South Korea's Bo-Mee Lee has set the pace in Thursday's first round of the Australian Ladies Masters, shooting a flawless 7-under 65 at RACV Royal Pines Resort in Queensland.
Bo-Mee Lee - out in front
The 23-year-old fired seven birdies to end the day a stroke clear of early clubhouse leader So Yeon Ryu, fellow Korean Hee Kyung Seo and Holland's Christel Boeljon.
England's Felicity Johnson shares fifth place on 67 alongside American teenager Lexi Thompson and Australians Stephanie Na and Nikki Campbell.
Fellow Australians Frances Bondad, Courtney Massey and Sarah Kemp all shot four under 68s to finish the day in a share of ninth position and give the home galleries reason to cheer.
Lee, who was the Korean LPGA player of the Year in 2010 and now plies her trade on the Japanese circuit, said Thursday's round was one where everything just worked.
"Good driver, good irons, putting was good. It was easy, easy today," she said.
Ryu, the reigning US Open Champion, had earlier shot a bogey-free six under 66 and admitted to feeling pressurized by the high expectations of home fans at the start of her first tournament for 2012, but said a birdie on her third hole of the day, the 501m par five 12th hole, had settled her down.
"I sunk my birdie putt and then I could finally relax," she said. "I think it was a really great round. It was a really lovely day for me."
"A lot of people have really high expectations for me so I am a little bit worried about it," she said. "I really try hard and I am really training hard but if I hit it bad, a lot of people are disappointed with me."
The 21-year -old added she was pleasantly surprised at the state of the Royal Pines layout given that it had been soaked by relentless rain for the past week.
"I can't believe it because yesterday the course was too wet but today it was a lot better."
Johnson, who earned her second LET title at the Lacoste Ladies Open de France in October, fired six birdies against one bogey in her round of 67.
Australian Stephanie Na
The 24-year-old from Birmingham said: "Everything was good. My game is based on fairways and greens and if I putt well, I'll score well. I did putt well today but I've struggled with my game the last few days, so I went out there with no expectations. I hit the ball well and made a few putts so that was the key to a good score. I've played well here before so took some
good memories out there today.
"It is a really tough finish now that they have made nine into a long par four; it's a really tough second shot in there; but I've driven the ball great all day and continued to do that over the last few holes so I made it as easy as I could for myself. I hit a small gap wedge into six to six foot and made birdie there. There were a couple of straightforward pars on seven and eight and then nine, I hit it in the greenside bunker and wasn't looking forward to that shot too much, I'm not going to lie, but I hit it stone dead so it was a great way to finish the round."
Australian Nikki Campbell was also pleased with her opening 5-under-par 67 after a difficult year on the Japanese Tour in 2011.
"I felt that the second half of last year, I was just going through the motions and not there to compete. I struggled a bit, and I just felt really lonely," aid Campbell, who finished second at Royal Pines last year.
"A long break has worked wonders."
Of the other notables in the field, France's Gwladys Nocera is in a tie for 12th on three under with Lee-Anne Pace, Sophie Gustafson, Karen Lunn, Christina Kim and five other players, while 2009 Masters champion, Katherine Hull is on two under 70 with 2011 Kraft Nabisco champion, American Stacy Lewis. Three times Masters-winner Laura Davies is a shot further
back on one under 71.
Top 10 Leaderboard
65: Bo-Mee Lee (KOR).
66: So Yeon Ryu (KOR), Hee Kyung Seo (KOR), Christel Boeljon (NED).
67: Nikki Campbell (AUS), Felicity Johnson (ENG), Lexi Thompson (USA), Stephanie Na (AUS).
68: Frances Bondad (AUS), Courtney Massey (AUS), Sarah Kemp (AUS).
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