Solid start for Leona Maguire at season closer in Florida

Leona Maguire shot 68 in her opening round at the CME Group Tour Championship to finish the day in a tie for 13th place in Florida.

It left her on four under par, five shots behind the leading pair of Nasa Hataoka and Ruoning Yin, in her pursuit of the winner's cheque of around $1.85 million.

Maguire started steadily with three pars, before bogeying the fourth. But she would get to the turn on two under after birdies on five, six and eight.

She managed to pick up two more on the way home - at 13 and 17 - to leave her within striking distance heading into Friday's play.

Hataoka was the first to touch nine under and Yin matched her at the end of the afternoon, her final birdie coming at the par-5 17th hole at Tiburon Golf Club. Both players carded nine birdies and no bogeys to kick off the lucrative season finale tournament.

The top 60 players in the Race to the CME Globe standings qualified for the season-ending event, which features the highest winning payout in women's golf.

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Additional reporting: Reuters