Golf capsules

[May 17, 2013]  IRVING, Texas (AP) -- Keegan Bradley had no thoughts about a course record, or the possibility of a 59, after consecutive bogeys in the middle of his opening round at the Byron Nelson Championship.

Until his 136-yard wedge shot on his final hole Thursday.

"It was going right at it. (A 59) crossed my mind for a second, and it would be unbelievable if I buried this," Bradley said. "But I had 3 feet to shoot 60. I was actually very nervous, uncomfortable over it and thank God I made it."

Bradley shot 10-under 60, completed by that short birdie at the 428-yard ninth hole, to break the TPC Four Seasons course record and match the best round ever at the Nelson. He topped his career PGA Tour best by three strokes and equaled Phil Mickelson's opening 60 at Phoenix as the best round on the tour this season.

After missing the fairways off the tees and making bogeys at No. 18 and then No. 1, the latter starting his back nine when he drove into a bunker and had a par putt lip out, Bradley was 3 under. He made a 17-foot birdie putt at the 221-yard second, and was 7 under in his final eight holes with an eagle-birdie-birdie finish.

The 60, with 10 birdies and an eagle 3 at the 542-yard seventh, gave Bradley a three-stroke lead over 2011 Masters champion Charl Schwartzel. Robert Karlsson, Harris English and Ted Potter Jr. shot 64, and two-time major champion Angel Cabrera, Ryan Palmer and Camilo Villegas were at 65.

Guan Tianlang, the 14-year-old amateur from China, shot 70 in his second tournament since making the cut at the Masters. The eighth-grader also made the cut in New Orleans three weeks ago.

MOBILE BAY LPGA CLASSIC

MOBILE, Ala. (AP) -- Lexi Thompson birdied four of her last five holes for a 7-under 65 and a share of the first-round lead with Eun-Hee Ji in the Mobile Bay LPGA Classic.

The 18-year-old Thompson, second last year behind Stacy Lewis, had eight birdies and a bogey on The Crossings course at the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail's Magnolia Grove complex.

Ji, the 2009 U.S. Women's Open champion, had five birdies in a six-hole stretch on the front nine in her bogey-free round. Jessica Korda was a stroke back at 66, and Nicole Castrale, Mina Harigae, Dewi Claire Schreefel, Thidapa Suwanapura, Hee Young Park, Jennifer Johnson and Chella Choi shot 67.

The second-ranked Lewis opened with a 70.

VOLVO WORLD MATCH PLAY CHAMPIONSHIP

KAVARNA, Bulgaria (AP) -- England's Ian Poulter and Belgium's Nicolas Colsaerts lost their opening round-robin matches in the Volvo World Match Play Championship.

Thailand's Thongchai Jaidee beat Poulter, the 2011 winner, 3 and 2, and Colsaerts, the defending champion, fell 4 and 3 to South Africa's Branden Grace at Gary Player-designed Thracian Cliffs.

Northern Ireland's Graeme McDowell -- the highest ranked player in the field at No. 8 -- beat England's Chris Wood 5 and 3.

After round-robin play in the eight three-man groups, the top two in each group will advance to the round of 16.

MADEIRA ISLANDS OPEN

SANTO ANTONIO DA SERRA, Madeira Islands (AP) -- Scotland's Lloyd Saltman shot an 8-under 64 to match his best round and take a two-stroke lead after the first day of the Madeira Islands Open.

Saltman finished with nine birdies and a bogey in windy conditions.

England's Richard Bland was second.

[Associated Press]

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