe that activates his glutes – and pulls the trigger. Standing over putts, he keeps his eye on the hole as he takes five or six short, repetitive practice strokes, and then he steps over the ball and gives it a pop.

That part about him never seems to change. And it appears to be working again.

HUA HIN, Thailand – Australian Andre Dodt won his second European Tour title by beating countryman Scott Hend and local favorite Thongchai Jaidee by one shot at the Black Mountain Golf Club on Sunday.

With overnight leader Hend, who started the round with a one-stroke lead, and Thongchai struggling on the greens, Dodt produced a bogey-free 67 to seal the victory with a 16-under-par 272.

It was the 29-year-old’s second European Tour win after he won in Great Noida, India five years ago.

“There are no thoughts at the moment. I’m speechless,” Dodt said. “I played well. I got off to a good start today, hung in there during the middle, tried to make pars on the tougher holes.”

Six-time European Tour winner Thongchai, with four birdies against a bogey and a double bogey, settled for a final-round 71 and second with Hend, whose final round included three birdies and three bogeys for a 72.

Canadian Richard T. Lee finished tied 4th after a bogey-free final-round 66 for a 274, along with Kiradech Aphibarnrat (70) and American Jason Knutzon (67).

PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. – The fog began to roll in off the coast of Pebble Beach, though it didn’t matter. Brandt Snedeker had the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am in hand, and he had a clear view of where he was going.

There is no better wait than on the 18th tee at Pebble Beach. For Snedeker, there was no better feeling than walking up the famous closing hole with a four-shot lead, his ball in the middle of the fairway and a big reward for a lot of hard work and hard times.

A conservative par gave him a 5-under 67 and a three-shot victory Sunday, and it brought a renewed sense of direction.

“I think I’m relevant again,” Snedeker said after his second win at Pebble Beach in three years.

For the first time in more than three years, Snedeker fell out of the top 50 in the world at the end of last year after his worst season on the PGA Tour. He wasn’t in the Masters or any of the World Golf Championships. He already was making plans to play new tournaments. He was going to play every week until the Masters to give himself every chance to secure another tee time at Augusta National.

All that changed in one week that was close to perfect.

Snedeker made only one bogey over 72 holes on three golf courses, and it still gnawed at him even as he left the room with a crystal trophy. He didn’t have a three-putt, no small feat on poa annua greens played on by 156 players and 156 amateurs over three days.

He’s in the Masters. By moving up to No. 31 in the world, he can count on all four World Golf Championships. He’s also in the PGA Championship (he already was eligible for the U.S. Open based on his top 10 at Pinehurst No. 2 last year). Snedeker was irritated at the thought the world best players might gather without him.

He didn’t like being Mr. Irrelevant.

“Not fun,” he said. “Not when you’re used to it. I don’t like playing golf and not feeling like I can compete and win. For six months, eight months of last year I didn’t feel I could do that. I didn’t feel like my game was where it needed to be, it wasn’t sharp.”

He began working with Butch Harmon to understand his swing and how to play the game. That took time. And when the 2015 season began, it was time for him to prove all over that he belonged in the big events.

“This is going to be hopefully the kind of player I am for many years going forward,” he said.

That didn’t make Sunday at Pebble Beach easy. Snedeker might have looked calm during the final 5 1/2 hours. He was a wreck inside, especially in the early going when it appeared that any number of players would have a chance.

Jim Furyk had a one-shot lead and disappeared early with a 38 on the front nine, though it was three birdie putts inside 10 feet that really cost him. Furyk felt like he hit the ball where he was aiming and couldn’t believe he was losing ground. He closed with a 74, and for the ninth time since his last win at the 2010 Tour Championship, he failed to convert when he had at least a share of the 54-hole lead.

Torrey Pines winner Jason Day made a brief charge in the middle of the round. So did Pat Perez until a pair of bogeys around the turn did him in. The consolation for Perez was winning the pro-am title with Pandora Jewelry co-founder Michael Lund.

The big challenge from Nick Watney, who already had a dream week by having San Francisco Giants catcher Buster Posey as his partner. Watney opened with four straight birdies and had a two-shot lead. It turned on a bad break and a bad shot. A photographer shot off his camera at the top of Watney’s swing on the par-3 fifth, and he came up woefully short in a bunker and made bogey.

With a 4-iron for his second shot on the par-5 sixth, Watney hit his “worst swing of the week.” It sailed to right off the cliffs into Stillwater Cover, leading to bogey. Just like that, he was one shot behind, and after another pair of bogeys on the back nine, he was along for the ride.

“Even though I only lost a shot there, it was a momentum stall,” Watney said of the bogey on No. 6. “Along with making the bogey on No. 9 with a pitching wedge. Those two, if I could have two back, it would be that swing on 6 and the second shot into No. 9.”

There was no stopping Snedeker. He is swinging well. He is putting well. He was a winner again, his seventh on the PGA Tour. And he broke by two shots his tournament record with a 265, and the winning score to par at 22 under previously held by Phil Mickelson and Mark O’Meara.

“I’m just so excited about what’s next,” Snedeker said.

Canada’s David Hearn notched a final round of 2-under 70 to finish tied for 21st. Graham DeLaet’s 7-under 281 was good for a share of 57th place.

NAPLES, Fla. – Lee Janzen had a good feeling about his 8-foot putt on the No. 18 hole.

Janzen made the putt, then topped Bart Bryant in a playoff to win the ACE Group Classic on Sunday at TwinEagles Golf Club.

“I was like I have to make birdie here to get in a playoff, or I make a par and I don’t and I’ll just go back to the drawing board and work harder on my putting because I had some putts I could have made that would have made a difference,” Janzen said. “But there was a peace that to me it didn’t matter whether I won or not.”

Bryant fought his way back into contention when he shot a 10-under 62 Sunday, tying a course record while Janzen had a 5-under 67.

Both were 16 under in regulation play.

However, Bryant struggled in the playoff. After a short drive, he had 178 yards to go on the first playoff hole, No. 18. His second shot hit the railroad ties before bouncing back into the water.

“Well, honestly, where I messed up was my drive,” he said. “I kind of hit just a terrible little fade out there, so I lost 20, 30 yards. So now I have a longer yardage and shooting more across the water.

“Actually, the second shot I felt like I hit pretty good, I just left it a couple yards right. I thought I had enough, I thought I took enough club that even if I pushed it, I was going to carry the water.

“I think the wind had changed just a little bit from the first time played it and was just enough. So I hit a bad drive, caught a little bit of a bad lie, hit it a little right and it all equals in the water.”

Janzen, with 164 yards to go, put his approach shot on the green. He then two-putted for the victory.

“Once he hit his shot, I was, you know, thinking about hitting it to the pin, being aggressive, but once he hit his shot, I calculated where’s the best place to be to make a 4?,” Janzen said. “Long was no good.

“If I brought long into play and went left at all, it goes down left of the green and that’s an extremely hard chip, so I was very content to be short and left. I just had to be disciplined enough to aim it left at the front of the green and hit it there, so that’s what I did with a 7 iron.”

Janzen, the U.S. Open champion in 1993 and 1998, hadn’t won an individual tournament for more than 16 years, spanning 413 starts.

“I work on my game in a certain way so I’m going to do the best I can on every shot and I don’t need to worry about what people think, whether I hit a good shot or a bad shot,” Janzen said. “I used to have a terrible temper and threw clubs and carried on.

“That was really the breakthrough was to realize I was only doing that because I was too worried about what other people thought about my golf game, so I felt like I had to get mad to show them that I was better than that, which was just ridiculous.”

The tournament also was emotional for Bryant, who had to compose himself during a TV interview after he finished his 54th hole. His mother attended her first tournament since her husband died in May.

“I really thought about it at the beginning of the week how cool it would be if Brad or I could pull something off and just couldn’t quite get it done,” he said. “I hate to say it, there might have been a little bit when you get done and ready to go in a playoff, you don’t want to get emotional, you need to get tough and ready to go to a playoff. I think I lost a little bit of that, but I wouldn’t trade it for the world.”

Colin Montgomerie entered the day at 12 under and with a one-shot lead. He opened with a birdie but then alternated birdies and bogeys on Nos. 10-13. He also bogeyed No. 18 to fall into fifth place.

Esteban Toledo, who shot a 6-under 66 Sunday, finished third at 14 under.

Paul Goydos, the champion last week at The Allianz Championship, finished 7 under.

Kirk Triplett, the defending ACE Group Classic champion, finished 2 under after going 68-72-74.

Bernhard Langer, who was at 7 under, withdrew from the tournament and returned home to Boca Raton to be with daughter Christina. She had back surgery five weeks earlier.

Stephen Ames emerged as the top Canadian, shooting 4-under 212 to tie for 10th place. Rod Spittle finished tied for 25th (3-under) while Jim Rutledge tied for 56th (3-over).

NAPLES, Fla. – Colin Montgomerie has fond memories of his last showdown with Lee Janzen.

He’s hoping for a repeat.

Montgomerie overcame a double bogey to shoot his second straight 6-under 66, holding onto a one-stroke lead over Janzen after two rounds of the ACE Group Classic at TwinEagles Golf Club on Saturday.

Montgomerie birdied four of his last six holes and is 12-under 132 for the tournament. Lee Janzen also had a double bogey but shot a 7-under 65 and is one back at 11 under.

In 1993, Montgomerie and Janzen squared off in the Ryder Cup in England.

“The singles is different,” Montgomerie said. “It’s very much a 1-on-1. I managed to beat him 1-up. I hope to stay one ahead.”

In the 1997 Ryder Cup at Valderrama, Janzen recalls running besides Montgomerie while he was being cheered by the European fans. Janzen took off his hat and waved in appreciation.

“Some guy yelled out, `We’re not cheering for you, Janzen,’ which was quite funny,” he said. “He got a good laugh out of that reminiscing.”

Esteban Toledo and Scott Dunlap are at 8-under 136. Three other players are at 7 under, including Bernhard Langer, who won five tournaments in 2014 as well as 18 top-10 finishes.

“A wee bit of gap,” Montgomerie said.

Montgomerie birdied Nos. 2, 3, 6 and 7 before faltering for a double bogey on No. 9. He pushed his second shot into a bunker. His chip then ran back down the hill. He chipped to within 4 feet but missed the putt.

Janzen found trouble on the seventh hole. He birdied his first three holes as well as Nos. 6, 9, 12, 13, 16 and 17.

“Same things, I mean, you can look at his caliber and his ability and what he did on 9, he probably wants to kick himself, just like I did on No. 7,” Janzen said. “I actually had a chance to make a par.”

Added Montgomerie: “He threw in one early on the seventh and I gave him one back at the ninth and yet we both scored 66, 65. So good scoring and it’s good that’s you’re spurred on by someone, especially your playing partner, someone you respect.”

Montgomerie birdied four of his last six holes. On No. 17, he had a decision to make. He chose to lay up and credited that with getting a birdie.

“It says maybe I’m more patient,” he said. “Maybe I’m maturing, mellowing. I don’t know if that’s a good thing or not.”

Paul Goydos, who won The Allianz Championship last week in Boca Raton, Fla., is at 5-under after a 70.

Kirk Triplett, the 2014 ACE Group Classic victor, is at 4-under after a 72.