Rolex Rankings World No. 1 Yani Tseng carded an opening-round 6-under par 66 to sit atop the leaderboard at the 2012 CN Canadian Women's Open at The Vancouver Golf Club in Coquitlam.
A 15-time winner on the LPGA Tour, Tseng posted eight birdies on the day, five of which came on her last six holes of the day, Nos. 4 through 9. Tseng faltered only once on Thursday, posting a double-bogey on No. 1 to start her back-nine.
"I feel so good and so happy. Today out there with so many fans following the group, I'm so excited to have their support," said Tseng, who earned her first career professional victory at a CN Canadian Women's Tour event at The Vancouver Golf Club in 2007. "They always give me a big crowd on every shot. I hit so many good shots today, but I didn't drive that well on the front-nine. I saved like three or four shots out of like 15 feet for par, so that was huge for me."
Tseng holds a one stroke lead over 2012 U.S. Women's Open champion and Rolex Rankings World No. 4 Na Yeon Choi, who opened Canada's National Women's Open Championship with a round of 5-under par 67 to sit alone in second place.
Rolex Rankings World No. 11 Inbee Park and 2012 U.S. Women's Amateur champion Lydia Ko, the top ranked amateur in the world, sit tied for third, two shots off the lead after the pair carded rounds of 4-under par 68.
Charlottetown, P.E.I. native Lorie Kane is the low Canadian through 18 holes of play and is tied for 31st spot at even-par 72. Defending CN Canadian Women's Open champion Brittany Lincicome also sits T31 at even-par 72.
Fourteen-year-old Brooke Henderson of Smiths Falls, Ont., the youngest competitor ever to compete in the CN Canadian Women's Open, opened with a round of 5-over par 77. A member of Team Canada's Development Squad, Henderson is 11 shots off the lead
Coquitlam's own Jisoo Keel, 17, shot the identical score as Henderson and sits in a three-way tie for 123rd heading into Friday's second round.
