Leona Maguire turned what could have been a poor round of golf into a decent one as she scrambled her way to a two-under 70 on day one of the Kroger Queen City Championship Presented by P&G.
Stephanie Meadow is a shot further back after a one-under 71.
Maguire, who double-bogeyed her third hole is six shots off the pace set by Xiyu Lin who carded an eight-under 64.
The Cavan native recovered from that early double to reel off four successive birdies as she played the course from back to front.
Birdies on 13, 14, 15 and 16 were followed by a bogey before she closed out her opening nine with just her third par of the round.
The back nine was slightly quieter for the 27-year-old who moved to two-under with a birdie on the 6th before a bogey, birdie finish to her round saw her remain a couple under.
It was a solid performance off the tee from Maguire who hit all fourteen fairways but improving on just thirteen greens in regulation will be key if she is to thrust herself in the mix for a second LPGA Tour title.
Jordanstown native Meadow also endured an inconsistent day on the golf course carding four birdies and a hat trick of dropped shots to lie in a share of 46th position.
The 30-year-old opened with a bogey, birdie start before two birdies in three holes on the 5th and 7th looked to have her heading in the right direction.
However, dropped shots on 8 and 12 sucked all the momentum out of her round. Meadow did respond with a late birdie on 16 to finish in the red.
A fabulous outward half of 30 laid the foundations for Lin’s superb round. Five birdies in her first six holes were followed by a birdie on 18 – her 9th – to catapult her to the summit in electrifying fashion.
Birdies on the third and fourth moved her to eight-under and that’s where she stayed after a dropped shot on 7 and a birdie on the par-3 8th.
She leads Nasa Hataoka by the minimum while Sarah Kemp and A Lim Kim are a shot further back.
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