LPGA Tour rookie Hira Naveed is the leading Australian contender after the opening round of the Seri Pak Championship in California.
The little-known 25-year-old from Western Australia shot a 1-under 70 in Thursday's opening round to upstage some of the biggest names in Australian golf.
Naveed, who only earned her Tour card via the LPGA's qualifying school in December, is tied 28th at the Palos Verdes Golf Club.
She is six shots behind Canadian Maude-Aimee Leblanc and two ahead of Gabriela Ruffels (72), the next best Australian.
Hannah Green, the 2019 Women's PGA Championship winner, Grace Kim, Karis Davidson and Robyn Choi all made 73s.
A former WA state player, Naveed played alongside Green and world No.5 Minjee Lee during her amateur days.
Her round included four birdies and three bogeys, with her blemishes coming on the back nine.
The field are all chasing surprise tournament leader Leblanc, who has never won an LPGA event.
LeBlanc shot a bogey-free, 7-under-par 64 to be one shot ahead of Malia Nam.
Alison Lee, Lauren Hartlage, Japan's Yuka Saso and Sweden's Madelene Sagstrom are tied for third at 5 under.
Rose Zhang, Thailand's Natthakritta Vongtaveelap, China's Xiyu Lin, Brooke Henderson (Canada), Isi Gabsa (Germany), South Korea's In Gee Chun and Japan's Yuna Nishimura share seventh place at 3 under.
LeBlanc birdied two of her first three holes, then added three consecutive birdies to complete the front nine. She birdied both of the par-5 holes on the back nine.
"I felt like I hit the ball really well today and whenever I missed the green I was able to make up and down," LeBlanc said.
"Made some really good saves and just kept the momentum going throughout the round, so, yeah, the putting was good as well.
"These greens can get really tricky. They're hard to read, but I feel like my caddie and I did a good job reading them today, so I'll take it."
LeBlanc missed the cut in both of her previous starts this year, and she made just three cuts in seven events last year, topped by a tie for 13th at this event last year.
Asked about the challenge of breaking through for a victory, LeBlanc said, "That's a constant work. I feel like I have to bring myself back to the present a lot of time. I have my mental coach on the bag with me so he helps me with that as well.
"So, yeah, I can feel my mind going in the future a lot when I'm playing, but when I'm over the ball, I feel like I can bring myself back to the shot that I need to hit."
with Reuters
