CLEVELAND, Ohio -- World No. 1 Lydia Ko competes in her first tournament of the LPGA Tour season at ISPS Handa Australian Open 2017 this week.

LPGA AUSTRALIAN OPEN TEE TIMES

Round 1 began Thursday morning in Adelaide, Australia, which was Wednesday afternoon Eastern Time.

LPGA AUSTRALIAN OPEN LEADERBOARD

Event: LPGA Australian Open.

Site: Grange, Australia.

Course: Royal Adelaide GC.

Purse: $1.3 million (First prize: $195,000).

Television: Wednesday, 9 p.m.-2 a.m. (Golf Channel); Thursday-Friday, 11 p.m. to 2 a.m. (Golf Channel); Saturday, 9 p.m. to 2 a.m. (Golf Channel).

Defending champion: Haru Nomura.

Previous tournament: Brittany Lincicome won the PureSilk Bahamas LPGA Classic.

Notes: Lydia Ko makes her 2017 debut with a new coach (Gary Gilchrist), a new caddie (Gary Matthews) and new clubs (PXG). Her most recent victory was in July. ... Ariya Jutanugarn also is in the field, one of the strongest ever for this event. ... This is the sixth year that the Women's Australian Open has been an official LPGA Tour event. ...Aditi Ashok and Mariah Stackhouse received sponsor exemptions. ... The LPGA season began in the Bahamas with Lincicome winning, and with five Americans finishing in the top five for the first time on the LPGA since the 2011 Canadian Women's Open. ... Three Australians are among the top 100 in the women's world ranking: Minjee Lee (17), Karrie Webb (62) and Su Oh (70).

Next week: Honda LPGA Thailand.

Online: www.lpga.com

(The Associated Press contributed to this report.)

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