Mikino Kubo, taking aim at back-to-back tour titles, birdied the final hole for a 1-under-par 71 and a share of a five-way tie for the lead Friday after the first round of the Chukyo TV Bridgestone Ladies golf tournament. Kubo, who won last week's Vernal Ladies, carded four birdies and three bogeys over the Chukyo Golf Club's windswept Ishino Course. Yukiyo Haga, Shiho Oyama, Kumi Yamashita and Taiwan's Lu Hsiao-chuan also went one stroke better than par for their share of the lead.
