Toronto, Aug 22 Four days after capturing her maiden LPGA Tour title at the Portland Classic, Japanese rookie Akie Iwai picked up where she left off on Thursday, carding a seven-under 64 to take a two-stroke lead in the opening round of the Canadian Women's Open.
The 23-year-old was flawless in opening with a bogey-free round at Mississauga Golf and Country Club, a course located 26 kilometres west of downtown Toronto.
Aphrodite Deng Tiexin, a 15-year-old Chinese-Canadian ranked 22nd in the World Amateur Golf Rankings, shot five-under 66 to sit equal second with American Megan Khang, Mexican Gaby Lopez, Ireland's Leona Maguire and Thai Jeeno Thitikul, who ended Nelly Korda's 71-week run at the top of the world rankings earlier this month, reports Xinhua.
South Korean Joo Soo-bin was seventh on 67 at the 2.6 million U.S. dollar championship.
Liu Yan was the top Chinese as the Xiamen native got to six-under to briefly lead the tournament through 11 holes, but she could not hold it in dropping four strokes over the last six holes to finish on two-under 69.
Other Chinese scores included Yin Xiaowen (71), Liu Yiyi (72), Zhang Yahui (72), Liu Yu (72), Liu Ruixin (73), Wang Xinying (74) and Zhang Weiwei (76).
Iwai started her day from the back nine and came out firing with back-to-back birdies to begin her round. After making the turn at three-under 33, she closed with four birdies over her last six holes, including two straight to finish.
"Today I was able to focus well and my swing was in good tempo. That's why I got many birdie chances," said the world No. 24. "Last week I won, but already it's in the past. That's why I was changing the mind with good focus this week."
Thitikul, 22, who is top-ranked for the second time in her career, also started from the back nine and got off to a good start with a birdie two at her first hole. After making the turn at even par, the Ratchaburi native picked it up on her back nine in reeling off five birdies in the hunt for her third win of the year.
Playing in her first tournament since being elevated to the world No. 1, Thitikul said she was treating her round "just like another day at work".
"I am not going to lie saying I'm not thinking about that, but to be honest, I just told myself you can think about it. You can be worried. You can be nervous. But at the end of the day, you've got to pass this as well."
Deng, who last month became the first Canadian to win the U.S. Girls' Championship, looked right at home among her professional peers in her LPGA Tour debut as she opened with back-to-back birdies, before picking up further strokes at the fifth and seventh holes to make the turn at four-under 31.
The teenager, whose parents come from Shenyang, would drop her only stroke of the day with a bogey five at the par-four 15th hole before rebounding with birdies over the final two holes.
"Today my putting was really good and my short game too," said Deng, who took up golf five years ago. The Calgary native admitted to looking up at the leaderboard a few times during her round. "I thought it was pretty cool [to see myself tied for the early lead], but I just knew I had to keep the same game plan."
China's top-ranked golfer Yin Ruoning was on the preliminary list to play this week, but as the tournament drew nearer she was not on the field list. Tournament officials gave no reason for the absence of the world No. 5, only saying "players will select which tournaments they play to fit within their schedule".
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