Kim's personal record worth LPGA lead

CHONBURI, Thailand, Feb. 17 (UPI) -- Kim In-Kyung tied a tournament record with a 9-under-par 63 Thursday in jumping out to the first-round lead at the Honda LPGA Thailand tournament.

Kim had nine birdies en route to a personal best 18-hole score. She has a three-stroke lead over Juli Inkster and Yani Tseng, who has won twice already this year and moved Monday to the world No. 1 ranking. Catriona Matthew is fourth at 5-under 67 and Suzann Pettersen in fifth five strokes behind Kim.

Kim opened with a birdie at the first hole and was 3-under after four holes before adding another birdie at No. 6. After three pars, Kim had four birdies in a five-hole span and got to 9-under with a birdie at No. 17.

"I just played every shot. My coach was caddying for me today and helped me a lot," Kim said. "We have been working on little changes but the first event you never know. I think it was a really good start. Couldn't be happier."

Inkster had an up-and-down round that included bogeys on two of her first three holes. She also had a bogey at No. 16 but had an eagle at the seventh hole and birdies on seven others.

Tseng's bogey-free round opened and closed with back-to-back birdies.