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Australian golf star Minjee Lee has matched one of her own three scoring records in China to claim the first-round lead at the Blue Bay LPGA Tour event.
Minjee Lee has equalled one of her own records to seize the first-round lead at the Blue Bay LPGA Tour event in China.
Chasing a second victory at the $US2.2 million ($A3.4 million) tournament, Lee carved out a bogey-free seven-under-par 65 on Jian Lake Blue Bay Golf Course on Thursday.
Australia's world No.5 won the event in 2016, setting three scoring records along the way - best first 18 holes (65), the 36-hole low total (135) and 72-hole low championship mark (275).
Playing in the first group of the morning and starting from the 10th tee, Lee led from the get-go after making her first birdie on her second hole in what is the final event of three on the tour's Asian swing.
The 27-year-old collected further birdies on 13, 15 and 18 to reach the turn at four under before draining two more on the first and third holes and icing her round with another on the last after five straight pars looked to have stalled her momentum.
"We were really fortunate with very calm conditions starting out, so we tried to take advantage of the nice conditions," Lee said.
The Blue Bay LPGA is only Lee's second start of 2024 after the dual major champion tied for 29th on Sunday behind fellow Australian Hannah Lee at the HSBC Women's World Championship in Singapore.
Lee will sleep on a one-stroke advantage over American Sarah Schmelzel and fast-finishing Chinese pair Miranda Wang and Ruixin Liu, who all notched six-under 66s.
One over par a third of the way through her round, Liu birdied seven of her last 13 holes while Wang picked up four shots in the last five holes to narrow Lee's lead to one stroke.
South Korean Hye-Jin Choi and US duo Lucy Li and Caroline Inglis share fifth at five under, with Lee's playing partner, in-form New Zealander Lydia Ko, a further shot back in a tie for eighth.
Lee is playing just her second tournament since switching equipment from Srixon to Callaway in a multi-million-dollar deal.
The Perth star had to make some swing tweaks but has quickly ironed out any problems.
"I actually touched on everything this off-season, especially with changes to my equipment to Callaway," she said.
"Everything has been a little bit of a process of getting used to it.
"It's going to take me a couple of events to knock the rust off and break those clubs in.
"I'm looking forward to the rest of the week."
