INCHEON, October 7, 2011 (AFP) - World number one Yani Tseng shot a course-record seven-under-par 65 to lead by a shot over Chella Choi after the first round of the LPGA HanaBank Championship in South Korea on Friday.
Home hope Choi Na-Yeon, who is gunning for a third straight crown at the Sky 72 Golf Club's Ocean Course in Incheon, was lurking two strokes back from Tseng, along with Sandra Gal of Germany.
"I don't want to think too much," said 22-year-old Taiwanese Tseng, who has been the dominating force on the LPGA Tour this season, including two majors that made her the youngest golfer in history to reach five career major titles.
"But I want to work on my putting, my game, kind of get tempo back. It gets very windy when we play the back nine, so I need to control the ball better."
Tseng tallied 10 birdies and three bogeys to shoot the lowest round at the tournament since it moved to the Sky 72 Golf Club in 2008.
Two-time defending champion Choi Na-Yeon got off to a strong start, firing a 67 while paired with Tseng.
Choi said that the last time she played with Tseng was in February at the HSBC Women's Champions and she noticed a significant difference in the confidence level of the world's current top-rated player.
"She looks a totally different person, very strong and confident walking, everything," Choi said. "I'm very impressed with her playing today. I'm very satisfied at what I played today, too."
Choi didn't record a single bogey in her round, tallying five birdies to put herself within two shots of the lead.
While she said she has tried not to think about trying for a three-peat this week in her home country, she acknowledges that it's not the easiest thing to keep off her mind.
"I mean, I try to put less pressure on myself but still some pressure in my heart and in my head," she said.
"Really I tried to use that pressure in a good way. It's more focus or really try more than 100 percent every shot. It was good today, everything, like emotion control, everything was good today."
Compatriot Chella Choi meanwhile is still looking for her first win on the LPGA Tour and it would undoubtedly be extra special for that victory to come in her home country.
Choi, who grew up an hour away from where the tournament is being held, said: "I like this golf course. It's in great shape and I'm very excited about this tournament because it is my country and my mum and my family came here."
She eagled the par-five 13th and had four birdies to go along with one bogey en route to shooting her lowest round of the season.
Leading first-round scores on Friday from the $1.8 million LPGA HanaBank Championship (South Korean unless stated, par 72):
65 - Yani Tseng (TPE)
66 - Chella Choi
67 - Choi Na-Yeon, Sandra Gal (GER)
68 - Paula Creamer (USA), Sophie Gustafson (SWE), Kang Jimin, Kim Mi-Hyun, Meena Lee, Park Hee-Young
69 - Ahn Shin-Ae, Lee Bo-Mee, Grace Park, Beatriz Recari (ESP), Yang Soo-Jin
70 - Choi He-Yong, Juli Inkster (USA), Kim Ha-Neul, I.K. Kim, Catriona Matthew (SCO), Azahara Munoz (ESP), Sim Hyun-Hwa, Angela Stanford (USA)
Selected:
72- Suzann Pettersen (NOR), Cristie Kerr (USA), Jiyai Shin