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EVIAN-LES-BAINS, France -- Lorena Ochoa shot a 7-under par 65 Thursday to take a one-stroke lead after the first round of the $3.25 million Evian Masters.
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The 26-year-old Mexican started with a birdie on the first hole and added six more on the back nine in a bogey-free round.
"I'm just glad I'm at the top," Ochoa said. "I had a slow start. I made birdie on the first hole and didn't give myself a lot of birdie chances. I had a break on 10 and 11. I got a really good confidence and started feeling good over the ball and the putting."
Ochoa was a stroke ahead of three players: Ahn Sun-ju, Candie Kung and Angela Park.
Park, a 19-year-old Brazil-born South Korean who gained United States citizenship last month, began with eight pars before making birdies on six of the final 10 holes.
Ochoa has won six times this season on the U.S. tour but arrived for Europe's richest women's tournament -- worth $487,500 to the winner -- after a three-week break since finishing 31st in the U.S. Women's Open.
"I have my goal for the second part of the season," Ochoa said. "I'm very motivated to continue playing good and I'm glad I got a good start."
Laura Diaz teed off before 8 a.m. and took the clubhouse lead with a 5-under 67.
Like Ochoa, the 33-year-old American had taken a short break from golf before Evian and dominated the back nine, birdieing five of the last eight holes.
Unlike Ochoa, Diaz arrived in the French lakeside resort with an injury inflicted by her toddler son, Robert.
"My son injured my right rib the Saturday before last and I was forced to withdraw from the Jamie Farr Classic," Diaz said. "I took a whole week off and didn't hit a ball until I got here. I didn't even know if I was going to play."
It was the first time Diaz had shot under 70 in opening round in 17 tournaments this season. A four-time Solheim Cup player, she has two victories on the U.S. LPGA Tour, both in 2002 when she climbed as high as seven in the women's golf rankings.
Diaz was joined at 5-under by fellow Americans Juli Inkster and Angela Stanford, Meena Lee of South Korea and Norway's Suzann Pettersen.
South Koreans Kim In-kyung and
Annika Sorenstam played Friday with the status of crowd favorite in what is her final competitive trip to Europe, which concludes with the British Women's Open next week. She will retire at the end of the season.
The 2000 and 2002 Evian champion played with Helen Alfredsson and Catrin Nilsmark, an all-Swedish trio of former winners, but had four bogeys and finished with a 71, six shots off the lead.
"Today I left a few shots out there," Sorenstam said. "I felt good about everything, then I wasn't able to close.
"We have a lot of holes to go. I have a good strategy. I know how to play this course."
