Mi Hyang Lee cards 64; field flourishes at Meijer LPGA Classic

South Korea's Mi Hyang Lee carded an 8-under round of 64 on Thursday and owns a one-stroke lead over Australia's Grace Kim after one round of the Meijer LPGA Classic in Belmont, Mich.

Twenty-three golfers are within four strokes of Lee on the par-72 layout at Blythefield Country Club.

After parring the first four holes during her morning round, Lee needed only 11 strokes to birdie holes 5-8. After turning in 32, she eagled the par-5 10th hole, reaching the green in two and sinking a tough 24-footer.

"I didn't expect I can hit the green there for my second shot," Lee said. "But it was a great line and good hit with the 3-wood and I made the green. It was almost 24 feet, like right-to left-eagle putt. I didn't expect to make it."

She birdied 14 and 17 in a bogey-free 64 and played the four par-5 holes in -4.

Lee missed the cut in last weekend's U.S. Open and the 32-year old Seoul native's best finish was a tie for sixth at the Ford Championships in late March.

"I missed only two fairways," Lee said. "I think that's a lot of help to hit the greens a lot, too."

Kim also eagled the 10th and played holes 7-14 in 6-under par.

Paraguay's Sofia Garcia, Australia's Karis Davidson and Japan's Akie Iwai were two strokes back at 6 under. Six players, including Andrea Lee, the lone American in the top 11, carded 5-under 67s.

"It was a solid round overall," said Lee, a Los Angeles native. "I really wasn't expecting anything coming into today because I had a pretty bad cold last week and I'm still getting over it. ... Just played really solid golf, hit some good shots, made decent amount of putts."

Defending champion Lilia Vu struggled with a 5-over 77.

--Field Level Media