CHORLEY and England's Lora Fairclough recovered from a poor start to fire a five-under-par 67 and share second place after the opening round of the Ladies Austrian Open in Graz.

Fairclough carded seven birdies and two bogeys and lies two shots off the lead set by Germany's Elisabeth Esterl. The 29-year-old shares second place with Australia's Jane Leary.

"I hit it terribly at first, but then I had a swing thought and it all came together," said Fairclough, fourth in last month's Evian Masters and fourth on the Order of Merit.

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