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CAMBRIDGE, Ontario -- Chella Choi ended up on top of the LPGA Manulife Classic leaderboard Thursday at windy Whistle Bear when Belen Mozo unraveled with a closing triple bogey.Choi shot a 6-under 66, finishing with a birdie on the par-5 ninth.Pretty good. Pretty good, said Choi, the South Korean player who won the Marathon Classic winner last year for her first LPGA Tour title. A lot of wind, but my game is good and driving is good, shot was good, so I made a lot of birdies.Mozo was 7 under before running into trouble on the par-4 18th. The wind took her drive wide right into thick rough. She hacked her way out, found two bunkers and finally putted out for a 68. The Spaniard was in a late group and apologized to reporters as she rushed to the driving range before it closed for the day.Second-ranked Ariya Jutanugarn was four strokes back after a 70 in her bid to win three straight events for the second time this season. The 20-year-old Thai player began her latest streak at the Womens British Open, and rebounded from a knee injury that forced her to withdraw during the Rio Olympics to win the Canadian Pacific Womens Open on Sunday in Alberta.Using a driver in competition for the first time since May, she dropped two strokes on the back nine after birdieing the first three holes and making the turn in 4 under.U.S. Open champion Brittany Lang, second last year at Whistle Bear after winning the inaugural event in 2012 at Grey Silo, was a stroke back at 67 along with South Koreas In Gee Chun, Spains Azahara Munoz and Swedens Dani Holmqvist. Lang holed a lob wedge for eagle on the par-5 third -- her 12th hole.The course was playing a little bit tricky with the wind and couldnt get to that par 5, Lang said. I actually laid it up a little bit too far left and through. I was like, `Awe, should still be OK. And then when I hit it, it was nice and high and on the right line. And we couldnt see it. And then my husband and all our friends were up there, and they were screaming, so it was a pretty cool reaction.Munoz noted the tournaments later dates after her bogey-free round.I think its nicer playing now than in June, Munoz said. I think last year was a little cooler the first few days. The course is great. The greens roll really nice, so if you hit a good putt, the ball goes in.Top-ranked Lydia Ko had a 70. The 19-year-old New Zealander has four LPGA Tour victories this year.Defending champion Suzann Pettersen shot a 69 in the group with Ko and Stacy Lewis (70). Pettersen won at 22 under last season in the first year at Whistle Bear after three at Grey Silo.Jutanugarn played alongside 18-year-oldCanadian star Brooke Henderson matched Jutanugarn with a 70 in their afternoon group.The wind really picked up on the back nine. It was kind of difficult, the 18-year-old Henderson said. You could see all three of us not really playing exactly the way we wanted just because of the wind and the conditions. But I finished 2 under on afternoon tee time in windy conditions. Im happy. Im just excited to tee it up tomorrow where conditions will be a little bit softer and not as much wind.Henderson, from Smith Falls in southeastern Ontario, beat Ko in a playoff in June in the KPMG Womens PGA for her first major title, and successfully defended her Portland Classic title in early July.Choi has concentrated on improving her driving. She hit 10 of 14 fairways Thursday.I worked really hard the last three weeks, Choi said. I want to hit straight and strong my drive four days, so I focus on just my driving four days.DIVOTS: Alena Sharp and Maude-Aimee Leblanc topped the Canadians at 69. Sharp, from Hamilton, is coming off a career-best fourth-place finish in Alberta. Lorie Kane had a 70. The 51-year-old Kane was inducted into the Canadian Golf Hall of Fame last week. ... Michelle Wie birdied the 18th for a 72. She has missed 11 of 19 cuts this season and is 112th on the money list with $55,375. .C. -- After a listless first half, the Washington Wizards used a big third quarter run to beat the Charlotte Bobcats Bradley Beal scored 21 points and the Wizards used a 17-0 run in the third quarter to take control of what had been a close game and beat the Bobcats 97-83 on Tuesday night. . LOUIS -- The New Orleans Saints looked like a team playing out the string. . Brett Kulak and Jackson Houck of the Vancouver Giants were each charged with assault causing bodily harm on Aug. 18, according to the B.C. court services. . Andreas Johnson had a goal and two assists while Jacob de la Rose also scored for Sweden (2-0-0). Esa Lindell and Rasmus Ristolainen replied for Finland (1-1-0) Lindell opened the scoring for Finland just 41 seconds into the game, but the hosts quickly regained their composure and tied the score less than four minutes later on Wennbergs first of the game. .Y. - Detroit goaltender Jonas Gustavsson has earned NHL first star of the week honours after winning in his first three appearances of the season. Randwick figured in two track upgrades during the Villiers Stakes meeting, but it wasnt enough to stop wet-track specialist The Monstar.Racing started well into the heavy range before The Monstar overcame a wide run on a soft-rated track to win the Razor Sharp, the feature sprint race on Saturday.Hes love a soft track. Hes got great stats in the wet but he was still very brave to fight on, jockey Tommy Berry said.Berry was a late booking for The Monstar ($16) after bush jockey Richard Bensley had to forfeit his two rides for Albury trainer Brett Cavanough.The Monstar raced the deepest of three leaders as the field settled before he crossed to be outside Victorian-trained sprinter Sirbible.dddddddddddde took control of the Listed race at the 300m and lifted again to score by three-quarters of a length from Sirbible ($13).His Majesty, the $3.70 favourite, missed the start before finishing the same margin away third.The Monstar has now raced 12 times on tracks rated in the soft range for seven wins and two placings. ' ' '
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