French golfer Marion Ricordeau has birdied the final hole in fading light for an opening-round 67 to move into a three-way tie for the lead at the Ladies Masters on the Gold Coast.
Ricordeau was playing Royal Pines for the first time on Thursday having been unable to practise after suffering a wrist injury at last week's Australian Open.
She shares the lead with power-hitting Canadian Brooke Henderson and Nicole Broch Larsen of Denmark who had taken advantage of benign morning conditions.
"It is my first bogey-free round for a long time," said Ricordeau.
"I did not reach any of the par-5s in two shots and just played sensibly."
Despite a tricky re-designed back nine at Royal Pines, Henderson's "no fear" aggression yielded five birdies on the stretch while Broch Larsen and Ricordeau each notched three.
Ricordeau, 29, Henderson, 18, and Broch Larsen, 22, established a one-stroke lead over 18-year-old Taiwanese Ssu-Chia Cheng, England's Lauren Taylor, well-travelled South Korean Jiyai Shin and Swede Camilla Lannarth.
Tournament favourite Henderson, the highest-ranked player in the field (world No.11), started on the 10th hole and played with confidence and aggression.
"My goal was to get off to a fast start and capitalise. I hit the ball extremely well and played as well as I am capable on the first few holes."
Henderson showed her intent when she drove the green on the par-4 eighth hole (243m) and was putting for eagle on the par-5 18th, after a strong five-iron approach.
"I decided if it was calm, I'd go for the green on the eighth and finished about 20m past the pin. Unfortunately, I three-putted," she laughed.
Henderson is relishing her first trip to Australia, especially after learning the temperature home in Canada was minus 35 degrees.
"I'm very happy to be here on the Gold Coast."
Broch Larsen nursed an injured hand which prevented her practising before the Masters. She was last year voted European Tour players' player and finished third on the money list.
"My round wasn't out of the blue because I've been getting better and better since I've been in Australia."
Leading Australian Stacey Keating carded a 69 while defending champion Su Oh was disappointed with a 71.
"I hit it everywhere and made clumsy mistakes," said Oh.
"I needed to hit accurate shots, especially on the back nine, but I did not deliver today."
On a leaderboard dominated by youth, Ssu-Chia Cheng was composure personified to card a 68.
"I was very relaxed from the start and didn't think about scoring at all.
"I didn't even know what my score was until I signed my card at the end."
Taylor, 21, had seven birdies and two bogeys in her 68.
Cheyenne Woods, the 2014 Masters champion, shot a disappointing 75.
Thursday's opening round attracted the best crowd since 2004 with 6609 spectators attending.
