Megan Khang and Hyo Joo Kim each shot 66 to sit one off the lead; defending champion Nasa Hataoka, Lucy Li and Maude-Aimee Leblanc are tied a further shot back; watch final two rounds live on Sky Sports Golf from 11pm on Saturday and Sunday
Friday 31 March 2023 10:26, UK
Mi Hyang Lee shot a six-under 65 in her first LPGA Tour event of the year to hold a one-stroke lead after the opening round of the DIO Implant LA Open.
The South Korean, who earned her spot in a Monday qualifier, hit all 18 greens in regulation, played bogey-free and closed with a birdie on the par-four 18th in challenging conditions at Palos Verdes. Players endured intermitted rain and hail, with temperatures in the 40s.
Lee turned 30 on Thursday and called it "the best birthday round I've ever had."
Ranked 378th in the world, Lee has two career LPGA Tour victories, the more recent at the Ladies Scottish Open in 2017. She was runner-up at the ANA Inspiration, a major, in 2019 to reach a career-best 31st in the rankings but has struggled the past three years. She's coming off a tie for sixth in an Epson Tour event last week.
Megan Khang and Hyo Joo Kim - a close friend of Lee's - each shot 66 to sit one back off the leader. Defending champion Nasa Hataoka, Lucy Li and Maude-Aimee Leblanc are a further shot back, tied at four-under.
"You know, I've come pretty close here and there," said Khang, winless in eight years on the LPGA Tour.
"I tell myself the more I give myself chances and opportunities, the easier it's going to get in those situations and trying to get my foot through the door.
"I know I'm capable of doing it and it's just a matter of time."
Second-ranked Nelly Korda and her sister, Jessica, are among a group which also includes England's Charley Hull that are sat three shots off the lead at three-under.
This is the fifth playing of the LA Open and the first at Palos Verdes, which hosted a different event, the Palos Verdes Championship, last year - won by Marina Alex, who shot a one-over 72 on Thursday.
Watch the final two rounds live on Sky Sports Golf from 11pm on Saturday and Sunday.
Get the best prices and book a round at one of 1,700 courses across the UK & Ireland
