Sweden's Anna Nordqvist fired a sizzling six-under 66 to take the first-round lead at the $1.5 million Honda LPGA Thailand tournament at the Siam ­Country Club in Pattaya on Thursday.

Nordqvist, who admitted she was ready to quit golf last season after a run of disappointing form, returned to the clubhouse with a one-shot advantage over American Michelle Wie.

A trio of Wie's compatriots, Lexi Thompson, Angela Stanford and Jennifer Johnson were a further stroke back on 68. Stanford's round included a hole-in-one at the eighth.

In joint sixth place were world No.2 Suzann Pettersen of Norway, South Korea's Ryu So-yeon, Sandra Gal of Germany and Sweden's Caroline ­Hedwall, who all shot 69s.

World No.1 and defending champion Park In-bee, whose tenure at the top is under threat in Thailand, had to settle for a 71 overnight and was joined by last week's LPGA winner Karrie Webb of Australia and American Stacy Lewis.

Nordqvist sank an eagle and six birdies - marred by two ­bogeys - in a round she later described as "quite an adventure".

She began brilliantly with three straight birdies and was already five under when she was pegged back by successive bogeys at the 13th and 14th.

But at the par-four 15 she landed her second shot five feet (1.52 meters) from the pin and the ball spun back into the hole for a memorable eagle.

"The eagle certainly helped restore my momentum after the bogeys," she said.

The Swede, ranked 27th in the world, admitted she was so disappointed with her form last season she almost threw in the towel.

"I lacked motivation and was ready to quit altogether," she said.

But she has worked hard during the winter break and it seems to have paid off.

"Thanks to a lot of help from my team I have got my motivation back and they have given me inspiration."

Wie was delighted with her round.

"I birdied all four of the par-fives today, which definitely helps," she said. "It's one of the few courses in which I get to hit the driver regularly."

Starting at the 10th, Wie gave herself a boost with ­birdies at the 18th, first and second holes.

"I was feeling very hungry at the turn, so I ran to my locker and got some crunchy nut things which helped. I'm pretty sure that had something to do with the following birdies," she joked afterward.

Thompson began her round in style, firing an eagle at the first hole and a birdie at the next. Although she could not quite keep up the momentum, she picked up two more birdies and dropped just one shot.

"That was a great start," said the American, who enjoyed the weather conditions which she described as "the coolest I have experienced in Thailand."

The 19-year-old said she also enjoyed being paired with two other youngsters, New Zealand starlet Lydia Ko, aged 16, and Thailand's Ariya Jutanugarn, 18.

"I felt very comfortable playing with them. They were great fun," Thompson said.

Both Ariya and Ko hit even-par 72s.

AFP - Global Times