Han Hee-won, a member of the gang of talented South Koreans in the women's game, fired a four-under-par 67 to lead after the first round of the US$1.6 million LPGA Championship on Thursday.
Only nine players broke par in tough, soggy conditions as Han went one shot clear of American Solheim Cup player Wendy Ward and 33-year-old Australian Joanne Mills at the women's major.
South Korean Grace Park and Australia's Rachel Teske shared fourth place on 69.
World No. 1 Annika Sorenstam of Sweden, who has attracted a host of new admirers following her appearance alongside the men at the PGA's Colonial event two weeks ago, carded a one-under-par 70 at the Dupont Country Club.
With the greenstaff struggling to repair the course after torrential rain had washed out Wednesday's pro-am, the start of play was delayed for an hour.
But Han, who will be 25 on Monday, mastered the conditions with six birdies, all from inside 10 feet.
Speaking through an interpreter, the 2001 LPGA Rookie of the Year told reporters her game plan was to stay out of the deep rough.
Han also said she was thrilled to finish five shots ahead of defending champion Pak Se-ri, who also won the title as a rookie in 1998 and is the most famous of the burgeoning South Korean contingent.
Staying on the fairway was the key all day.
Even Sorenstam, famed for her straight hitting, fell foul of the difficult conditions when she found the rough at the 15th (her sixth) and could do little more than hack out for one of her two bogeys.
But with three birdies she enjoyed one of her best starts to a major that she desperately wants to win.
"I feel so motivated this week and want to do so well," said Sorenstam, who hit back from missing the cut at the Colonial to win last week's LPGA tournament in Illinois.
Ward played with Sorenstam and said she had drawn inspiration from partnering golf's player of the moment.
"Playing with Annika always seems to bring out the best in me," said the 30-year-old American, who halved her singles match with the Swede when the US won the Solheim Cup in Minnesota last September.
Ward has a good record in this event, with two third-place finishes and a fourth in the last five years. "I just seem to have good vibes here," she said.
Mills, who won the 1997 German Open in Europe, was pleased with one of her best rounds in her two-year career in the US "My goal today was to stay out of the rough at all costs," she said. "Thankfully, it went to plan and I couldn't be happier."
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