Thai teenager Ariya Jutanugarn shot an eight-under 64 to take a one-stroke lead after the first round of the LPGA Lotte Championship on Wednesday.
The 17-year-old Ariya played the front nine at Hawaii’s breezy Ko Olina in six-under 30, before dropping a stroke on the 10th for her only bogey, then eagled the par-5 14th and birdied the par-4 15th.
She matched the tournament record after only getting into the field by winning a qualifier.
“I have very good front nine, but I just wanted to make more birdies,” Ariya said. “My record is eight under and I want it to be lower.”
Julia Boland was the best-placed Australian tied at 14th, hitting six birdies to finish the round at four-under 68.
Seven-time major winner Karrie Webb sits one shot further back after carding a three-under 69.
Suzann Pettersen of Norway had nine birdies and two bogeys in her morning round to finish one shot off the lead alongside South Korean Hee Kyung Seo.
Pettersen is a 10-time winner on the LPGA Tour and won an LET event this year in China.
“I went out today and tried to be really aggressive,” said Pettersen, coming off a third-place tie two weeks ago in the Kraft Nabisco Championship.
“My dad was so disappointed after the Kraft that I left all the putts short. He’s like, ‘You got to hit the ball past the hole to make putts.”
Seo, the 2010 Kia Classic winner, had a bogey-free round in the afternoon.
Hyo Joo Kim, the 17-year-old South Korean who played in a group with Ariya and 15-year-old New Zealand amateur Lydia Ko (71), matched Danielle Kang with a 66.
Ko, who became the youngest LPGA Tour winner with a victory at the Canadian Open last August, won the New South Wales Open last year, this year’s New Zealand Women’s Open as well as won the 2012 US Women’s Amateur.
Second-ranked Stacy Lewis, the winner of consecutive events this year in Singapore and Phoenix, was three strokes back at 67 along with defending champion Ai Miyazato, Beatriz Recari, So Yeon Ryu, Jane Park, Rebecca Lee-Bentram, Jane Rah and Gerina Piller.
Top-ranked Inbee Park, the Kraft Nabisco winner, was in a group at 70 that included local favourite Michelle Wie and Natalie Gulbis, playing her second tournament following a bout with malaria.
Third-ranked Yani Tseng, winless in more than year, had a 71.
