Annika Sorenstam may have announced this will be her final season on the LPGA Tour, but there was little sign of the Swede winding down as she posted a five-under-par 67 to share the lead after the first round of the Sybase Classic in New Jersey.
The 37-year-old 10-time major winner had a flawless five-birdie round and was tied with South Korea's Song-Hee Kim and Australia's eight-time Tour winner, Rachel Hetherington.
They led by a shot from a group of six that included Scotland's Catriona Matthew and Mexico's world number one Lorena Ochoa.
Sorenstam hit the birdie trail at the par-four second and added more at the fifth and seventh in an outward half of 33. She then picked up more shots at the 11th and 14th.
"Although I am going to retire at the end of the season, I still want to give my best every time I play," said Sorenstam, who has already won three times this year, including her last two starts. "Today was very good."
Matthew's 68 was her best start of the year. She also had a handful of birdies, including one at the last, while her only error was a bogey at the par four 12th.
The top British player in America for the past few years, the 38-year-old is still seeking her first top 10 this year.
England's Karen Stupples, who finished tied second behind Sorenstam in last week's Michelob ULTRA Open, had six birdies, four bogeys and a double-bogey at the 12th in a rollercoaster 72.
But it was a better start for Wales' Becky Morgan - she birdied two of the last three holes for a 70.
Mexico's Ochoa, who has won five times this year, began her defence of the title with five birdies. The 26-year-old also dropped a shot at the 12th to slip one behind the leaders.
Kim, who finished second in the Corona Championship in Mexico last month, had a faultless five birdie round, while 35-year-old Hetherington, without a win since 2003, had half-a-dozen birdies, including four in five holes from the seventh.
Alena Sharp, the only Canadian in the field, continued her lacklustre start to the season with a one-over-par 73.
Collated first round scores
(USA unless stated, par 72):
67 Rachel Hetherington (Aus), Annika Sorenstam (Swe), Song-Hee Kim (Kor)
68 Teresa Lu (Tai), Catriona Matthew, Lorena Ochoa (Mex), Pat Hurst, Brittany Lang, Carolina Llano (Col)
69 Cindy Rarick, Ai Miyazato (Jpn), Shi Hyun Ahn (Kor), Cristie Kerr, Sophie Gustafson (Swe), Christina Kim, Anna Rawson (Aus), Leta Lindley
70 Lindsey Wright (Aus), Na On Min (Jpn), Morgan Pressel, Becky Iverson, Na Yeon Choi (Kor), Sarah Jane Kenyon, Becky Morgan, Soo-Yun Kang (Kor), Eunjung Yi (Kor), Mikaela Parmlid (Swe), Tracy Hanson, Hwa seon Lee (Kor), Leah Marie Wigger, Hye Jung Choi (Kor), Helen Alfredsson (Swe)
71 Minea Blomqvist (Fin), Wendy Doolan (Aus), Stacy Prammanasudh, Brandie Burton, In Kyung Kim (Kor), Michele Redman, Wendy Ward, Kristy McPherson, Katie Futcher, Ashli Bunch, Sung Ah Yim (Kor), Ya-Ni Tseng (Kor), Nicole Castrale
72 Taylor Leon, Jamie Hullett, Jean Bartholomew, Liz Janangelo, Nina Reis (Swe), Diana D'Alessio, In-Bee Park (Kor), Gloria Park (Kor), Ashleigh Simon (Rsa), Kyeong Eun Bae (Kor), Sophie Giquel (Fra), Jennifer Rosales (Phi), Giulia Sergas (Ita), Karen Stupples, Sandra Gal (Ger), Dorothy Delasin, Dina Ammaccapane, Mollie Fankhauser, Amy Hung (Tha)
73 Jill McGill, Meena Lee (Kor), Jane Park, Anna Grzebien, Michelle Ellis, Jackie Gallagher-Smith, Jee Young Lee (Kor), Jimin Kang (Kor), Carri Wood, Sarah Kemp (Aus), Heather Daly-Donofrio, Young-A Yang (Kor), Jin Joo Hong (Kor), Nancy Scranton, Vicki Goetze-Ackerman, Ji-Young Oh (Kor), Sherri Turner, Virada Nirapathpongporn (Tha), Natalie Gulbis, Momoko Ueda (Jpn), Alena Sharp, Meaghan Francella, Eva Dahllof (Swe), Erica Blasberg, Lisa Strom (Gb)
74 Hannah Jun, Irene Cho, Angela Park, Russamee Gulyanamitta (Tha), Liselotte Neumann (Swe), Julieta Granada (Par), Candie Kung (Tai), Candy Hannemann, Meg Mallon, Emily Bastel, Audra Burks, Allison Hanna-Williams, Marcy Hart
75 Sun Young Yoo (Kor), Hee-Won Han (Kor), Kim Hall, Seo-Jae Lee, Karine Icher (Fra), Kris Tamulis, Simi Mehra (Ind), Onnarin Sattayabanphot (Tha), Nicole Perrot (Chi), Carin Koch (Swe), Paige Mackenzie, Silvia Cavalleri (Ita), Sherri Steinhauer, Kris Tschetter, Shanshan Feng (Chn), Katherine Hull (Aus)
76 Beth Bader, Karrie Webb (Aus), Reilley Rankin, Siew-Ai Lim (Mal), Meredith Duncan, Michelle McGann, Yu Ping Lin (Tai), Karin Sjodin (Swe), Allison Fouch, Danielle Downey, Hee Young Park (Kor), Janice Moodie
77 Kate Golden, Maggie Will, Su A Kim, Miriam Nagl (Ger)
78 Becky Lucidi, Jimin Jeong
79 Hilary Lunke, Beth Allen, Lee Ann Walker-Cooper
81 Seol-An Jeon (Kor)
82 Kelli Kuehne
84 Danielle Ammaccapane
Skins 2nd-round pick oversleeps, misses practice
Walk in the park for VfB
SORENSTAM BACK TO HER BEST
LEADING PAIR SET TO DO BATTLE
