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Reid, who went out as part of the morning wave
amid dense coastal fog, carded five birdies and a bogey to take
a one-stroke clubhouse lead at four-under early on at the major.
"I didn't think that score was out there honestly," Reid said of
San Francisco's Olympic Club, where many in the morning found
the Lake Course's thick rough and struggled to break par.
"I had a pretty good game plan. It's probably the best I've had
for a tournament," said Reid, who said her plan had been hatched
with help from four-time men's major champion Brooks Koepka.
"We had a game plan and stuck to it."
Reid's lead appeared safe until American amateur Ganne came out
of nowhere in the sunnier afternoon to put on a putting clinic
of her own.
Ganne pulled into a share of the lead with a birdie on the
par-three 15th and took the lead on the next hole with her sixth
birdie of the day on the par-five 16th.
But an errant tee shot on her final hole found the rough and the
ensuing bogey dropped her back into a share of the lead.
Ganne, who played in the tournament two years ago as a
15-year-old, said taming her nerves was key to her success.
"I think the first time is nerve-racking for anybody - meeting
your idols and being on the stage for the first time," she said.
"But the second time around, even the practice rounds, I wasn't
as nervous."
Brooke Henderson (68) looked set to finish tied for the lead but
three-putted the last for a bogey, dropping into a share of
third with Angel Yin and Megan Khang at three under.
While there was talk before the tournament that the winner might
actually finish above par, 15 players finished under par on
Thursday including Lexi Thompson, Shanshan Feng and Yuka Saso,
who all carded 2-under 69s to sit tied for sixth.
Defending champion Kim A-lim was not so lucky, the South Korean
limping home with an eight-over 79.
Thursday marked the first time that the oldest women's major has
been played at The Olympic Club, a course that has hosted five
U.S. Opens.
A limited number of fans are on site at the 76th edition of the
tournament, which because of the coronavirus pandemic had no
fans on site last year.
(Reporting by Rory Carroll; Editing by Steve Orlofsky, Richard
Pullin and Peter Rutherford)
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