Alison Lee sets the pace at Meijer LPGA Classic

Defending champion Leona Maguire opened the Meijer LPGA Classic with an even-par 72, as Alison Lee shot a seven-under-par 65 to grab the first-round lead in Belmont, Michigan.

Lee had a busy opening round that featured an eagle, seven birdies and two bogeys at Blythefield Country Club. That afforded her a two-shot lead over agroup of nine golfers tied for second at five-under 67.

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Brooke M Henderson joined that group late in the day by eagling her final hole, the par-five 18th. The Canadian star joined 2022 champion Jennifer Kupcho, Lizette Salas, Lauren Hartlage, Italy's Benedetta Moresco, South Korea's NarinAn, Spain's Carlota Ciganda, Ssu-Chia Cheng of Taiwan and Daniela Darquea of Ecuador at 67.

Last year Maguire carded a sensational eight-under-par 64 in her final round to win the tournament, and she may need to find that sort of form again to hoist herself into contention following an opening 72.

Stephanie Meadow is six off the lead having started with a one-under 71.

Lee, a 29-year-old from Los Angeles, is ranked No 18 in the world but has yet to win on the LPGA Tour. She admitted she wasn't happy with her swing early in the day.

"I mean, confidence is a huge factor," Lee said. "There can be some days I don't feel quite confident. You just have to work with what you got. That's how I felt today. As the round went on, I would say the last four, five holes, I definitely felt a lot better with my swing."

Lee started her round on the back nine, carding five birdies with one bogey. She was at five-under when she reached the par-five eighth hole, where her second shot landed inside 15 feet to set her up for the eagle putt.

"Obviously with hole eight, there is a bunker on the left and right," Lee said.

"So I just