MELBOURNE, Australia – Sweden’s Caroline Hedwall had a hole in one as part of a 7-under par 65 that gave her a one-shot lead after Friday’s second round of the women’s Australian Open.

Hedwall aced the par-3 16th and also eagled the par-5 eighth along with five birdies and two bogeys to reach 11-under 133, one shot ahead of world No. 2 Suzanne Pettersen of Norway.

Pettersen, who shot 66 to lead after the first round, had a 68 at Victoria Golf Club which included five birdies and one bogey. Australian amateur Minjee Lee was a further shot back at 9-under after a 67.

Four-time LPGA winner Lorie Kane of Charlottetown and and Toronto’s Rebecca Lee-Bentham were tied for 49th. Kane matched her opening round score of 71 while Lee-Bentham followed her opening 73 with a 69.

Alena Sharp of Hamilton was tied for 77th shot a 71 after opening with a 74

Jennifer Kirby of Paris, Ont., was in a tie for 111th after shooting a 76, and behind her was Maude-Aimee Leblanc of Sherbrook, Que., who shot a 70 after opening with a 79.

Hedwall said she wasn’t aware she had a hole in one at 16 until she reached the green.

“I couldn’t see it and the crowd didn’t want to yell because Laura (Davies) was hitting off on No. 17, so we walked up there and they were like, ‘it went in’,” Hedwall said.

“Yesterday I hit a full 7-iron over the green (for bogey at 16) and it was basically the same yardage today. So I hit a softer 7-iron. It covered the pin the whole way and I just saw it bounce once and hit the pin but I didn’t see it go in.”

Fellow Swede Anna Nordqvist had the round of the day with a 64 which set a new course record for women, and was tied for fourth at 8-under with Holly Clyburn of England and world No. 4 Lydia Ko of New Zealand.

Hedwall’s ace at 16 gave her the outright lead but she briefly lost it to Minjee Lee before her birdie, eagle, birdie finish.

“I’m driving pretty well,” Hedwall said. “I missed a couple of drives yesterday and today but I managed to save a couple of bogeys and I’m still making a lot of birdies and also eagles.”

The 17-year-old Lee, who was runner-up at last week’s Women’s Australian Masters, is vying again for a tournament victory after a second round which included an eagle and three birdies.

“It was such a slow start,” Lee said. “I started with nine pars. I was just patient and it came together late in the round.”

Rebecca Lee-Bentham of Toronto, fired a 69 Friday to climb into a tie for 49th at 2-under. She’s tied with fellow Canadians Sue Kim (70) of Langley, B.C. and Lorie Kane (71) of Charlottetown.

Alena Sharp (71), of Hamilton, Ont., Jennifer Kirby (76), of Paris, Ont., and Maude-Aimee Leblanc (70) of Sherbrooke, Que., failed to make the cut and qualify for weekend action.

MELBOURNE, Australia – Norway’s Suzann Pettersen birdied her last three holes in a 6-under 66 on Thursday to lead the women’s Australian Open by a shot after the first round at the Victoria Golf Club.

Pettersen, winner of last year’s Evian Championships, had nine birdies and three bogeys, holding off a series of challengers led by Marion Ricordeau of France.

The second-ranked Norwegian made her season debut after missing the LPGA Tour’s opening event last month in the Bahamas because of a shoulder injury. She’s in position to take the No. 1 spot in the world from Inbee Park with a victory or a solo second-place finish.

“In the first round of the year you’re always anxious to get started,” Pettersen said. “It took me a while to get really comfortable, to trust what I’ve been working on.

“In the end the trust was stronger than the rest. I hit a lot of great shots but I also have to say I left a lot of shots out there. I three-putted a lot of greens, stupid three-putts really, but I also felt like I played good and gave myself a lot of birdie chances.”

Ricordeau, who had eight birdies, a bogey and a double bogey, briefly drew level with Pettersen before finishing among a group of four players with rounds of 67.

Tied in second place were Park Hee-young of South Korea and Americans Jaclyn Sweeney and Jessica Korda, daughter of former tennis star Petr Korda and already a tournament winner this year.

World No. 4 Lydia Ko of New Zealand was among a larger group at 4-under after a mixed opening round. The 16-year-old was one-under after her opening nine but came home with five birdies and two bogeys, including birdies at her last two holes.

Australia’s Karrie Webb, a record four-time winner of the event, opened with a 71. The Hall of Famer had another brush with rules officials after being disqualified last week at Royal Pines for signing an incorrect scorecard after the second round.

Webb started her round on the 10th tee Thursday and was told she had teed up fractionally in front of the tee marker. She was allowed to replace her ball without incurring a two-shot penalty.

Lorie Kane of Charlottetown shot 71 and is tied for 42nd at 1-under. Jennifer Kirby of Paris, Ont. (72), Sue Kim of Langley, B.C. (72), Rebecca Lee-Bentham of Toronto (73), Alena Sharp of Hamilton (74) and Maude-Aimee Leblanc of Sherbrooke, Que. (79) are the other Canadians in the field.

PARADISE ISLAND, Bahamas – Jessica Korda won the season-opening Bahamas LPGA Classic on Sunday for her second tour title, holing a 6-foot birdie putt on the final hole to beat Stacy Lewis by a stroke.

The 20-year-old Korda closed with a 7-under 66 for a 19-under 273 total on Atlantis Resort’s Ocean Club course. Lewis parred the final four holes – two of them par 5s – for a 66.

Korda tied Lewis for the lead with a 12-foot birdie putt on the par-3 17th, then got up and down for birdie on the par-5 18th. Korda’s 4-iron approach on 18 scampered through the green to the fringe just short of the grandstand. With an official and a TV announcer holding up cords that would have interfered with her stroke, she putted under the wires to set up the winning birdie.

“That was different,” Korda said. “It was like jump rope.”

She admitted she was nervous on the winning putt.

“Incredible!” Korda said. “I could barely put the golf down and line up.”

The 2012 Women’s Australian Open winner, Korda recently started working with swing coach Grant Price. She struggled with her swing last year and felt that it led to some injuries in her left shoulder and wrist.

“I’m really just trying to hit good golf shots and get that swing down,” Korda said.

Price, Hall of Famer Nick Price’s nephew, is fighting testicular cancer.

Korda’s father, Petr, won the 1998 Australian Open tennis tournament and her mother, Regina Raichrtova also was a professional tennis player. Korda earned $195,000 and is projected to jump from 40th to 26th in the world ranking.

Lewis birdied six of the first eight holes, then dropped a stroke on the par-4 ninth. She birdied the par-5 11th and par-4 14th to reach 18 under, but closed with four straight pars. On the 18th, her flop shot from short of the green came up short and her 15-foot birdie try stopped inches from the cup.

Paula Creamer, paired with Korda all four days, had a 69 to tie for third with Na Yeon Choi, Lizette Salas and Pornanong Phatlum at 16 under. Phatlum finished with a 67, Salas had a 71, and Choi shot 72.

Lydia Ko, the 16-year-old New Zealander making her first start as an LPGA Tour member, had a 68 to tie for seventh at 15 under. She won the Canadian Women’s Open the last two years as an amateur.

Both Canadians remaining in the field saved their best golf for the final round. Hamilton’s Alena Sharp fired a 5-under 68 to climb into a tie for 18th. Toronto’s Rebecca Lee-Bentham shot a 4-under 69 and finished tied for 52nd.

PARADISE ISLAND, Bahamas – Na Yeon Choi shot a 7-under 66 Saturday to take a one-stroke lead in the season-opening Bahamas LPGA Classic, chipping to a foot to set up a birdie on the par-5 18th hole.

The seventh-ranked Choi, a seven-time winner on the LPGA Tour, birdied three of the last four holes in her bogey-free round to reach 15 under on Atlantis Resort’s Ocean Club course.

“I think the last three rounds I had a really good swing,” Choi said. “I had so many good shots. But I still have to play aggressively tomorrow. So many players have a chance.”

Lizette Salas was a stroke back. She also had a bogey-free 66.

“I’ve been bogey-free for the last two days and I’m feeling great on the greens,” said Salas, winless on the tour. “A win is always on my mind, and it’s been a goal of mine since coming close last year in Hawaii.”

Jessica Korda and Paula Creamer each eagled the 18th to reach 12 under. Korda, the second-round leader, had a 72, and Creamer shot 71.

Creamer also holed a sand wedge from 82 yards for an eagle on the par-5 11th, but had a triple-bogey 8 on No. 15.

Third-ranked Stacy Lewis was tied for fourth at 11 under with Amelia Lewis and Jenny Suh. Stacy Lewis had a 68, Amelia Lewis shot 66, and Suh had a 71.

Michelle Wie and 16-year-old Lydia Ko were in the group at 10 under. Wie followed her second-round 65 with a 72. Ko, making her first start as an LPGA Tour member, had a 71.

Alena Sharp of Hamilton, Ont. shot a 70 Saturday and is tied for 25, while Toronto’s Rebecca Lee-Bentham posted a 76 to fall into a tie for 59th.

PARADISE ISLAND, Bahamas (AP) – Jessica Korda took the second-round lead in the season-opening Bahamas LPGA Classic, birdieing four of her last seven holes in high wind Friday for a 7-under 66.

The 20-year-old Korda had an 11-under 135 total on Atlantis Resort’s Ocean Club course.

“We went from beautiful, sunny, slight wind to cloudy and hurricane wind,” Korda said. “It was a tough day out there. I mean, a little mentally draining because you really had to put everything into every shot.”

The 2012 Women’s Australian Open winner for her lone LPGA Tour title, Korda recently started working with swing coach Grant Price. She struggled with her swing last year and felt that it led to some injuries in her left shoulder and wrist.

“It was just time for a change,” Korda said. “There was just stuff that wasn’t working. I’ve worked with (Grant) before, so I was really comfortable going into it, and he’s just super positive, and that’s something that I really needed coming into this year.

“We’re just working on keeping everything in plane and keeping it really simple to where if something does go wrong on the golf course, I can fix it myself.”

Price, Hall of Famer Nick Price’s nephew, is fighting testicular cancer.

Paula Creamer, playing alongside Korda, was a stroke back after a 65.

“Feeding off Paula was good,” Korda said. “She made four birdies in a row after (starting with a double bogey), and it wasn’t like she wasn’t giving herself opportunities. It was birdie after birdie. It was awesome to play with somebody like that because they really do push you and keep making you try harder.”

Creamer drove left on the first hole and three-putted from 7 feet. She birdied 10 of the last 17 holes.

“After that, I said, `Let’s go make some birdies.’ And I did,” said Creamer, winless since the 2010 U.S. Women’s Open. “I love playing in windy conditions. I always have. The more difficult, the better. You have to be kind of a feel player out in these kind of situations and trust what you’re doing and committing to your shots, and that’s something that I really worked hard on in the offseason and it paid off today.”

Michelle Wie and Monday qualifier Jenny Suh were tied for third at 9 under. Wie had a 65, and Suh shot 66.

Wie had 28 putts in her bogey-free round.

“I think I just had a good rest this offseason,” Wie said. “When I came back in January and I picked up my golf clubs, I was really excited to play. I was so ready to get back into a rhythm.”

Suh failed to gain fully exempt status on the tour when she lost a playoff at Q-school.

“I know what the weekend could do and what it could hold for me, but I’m just going to keep enjoying myself and try to make as many birdies as possible,” Suh said.

Lydia Ko, the 16-year-old New Zealander who shared the first-round lead with Meena Lee, was three strokes behind at 8 under after a 70. The fourth-ranked Ko is making her first start as an LPGA Tour member. She won the Canadian Women’s Open the last two years as an amateur and closed last season with a victory in a non-tour event in Taiwan in her second pro start.

Na Yeon Choi (68), Christel Boeljon (67) and P.K. Kongkraphan (69) also were 8 under.

Third-ranked Stacy Lewis was 6 under after a 71.

On the Canadian front, Toronto’s Rebecca Lee-Bentham and Alena Sharp of Hamilton were the lone Canadians to make the 36-hole cut. The pair both sit at 2-under and are tied for 35th.

Jennifer Kirby failed to make the cut in her debut as a LPGA Tour member. The former Team Canada member and Paris, Ont. native finished 2-over to miss the cut by a stroke.

Maude Aimee-LeBlanc of Sherbrooke, Que. finished 1-stroke back of Kirby at 3-over, while Langley’s Sue Kim was 11-over.

PARADISE ISLAND, Bahamas – Lydia Ko took a share of the lead in her first start as an LPGA Tour member, matching Meena Lee with a 5-under 68 on Thursday in the season-opening Bahamas LPGA Classic.

The 16-year-old Ko turned pro late last year. She won the Canadian Women’s Open the last two years as an amateur and closed last season with a victory in a non-tour event in Taiwan in her second pro start.

Ranked No. 4 in the world, the South Korean-born New Zealander had six birdies and a bogey on Atlantis Resort’s Ocean Club course.

“I just tried to play my own game and be relaxed,” Ko said. “I got off to a shaky start and I needed to make a 4-footer for par, but when I made birdie at No. 2, I was able to relax. I was actually shocked that I wasn’t nervous. I felt I even played better than my score. I gave myself a lot of opportunities.”

Lee, from South Korea, eagled the par-4 13th and had four birdies and a bogey.

“I had a wintertime working hard, so that’s why I have more confidence than last year,” said Lee, a two-time winner on the LPGA Tour. “That’s why I feel very good and happy to play in the first tournament.”

Third-ranked Stacy Lewis was a stroke back at 69 along with Jessica Korda, Brittany Lang, Mirim Lee, Austin Ernst, Danah Bordner, Amelia Lewis, P.K. Kongkraphan and Candie Kung.

Lewis played alongside Ko.

“When she gets some confidence in herself, the rest of this tour better watch out,” Lewis said. “When I saw we were paired together, I was pretty happy. She is just a really likable kid. …

“I think our games are very similar, just the way we play. We both hit it solid and make some putts. She rolled it great today. For the first seven, eight holes, she made everything she looked at.”

Lewis had five birdies and a bogey.

“I thought I’d be a little bit more rusty than I was,” Lewis said. “But I got off to a good start, and really just hit the ball really solid and was able to control some shots in the wind and the shots that I saw I was able to pull off. I was really happy with the way I hit the ball.”

Ko recently signed an equipment deal with Callaway, changed her swing coach and hired a new caddie.

“Over the last month hearing the word change, it could pretty much be my middle name,” Ko said.

Lewis also commented on all the changes Ko has made.

“You can change your clubs, your coach, all these things, but she’s still the same person,” Lewis said.

Jaye Marie Green had a 71. The 19-year-old Green won the LPGA qualifying tournament by 10 strokes last month, finishing the 90-hole event at a record 29 under.

Michelle Wie shot 72.

Defending champion Ilhee Lee opened with a 74. Last May, the inaugural event was reduced to three 12-hole rounds because of flooding.

Rebecca Lee-Bentham of Toronto leads the five Canadians in the field after shooting a 1-over par 74. She’s tied for 60th.

Sue Kim of Langley, B.C. recorded an ace on the par-3 12th. She’s tied with fellow Canadian Maude-Aimee LeBlanc for 104th. The pair shot 6-over 79’s.

DAYTONA BEACH, Florida – The holiday season may be over, but the LPGA has one more surprise gift for its players, fans and sponsors. The LPGA and CME Group have announced they have joined together to create the all-new Race to the CME Globe, a season-long points competition that will debut during the 2014 LPGA Tour season.

The inaugural Race to the CME Globe will kick off the week of January 20 at the season-opening Pure Silk Bahamas LPGA Classic. Players will accumulate points at each official LPGA event from the Bahamas through the Lorena Ochoa Invitational Presented by Banamex.

The Race to the CME Globe will then come to an end Sunday at the newly renamed CME Group Tour Championship.

Two big purses and two big winner’s payouts will be on-the-line during the final day of the CME Group Tour Championship. The winner of the CME Group Tour Championship will take home a $500,000 (USD) first-place prize, while the player who has accumulated the most points in the season-long points competition will be announced as the Race to the CME Globe champion with a $1 million unofficial money payout – the largest in all of women’s golf.

“CME Group has made quite an impact on the LPGA Tour during our three years together,” said LPGA Commissioner Michael Whan. “The addition of this concept fundamentally connects every event on our Tour and promises big things in 2014 and beyond. The stakes have risen dramatically and the excitement level goes up for our players and each of our tournaments.”

All tournaments will have the same point values in the Race to the CME Globe except for the five major championships, which will carry 25 percent more value.  The winner of all official LPGA events leading up to the CME Group Tour Championship will earn 500 points and the winner of each major championship will earn 625 points. Only LPGA Tour members are eligible to earn points in the Race.

For all LPGA events with a cut, points will be awarded to LPGA members who make the cut. For all events without a cut (except for the Lorena Ochoa Invitational Presented by Banamex), points will be awarded to members who finish among the top 40 and ties. And for the Lorena Ochoa Invitational Presented by Banamex, points will be awarded to members who finish in the top 20 and ties.

The field at the $2 million CME Group Tour Championship will consist of the following: the top 72 players on the Race to the CME Globe Points Standings at the conclusion of the Lorena Ochoa Invitational Presented by Banamex, any LPGA member – not otherwise qualified – with at least one official LPGA win during the season and any non-member with at least one official LPGA win during the year.

Points will then be reset for the CME Group Tour Championship to ensure that the points race will be won at the season-ending tournament. Reset Points will give top yearly performers an advantage but not guarantee victory.

The points that a player earns at the CME Group Tour Championship will be added to her Reset Points, and the player with the highest points total will be named the winner of the Race to the CME Globe.

“I was so honored to win the LPGA money title in 2013 and now I have something even bigger to play for as I look to make it two in a row,” said Inbee Park, who is ranked No. 1 in the Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings. “Nothing is guaranteed with this new system so this new Race is going to make everyone on our Tour work a little bit harder because the payoff is so big.”

Fans will also have one more exciting race to follow throughout the 2014 season with “Wounded Warrior Project^® Weekends,” a season-long charity program that will be tied into the Race to the CME Globe. Each Saturday and Sunday at LPGA tournaments, CME Group will donate $1,000 to Wounded Warrior Project^® for each eagle that is recorded. This amount will increase to $5,000 for each eagle during the weekend of the CME Group Tour Championship and a formal check will be presented to the Wounded Warrior Project^® during the trophy ceremony at the CME Group Tour Championship.

WELLINGTON, New Zealand –Teenage golf star Lydia Ko has split with the only coach she has had since she took up the sport as a 5-year-old.

Ko told Television New Zealand on Monday that she was sad to have ended her partnership with Guy Wilson, whom she called a great coach and friend. But she said she and her family had decided it would be impossible to continue the relationship because she will be based in the United States and he in New Zealand.

“It doesn’t really work, him being here and him coming on the weeks that I’m not playing a tournament means I’ll only see him like 10 times a year, and to me that kind of situation didn’t work out,” Ko said.

Wilson, who worked with the 16-year-old Ko for 11 years, issued a statement saying he was “incredibly disappointed” the partnership is over.

Michael Yim, her agent at IMG, said Monday that Ko worked with various teachers at the Leadbetter Academy in Florida before going to Taiwan for the Swinging Skirts tournament, an event she won two weeks ago in her second start as a professional. Kim said Ko plans to meet with other teachers before deciding on a full-time coach.

Ko has won five professional tournaments –four as an amateur — while coached by Wilson, who said it had “been an honour to help develop Lydia into the No. 4 golfer in the world.”

“When I first met her the golf clubs were taller than she was and she didn’t know the first thing about a driver or a putter, but now she has one of the most envied swings in the women’s golf world,” Wilson said.

Born in South Korea and raised in New Zealand, Ko won the Women’s Canadian Open at 15 last year to become the youngest winner in LPGA Tour history and successfully defended the title this year.

CLEVELAND – Lydia Ko, who earned an exemption to join the LPGA Tour in October as a 16-year-old, has signed with management company IMG.

Born in South Korea and raised in New Zealand, Ko is already No. 4 in the rankings and won the Swinging Skirts World Ladies Masters last week in Taiwan in her second start as a professional.

She won the Women’s Canadian Open at 15 last year to become the youngest winner in tour history and defended the title this year.

Paula Creamer and Michelle Wie are among the golfers represented by IMG.

Guy Kinnings, global head of golf at IMG, says in a statement on Thursday that Ko “is an incredibly impressive young lady and an astonishing player.”

THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. – Wanting to return among the elite in golf, Graeme McDowell mapped out a plan last fall. He figured out how many ranking points he would need to get back into the top five in the world.

And he went about it the right way. It started with his win at the World Challenge a year ago. He won at Hilton Head on the PGA Tour. He won the World Match Play Championship and the French Open on the European Tour. He was third at World Golf Championships in Doral and Shanghai.

“I’ve got to say, I got pretty close to that target that I set myself,” McDowell said.

Little did he know how much the target would be moving in an extraordinary year for golf.

McDowell ended last year at No. 15 in the world. Now he is all the way up to No. 12.

“I wasn’t really factoring on how many great players around me were going to have incredible seasons,” McDowell said. “So making an impact in that top 10 in the world has been very difficult to do this year because you just get so many guys playing incredibly well.”

Call it bad timing for McDowell, and happy days for golf.

Rarely has the golf season – men and women – felt so rewarding for so many players. Perhaps that explains why Tiger Woods could win five times – more than any other player in the world – capture the PGA Tour money title and the Vardon Trophy for the lowest scoring average, and then listen to people discuss the definition of player of the year and whether he is worthy without having won a major.

Woods won the vote as the best player on the PGA Tour.

He is used to playing under a different set of standards, a victim of his own success. Anyone else with five trophies from the courses where he won – Torrey Pines, Doral, Bay Hill, TPC Sawgrass and Firestone – and there would be a debate.

But this wasn’t just any other year.

Adam Scott became the first Australian to win the Masters, and along the way earned redemption from blowing the British Open nearly nine months earlier. He had the outright lead on the back nine at the British Open this year before faltering. A month later, he won The Barclays during the FedEx Cup playoffs, arguably one of the strongest fields of the year with the tour’s top 125 players who are all on form.

When he finally went home to show off his green jacket, Scott won the Australian PGA Championship and the Australian Masters, and then teamed with Jason Day to give Australia its first World Cup title in 24 years. He was poised to capture Australia’s Triple Crown until Rory McIlroy beat him on the last hole in the Australian Open.

A better year than Woods? Probably not, though it depends how much weight is given a major.

Perhaps a better question: Did he have a better year than Phil Mickelson?

Lefty came within a cruel lip-out of shooting a 59 in the Phoenix Open, which he wound up winning. Showing off a short game like no other, his chip on the 18th hole at Castle Stuart gave him a victory in the Scottish Open. And his Sunday at Muirfield gets little debate over the best round of the year. Mickelson made four birdies on the last six holes for a 66 to capture the one major that not even he thought he could win.

Who won the most meaningful major this year? Mickelson or Scott? Best to save that argument for the bar.

Not to be forgotten is Henrik Stenson, who in April wasn’t even eligible for the Masters. He finished one shot behind in the Shell Houston Open, which got him to Augusta National. But it was the summer when the Swede began to shine.

A tie for third in the Scottish Open. Runner-up at the British Open. Runner-up at Firestone (by seven shots to Woods), third at the PGA Championship. He won two FedEx Cup playoff events to win the $10 million FedEx Cup. And for good measure, he won the final event in Europe to become the first player to win the FedEx Cup and Race to Dubai in the same season.

Missing from the equation this year was the guy who started the year at No. 1 – McIlroy. He still had a good view.

“You’ve got Tiger with five wins this year. Adam breaks through for his first major. Phil wins the major he thinks he’s never going to win. Henrik comes back,” McIlroy said. “Yeah, it’s deep. You’ve got to play really well to win. … But I think golf is in great shape.”

On the LPGA Tour, the points-based player of the year came down to the next to last week, even though Inbee Park had won three straight majors among her six titles. Suzann Pettersen and Stacy Lewis won the other majors. Lewis won the Vare Trophy for lowest scoring average. Pettersen had a chance to win the money title until she faltered in the Titleholders.

That’s what inspired LPGA Commissioner Mike Whan to say, “Sports are at their absolute best … when the best athletes in that sport are having the best years of their lives.”

It’s hard to say with certainty that Woods was at his absolute best, and not just because he didn’t win a major. It used to be that when Woods was at his best, there was not enough wealth to go around. Now there is.

What a year.