Lewis grabs early lead in Malaysia
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (SportsNetwork.com) - Stacy Lewis opened with a 6-under 65 on Thursday to grab a 1-stroke lead after one round of the Sime Darby LPGA Malaysia.
Lewis tied for sixth last week in Beijing after having at least a share of the lead after each of the first three rounds.
Na Yeon Choi, the 2012 runner-up, posted a 5-under 66 on the East Course at Kuala Lumpur Golf & Country Club. She was joined in second place by Hee Young Park, So Yeon Ryu and Eun-Hee Ji.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Shanshan Feng, who finished second last year, headlines a group of five players at minus-4. She stands alongside Mi Hyang Lee, Jenny Shin, Amy Yang and Pornanong Phatlum.
Defending champion Lexi Thompson and last week's winner Mirim Lee both opened with even-par 71s and they are tied for 40th.
Lewis, the world No. 1, opened with four pars in a row. She got on the board with a birdie on the par-3 fifth. Lewis made it two in a row as she birdied the par-5 sixth.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}After a pair of pars, Lewis rolled in a 10-foot birdie effort on No. 9 to make the turn at minus-3. She dropped her approach inside five feet at the 10th and converted that for birdie.
Lewis drained another 10-foot birdie try on the 11th to make it three in a row. She ran off four straight pars from No. 12, then birdied the par-5 16th to move to minus-6. She parred the last two to grab the first-round lead.
"It was kind of one of those rounds that early, it was actually kind of shaky and I had to make a few par putts on the first three holes, but I really just kind of hung in there and gave myself a lot of birdie looks and was fortunate to make a few," Lewis said. "So it was a little bit of an ugly round, but I got a lot out of it."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Choi played the back nine first and had three birdies in her first six holes. She made the turn at minus-4 after a birdie on the 18th. After dropping a shot at No. 2, Choi birdied the sixth and eighth to gain a share of second place.
Park opened with three birdies in the first four holes. She ran off eight consecutive pars from the fifth to remain at minus-3. Park faltered to a bogey on the 13th, but came right back with a birdie at 14. She closed with birdies at 16 and 18 to post a 5-under 66.
"I feel great. I was playing last week in Beijing, but I got cold and sick, flu, so a bit rough the last couple days, but now feel a lot better, and the weather is perfect. It's been still hot, but not really extremely hot, which is perfect for me. I played with Natalie today. She played really good," Park said of playing with Natalie Gulbis. "That was a little bit of motivation for that low round today, which is good."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Ryu followed a birdie on the first with pars at two and three. She flew up the leaderboard as she poured in four straight birdies from the fourth. Ryu tripped to a bogey on the ninth to make the turn at minus-4.
Around the turn, Ryu notched back-to-back birdies at 12 and 13. However, she gave those shots right back as she tripped to bogeys at 14 and 15. Ryu closed with a birdie at the last to share second place.
Ji opened with three pars in a row from the 10th, then carded three straight birdies from the 13th. Ji ran off four straight pars from No. 16 before moving to minus-4 with a birdie at the second. She later birdied the seventh to make it a 4-way tie for second place.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}NOTES: Lydia Ko could supplant Lewis as the top-ranked player in the world with a win this week, and Lewis finishing tied for 12th or worse ... Park and Ji are among 16 players that are scheduled to play all six events on the Asian swing.