MILTON KEYNES, England — Ashleigh Buhai of South Africa shot a 7-under 65 to take a one-stroke lead in the first round of the Women’s British Open on Thursday.

Buhai finished just ahead of Japan’s Hinako Shibuno and American Danielle Kang, who each had a bogey in rounds of 66.

“In my last few tournaments I’ve had three good rounds and one not so good round, so I’m hoping this is the week I can do four good rounds,” said Buhai, whose best finish this year is a tie for 11th. “The last few weeks I have been just trying to stay mellow and keep everything in check, and it seems to be helping.”

Top-ranked Jin Young Ko, seeking her third major title of the year after winning last week’s Evian Championship in France, was well positioned after a 68.

“I’m not tired yet,” Ko said. “I will do my best for this week, and then I had just great playing today, so I’m just happy.”

Buhai, who has never won on the LPGA Tour, made her only bogey on the par-5 11th but responded with three straight birdies on Nos. 14-16. Her best previous British Open finish was a tie for 30th in 2017.

Playing on her home Marquess Course at Woburn Golf Club, Charley Hull delighted fans with a bogey-free 67. Hull, who suffered from food poisoning at last week’s Evian Championship, showed no lingering ill effects.

“Sometimes it’s harder when it’s your home golf course because you know where not to hit it as well as where to hit it,” Hull said. “Like today, for instance, the 13th hole, it’s the first time I’ve hit that fairway for about three years, so I was quite happy about it.”

Kang, who won the Women’s PGA Championship two years ago for her only major, missed the cut last week at the Evian Championship, allowing her to arrive early for the second of back-to-back majors.

“There might have been a little bit of a blessing in disguise that I missed the cut last week because I came here on Saturday actually and I got a lot of rest, I played a few rounds,” Kang said. “I like being prepared in a proper way and competing in a proper way.”

Joining Hull at 5 under were second-ranked Sung Hyun Park, Moriya Jutanugarn and Megan Khang.

U.S. Women’s Open champion Jeongeun Lee6 and Ariya Jutanugarn shot 68 along with Ko. Defending champion Georgia Hall opened with a 69.

Lexi Thompson, whose wayward passport after the Evian Championship caused a delay for a van carrying golf bags for nearly 40 players to Woburn, opened with a 71.
• The LPGA Tour’s CP Women’s Open will return to British Columbia next year.

Golf Canada announced the LPGA Tour’s lone Canadian stop will be at the Shaughnessy Golf and Country Club, Aug. 31-Sept. 6, 2020.
It marks the first CP Women’s Open in the province since 2015 when Lydia Ko won at the Vancouver Golf Club in Coquitlam.

Shaughnessy will be holding an LPGA Tour event for the first time. It has hosted the men’s Canadian Open four times, most recently in 2011.

PGA: Byeong Hun An and Sungjae Im each shot 8-under 62  to share the lead after one round at the Wyndham Championship at Greensboro, North Carolina.

Mackenzie Hughes, Rory Sabbatini, Patrick Rodgers and Johnson Wagner were a stroke back behind the South Korean leaders in the final PGA Tour event before the FedEx Cup playoffs.

Former Wyndham winners Brandt Snedeker and Webb Simpson joined Jordan Spieth among the nine players at 64.

The co-leaders shot the best rounds of their PGA Tour careers. An, a 27-year-old South Korean seeking his first career victory on tour, closed with birdies on four of his final six holes and a sand save on the par-4 18th.

An had four birdies on the front nine at Sedgefield Country Club along with those four on the back nine during his bogey-free round. He hit 15 greens in regulation.

“I’ve got to do a couple more of these rounds,” An said. “One good round won’t do it, so I need to keep it up and make a lot of birdies.”

Im, one of nine players in the field with a chance at finishing in the top 10 on the points list and earning some bonus money as part of the new Wyndham Rewards Top 10 program, had three straight birdies on Nos. 14-16 and also was bogey-free. He started at No. 25 on the points list.

For a while, it looked as though Spieth would join them atop the leaderboard – teeing off on No. 18 one stroke behind the leaders, but he sent his drive out of bounds. After taking the penalty stroke, he placed his fourth stroke 21 feet from the flagstick and rolled in that putt for arguably the best bogey of the day.

POLICE ARRESTED Ryder Cup player Thorbjorn Olesen in London on suspicion of sexually assaulting a female passenger while she was asleep on a flight to London, intoxication and failing to comply with the orders from the airline crew, British newspapers reported.

The Sun and The Independent cited Metropolitan Police as saying a 29-year-old was arrested when the British Airways flight landed Monday at Heathrow.

Olesen played in the World Golf Championships event in Memphis, Tennessee, where he tied for 27th. The 29-year-old Dane has five European Tour victories and made his Ryder Cup debut last year by going 1-1, beating Jordan Spieth in singles as Europe won.

The PGA Tour said in a statement it was aware of the arrest, calling the allegations “deeply troubling.”

Olesen allegedly got into an argument with other passengers in first class. He also is alleged to have urinated in the aisle.

The Sun reported that Ian Poulter, who also played the WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational, was on the flight and tried to calm the situation.
Poulter’s agent, Paul Dunkley, told The Sun that Poulter helped calm a “slightly intoxicated” passenger and then went to sleep “and the first he knew of anything else was when the police were waiting at Heathrow.”

Police said he was taken into custody and released under investigation.