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The seven-times major winner, bidding for a
third win in the tournament after 2015 and 2017 triumphs, snared
eight birdies in sweltering conditions at Singapore's Sentosa
course to top the leaderboard ahead of fellow South Korean Park
Hee-young (65).
"I had a great day today," said the world number two. "It was a
great putting day, I hit the ball really well and made plenty of
fairways and greens."
The 32-year-old hit a sublime approach shot at the third hole to
commence her birdie blitz and would have been even further in
front of the field had she not just missed a relatively
straightforward putt at the last.
Park Hee-young's mix of an eagle, six birdies and a single bogey
gave her a two-shot advantage over five players who carded 67s
for a share of third at a tournament sometimes dubbed "Asia's
major".
Former world number one Park Sung-hyun, who won the tournament
the last time it was held in 2019, continued her poor run of
form with the worst round of the day, a six-over-par 78.
She is guaranteed to play at the weekend, however, as the
69-player event has no cut.
Park Inbee said it had been hotter out on the course than in
previous years at Sentosa.
"I'm just looking to get through the next three days and get out
of here," she said.
(Reporting by Nick Mulvenney; Editing by Peter Graff)
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