Troubled world No.1 Yani Tseng drew inspiration from thousands of cheering fans as she carded five-under-par 67 to lie two shots off the first-round lead at the Sunrise LPGA Taiwan Championship on Thursday.

The defending champion, moved to tears this week as she contemplated a seven-month title drought, scored six birdies against a lone bogey to trail South Korea’s in-form Park In-Bee by two shots.

Park, who has enjoyed 10 top-10 finishes out of 20 tournaments this year, enjoyed a bogey-free round of seven birdies at Sunrise Golf and Country Club in the northern county of Taoyuan.

Nicole Castrale and Danielle Kang of the United States, Thailand’s Pornanong Phatlum and Park Hee-Young of South Korea were tied for third place on four-under-par 68.

One shot behind on 69 were Paula Creamer and Lizette Salas of the United States, South Korea’s Chella Choi and Norway’s Suzann Pettersen, who won last week’s HanaBank Championship in South Korea after a play-off.

Last year the diminutive Tseng, affectionately known as the “Pride of Taiwan” by her home fans, enjoyed her seventh and final win of the season in front of sell-out crowds at the Sunrise event.

But Tseng has gone off the boil this year with no wins since March, including 11 straight tournaments without a top-10 finish and three missed cuts, although she finished third last week in South Korea.

Sarah-Jane Smith was the best placed of the Australians, six shots off the pace.