So Yeon Ryu shot a tournament-record nine-under 63 on Thursday (Friday AEST) to take the first-round lead in the Swinging Skirts LPGA Classic.
Ryu leads Candie Kung and Haru Nomura by two shots, but Australia's top-ranked women's golfer Minjee Lee is in a tie for 58th after shooting a one-over-par first round of 73.
The world No.12 Lee shot four birdies and five bogies in her opening round, including bogies on the 15th, 16th and 17th holes.
Katherine Kirk and Su Oh are the best placed Australians after the first round and share 18th place following two-under-par rounds of 70.
The highlight of Kirk's round was an eagle on the 14th, which came after two successive birdies.
Playing in the first group of the day off the 10th tee, the South Korean Ryu had seven birdies in an eight-hole stretch on the back nine and added two more on the front nine at Lake Merced.
"I was kind of lucky to tee it off really early," Ryu said. "I had a really fresh green, no wind. Also San Francisco is really cold in the morning, but this morning it was just perfect temperature.
"I think today just everything was just great. My tee shot was great. I only missed one green today. I shot 17 greens. Putting was really good."
Taiwan's Kung and Japan's Nomura were two strokes back at 65. Kung opened her afternoon rounds with bogeys on 10 and 11, then birdied the next two and made seven more in a nine-hole stretch from the 17th to the seventh.
Two-time defending champion Lydia Ko opened with a 68. Ko already has two victories in California this year, winning the Kia Classic and ANA Inspiration - the first major of the year - in consecutive weeks.
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