Brittany Lang leads with a six-under 66 in Japan

American Brittany Lang shot a 6-under 66 today to take a one-stroke lead from Japan's Nobuko Kizawa and South Korea's Hee Young Park after the first round of the Mizuno Classic at Shima, Japan.
"I've had a very good year," Lang said. "I've played a lot of really good golf. I always play well this time of the year for some reason, so I just try to practice and have some fun."
The long-hitting former Duke star who is winless in four seasons on the LPGA Tour, reached 7 under at Kintetsu Kashikojima with an eagle on the par-5 seventh, but bogeyed the eighth and finished the round with a par.
"I had an impression that the greens were fast," said Park, who birdied the last two holes to set up the tie for second. "But the greens were in great shape and I think it was in a good condition for the players to play."
Vicky Hurst, 2007 winner Momoko Ueda, Bo Bae Song and Mi-Jeong Jeon opened with 68s, and defending champion Jiyai Shin and Japanese star Ai Miyazato topped a group at 69.
Top-ranked Lorena Ochoa had a 71 in the event co-sanctioned by the Japan LPGA.
"It was a slow start," said Ochoa. "I didn't make a birdie until the eighth hole. When you just have two birdies, that's not enough. I think I need to strike my iron shots to be a little bit closer tomorrow, and hopefully I will have a better day tomorrow."
FIRST-ROUND SCORES
Par 72
66 Brittany Lang (USA)
67 Hee Young Park (SKor), Nobuko Kizawa
68 Vicky Hurst (USA), Momoko Ueda, Mi-Jeong Jeon, Bo-Bae Song (SKor)
69 Miki Saiki, Hee-Won Han (Kor), Song-Hee Kim (Kor), Miho Koga, Rui Kitada, Jee Young Lee (SKor), Yani Tseng (Tai), Ai Miyazato, Jiyai Shin (Kor), In-Kyung Kim (SKor), Eunjung Yi (SKor), Hyun-Ju Shin, Sophie Gustafson (Swe)
70 Julie Lu, Karrie Webb (Aus), Inbee Park (SKor), Eun-A Lim (SKor), Ah-reum Hwang, Akane Iijima, Teresa Lu (Tai), Yukari Baba, Stacy Lewis (USA), Katherine Hull (Aus), Hiromi Mogi
71 Sakura Yokomine, Li Ying Ye (Chn), Lorena Ochoa (Mex), Maria Hjorth (Swe), Candie Kung (Tai), Mayu Hattori, Kyeong Bae (SKor)
72 Lindsey Wright (Aus), Kaori Aoyama, Eun Hee Ji (Kor), Pat Hurst (USA), Tomoko Kusakabe, Saiki Fujita, Sandra Gal (Ger), Ayako Uehara, Seon Hwa Lee (Kor), Ji-Young Oh (Kor), Mie Nakata, Na Yeon Choi (SKor), Tamie Durdin (Aus)
73 Mika Miyazato, Shi Hyun Ahn (Kor), Erina Hara, Christina Kim (USA), Yuko Saitoh, Anna Nordqvist (Swe), Ji woo Lee (Kor), M.J. Hur (SKor)
74 Shinobu Moromizato, Yuri Fudoh, Sun Young Yoo (Kor), Meena Lee (Kor), Soo-Yun Kang (Kor), Amy Yang (USA), Angela Park (Bra), Yuko Mitsuka
75 Janice Moodie
76 So hee Kim (SKor), Jimin Kang (SKor), Chie Arimura, Meaghan Francella (USA), Maiko Wakabayashi, Rikako Morita
77 Nikki Campbell (Aus), Na-ri Lee, Midori Yoneyama, Nicole Castrale (USA)