Ilonen, Carolan lead inaugural Ballantine's Championship

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SEOUL, South Korea -- Finland's Mikko Ilonen and Tony Carolan of Australia shot 5-under 67s Thursday to lead after the first round of the inaugural Ballantine's Championship.

Ilonen and Carolan were a stroke ahead of a pack of 10 that included Japan's Shingo Katayama, Indian pair Jyoti Randhawa and Jeev Milkha Singh, Thailand's Prayad Marksaeng and Northern Ireland's Graeme McDowell.

Others at 4 under were Ireland's Paul McGinley, Australia's Scott Hend, England's Simon Griffiths, local hope Hwang Inn-choon and American Anthony Kim.

A field of 132 players was competing in the $2.9 million tournament at the Pinx golf club on the southern island of Jeju. The tournament is jointly sanctioned by the European and Asian Tours and the Korean PGA.

PGA TOUR regular and local hero K.J. Choi struggled to adapt to conditions and was four shots off the pace.

After moving to 2-under through four holes, the world's fifth-ranked player picked up a double bogey at the seventh to go with bogies on the ninth and 13th. Only a birdie on the par-3 17th sent him back to the clubhouse under-par.

"As the world No. 5 I am not satisfied," Choi said. "There is a problem with my short-game and my swing. I need to adapt quickly to the fast greens."

Choi was tied with British Open champion Padraig Harrington, who is returning from a neck injury and a bout of shingles.

"I hit a bad shot into No. 6 with a nine iron and then had a bad chip," the Irishman said. "The rest of the round was pretty solid."

Two-time major winner Sandy Lyle joined the field as a player and ambassador and shot a 76.

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