Los Angeles: China's Yan Liu and South Africa's Ashleigh Buhai both shot 9-under par rounds of 63 to share the lead after the first round of the LA Championship on Thursday.
But on a day of low scoring at El Caballero Country Club, Sweden's Frida Kinhult was just a shot off the leading pair and a chasing pack of five were just a further stroke behind.
Thailand's Jeeno Thitikul and Pornanong Phatlum finished the day five strokes off the pace.
Yan made a shaky start with a bogey on her opening hole, the par-4 10th, but she was electric from then on making birdies on three of her next four holes before an eagle on the par-5 16th.
She finished her round with three birdies in a row and carded her lowest score on the LPGA Tour.
"I think on my first hole I was a little nervous. I had high expectations for myself and I was nervous," said the 29-year-old, searching for her first win on the LPGA Tour which she joined in 2018. "I got bogey and before the next hole I told myself, 'You have to be calm and you have to be confident and be brave. You can do it.' I just talked with myself," she said.
Buhai, the 2022 British Open winner, was blemish free through her round, starting with a birdie on the tenth.
"Obviously any day you have a bogey-free round, that's a good day. I was very patient; hit a lot of good shots. I mean, you have to hole a lot of good putts as well. But I felt the pins were in locations we could access them today as long as you use the slopes correctly," she said.
"I feel that's kind of what this course is like. If you hit it into the right bowls you'll get good results; otherwise you can short side yourself very easily and it can't be fun," added the 35-year old.
Kinhult was also bogey-free.