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Hannah Green and Steph Kyriacou, meanwhile, are a shot further back after they opened with a pair of 70s.<\/p>\n
Lee was rock solid to open her campaign for a second US Women\u2019s Open crown, going bogey free for the day.<\/p>\n
The 30-year-old opened with a birdie at the par 5 first and then finished off her front nine with a birdie at the par 4 ninth.<\/p>\n
Remarkably, Lee was perfect off the tee, hitting all 14 fairways in regulation.<\/p>\n
That statistic meant she would have liked to have capitalised on more scoring opportunities, but post-round the world No.9 was simply happy to be firmly in the hunt in her first start since the first major of the year – the Chevron Championship in April.<\/p>\n
\u201cYeah, I mean, I had not too many expectations. I didn\u2019t want to put that kind of pressure on myself, especially having five weeks off,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cYeah, just wanted to have a nice day. It was really great weather. Nice walk out there.\u201d<\/p>\n
LEADERBOARD: Live scores from the US Women\u2019s Open<\/a><\/p>\n Minjee Lee of Australia plays her shot from the 11th tee during the first round of the U.S. Women’s Open.Source: AFP<\/p>\n Lee is hopeful that Australia\u2019s impressive record as a nation in Los Angeles can come to the fore this week.<\/p>\n She won the LPGA\u2019s LA Open back in 2019, while Green won the LPGA\u2019s LA Championship earlier this year.<\/p>\n Australia\u2019s men have also excelled at this week\u2019s host venue with Adam Scott twice winning the PGA Tour\u2019s Genesis Invitational at Riviera, while Aaron Baddeley and Robert Allenby have also won the tournament which is now run by Tiger Woods.<\/p>\n Plus, the last time Riviera hosted a major – the 1995 PGA Championship – Australia\u2019s Steve Elkington triumphed.<\/p>\n For Lee, she believes the success comes from similarities to home.<\/p>\n \u201cYeah, I\u2019ve had some nice weeks, nice memories in LA. I feel like it\u2019s a bit more familiar than any other states I go to other than Dallas because that\u2019s where I live,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n \u201cJust feels like, I don\u2019t know, the weather is a little bit more like home. The food and just the vibe is — just reminds me of Perth.<\/p>\n \u201cI always like coming back and competing in the U.S. Open. It\u2019s always a great feeling and always — I\u2019m a past champion, so I hold great pride coming back.\u201d<\/p>\n READ MORE<\/p>\n \u2018Losing his mind\u2019: Scheffler snaps in all-time caddie blow-up as world No.1 unloads<\/a><\/p>\n \ufeff\u2018Obviously not working\u2019: Smith breaks ranks in big LIV admission over $42m elephant in room<\/a><\/p>\n