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Starting her round at the 10th, Ji made her move on the
second nine with four consecutive birdies from the fifth and
needed only 23 putts as she made light work of the blustery
conditions at the $2 million event.
China's Lin Xi Yu (67) was one shot back in second, with
American Morgan Presell (68) in a four-way tie for third
alongside Germany's Sandra Gal, Charley Hull of England and Yoo
Sun-young of South Korea.
"I was just patient with the winds and I was calm with my
putting. I just looked at the line and hit it,” Ji told
reporters, crediting some short game work for her good round.
"I just working on my short game last week and the week before,
because my chipping wasn't feeling good.
"So I was working a lot this week and I just chipped in twice
today and I think I worked on a lot of right things."
Ji, who won the 2009 U.S. Women's Open, has struggled this
season, with her best finish tied for eighth at the Evian
Championships last month. The 66 was a joint best round of the
year.
World number two Lydia Ko also had few problems in the tricky
conditions as she fired four birdies in a round of 69, which was
good enough for a share of seventh.
Home favorite and former world number one Yani Tseng could only
manage a level par 72 after encountering trouble on the front
nine, but that was five better than American world number three
Stacey Lewis, who endured a miserable birdie-free 77 -- her
worst of the year.
(Writing by Patrick Johnston in Singapore; Editing by Peter
Rutherford)
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