South Korea’s Mi Hyang Lee carded an 8-under round of 64 on Thursday and owns a one-stroke lead over Australia’s Grace Kim after one round of the Meijer LPGA Classic in Belmont, Mich.
Twenty-three golfers are within four strokes of Lee on the par-72 layout at Blythefield Country Club.
After parring the first four holes during her morning round, Lee needed only 11 strokes to birdie holes 5-8. After turning in 32, she eagled the par-5 10th hole, reaching the green in two and sinking a tough 24-footer.
“I didn’t expect I can hit the green there for my second shot,” Lee said. “But it was a great line and good hit with the 3-wood and I made the green. It was almost 24 feet, like right-to left-eagle putt. I didn’t expect to make it.”
She birdied 14 and 17 in a bogey-free 64 and played the four par-5 holes in -4.
Lee missed the cut in last weekend’s U.S. Open and the 32-year old Seoul native’s best finish was a tie for sixth at the Ford Championships in late March.
“I missed only two fairways,” Lee said. “I think that’s a lot of help to hit the greens a lot, too.”
Kim also eagled the 10th and played holes 7-14 in 6-under par.
Paraguay’s Sofia Garcia, Australia’s Karis Davidson and Japan’s Akie Iwai were two strokes back at 6 under. Six players, including Andrea Lee, the lone American in the top 11, carded 5-under 67s.
“It was a solid round overall,” said Lee, a Los Angeles native. “I really wasn’t expecting anything coming into today because I had a pretty bad cold last week and I’m still getting over it. … Just played really solid golf, hit some good shots, made decent amount of putts.”
Defending champion Lilia Vu struggled with a 5-over 77.