Ai Miyazato fired a 4-under-par 68 to sit in second place after the opening round of the ANA Inspiration, the first major of the season on the U.S. LPGA Tour.
Former world No. 1 Miyazato chipped in an eagle and had three birdies against one bogey to trail American Morgan Pressel by one shot.
"I want to say I was pretty happy with my round today because I had a good start on 11. I chipped in for my eagle and that kind of kept my round going after that, so it was a good start," said the 29-year-old Miyazato, a nine-time winner on the U.S. tour.
"But, overall, I hit the ball well, and I hit the fairway and made the greens and made some putts. There were not many mistakes out there, so I was very happy."
Ayako Uehara was 26th, Sakura Yokomine was 39th, Mika Miyazato was 51st and Haru Nomura was 85th.