Retiring star Lexi Thompson and world number one Nelly Korda are the players to catch on a star-studded first-round leaderboard at the Women's PGA Championship in Washington.
In-form world number five and 2019 PGA champion Hannah Green is the best-placed Australian, three shots off the pace in pursuit of a second major championship after opening with a 1-under-par 71.
But Thompson, seemingly with the weight of the world off her shoulders after her recent announcement she was stepping away from the game at season's end, and Korda — ominously — look the players to beat.
Joint runner-up in a play-off at last week's LPGA Meijer Classic, Thompson continued her surprising resurgence with a 4-under 68 to claim the outright first-round lead at Sahalee Country Club.
The 29-year-old could see the inevitable question coming after collecting six birdies and briefly hitting 5-under before settling for a one-shot buffer over Korda and Thailand's Patty Tavatanakit.
Would a major title change her plans about retiring from playing full-time on the LPGA Tour?
"I'm just taking it one day at a time. I made my announcement. I'm very content with it," Thompson said after starting with three straight birdies and adding three more on the ninth, 12th and 14th holes.
"Golf is a crazy game, so I'm not going to look too far ahead."
The 2014 Chevron Championship winner claimed the most recent of her 11 LPGA Tour titles in June 2019, while Thursday's 68 was Thompson's lowest round in a major since a 67 at the 2022 Women's PGA at Congressional.
"My approach shots felt great," Thompson said. "They felt really good last week, so just trying to simplify things and get in a rhythm with my swing."
Korda shot 69 in the morning, and Tavatanakit matched it in the afternoon with a bogey-free round.
After missing the cut at her past two events, including the US Open, Korda birdied her final hole to show the form that led the American to a record-tying five straight victories earlier in the year.
She started on the back nine and made four birdies in her first five holes.
A double bogey on the par-4 fourth dropped her back to two under.
"If you try and be aggressive when you've hit it off line, it just bites you in the butt," Korda said.
"Overall I think I played pretty well. I took my chances where I could and I played safe the majority of the round."
Eleven players, including major winners Allisen Corpuz and Frenchwoman Celine Boutier, share fourth at 2-under, with Green in equal 15th spot with defending champion Ruoning Yin of China.
Like Korda, Green started on the back nine and birdied her first two holes to set the early pace.
Three mid-round bogeys seemed to stall her momentum before she picked up a third birdie on her last hole of the round, the par-3 ninth after a lovely tee shot.
Grace Kim, who also featured in last week's play-off loss to world number two Lilia Vu, is the next-best Australian at 1-over.
Minjee Lee, Steph Kyriacou and Gabriela Ruffels all opened with 2-over 74s.
Sarah Kemp and Robyn Choi each shot 75, while Hira Naveed needs a miracle to make the cut after starting with a 10-over 82.
AAP/AP
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