Mafy Singson held the hot hand during first-round play of the Golf Liquor Guangdong Women's Open on Wednesday, as the Filipino rookie pro opened with a four-under 68 for a one-stroke lead.

Pang Runzhi and Li Gengshan were equal second on 69 as the RMB 400,000 (55,195 US dollars) China LPGA Tour event got off to a wet start on the Zhuhai Lakewood Golf Club's composite course.

Amateur Liu Yujie was two shots off the pace in equal fourth, tied with fellow Lu Li, Thai Kultida Pramphun and Chinese Taipei's Hung Chieh-ning.

Singson, who joined the paid ranks in March after a stellar amateur career where she won twice against the pros on the Ladies Philippine Golf Tour, got off to a rough start after beginning her round from the Zhuhai Lakewood back nine. After carding a double-bogey six at the 10th hole (her first hole) where her second shot found the water, she then stumbled to a bogey four at the par-three next.

The Davao native then settled to post a birdie at the 13th hole (her fourth hole), followed by an eagle two at the 362-yard 17th (her eighth hole) where she holed out from 123 yards to make the turn at even-par. On her back nine (the front nine), Singson stepped up her game to post four birdies, including three consecutively from the fourth hole (her 13th hole).

"After my first two holes I just forgot about it and tried to play well and recover. I didn't really think about it," said the 20-year-old. "The rain affected my game, but I just tried to hit fairways and greens. I didn't try to be aggressive with the rain because a little slip with your club you can go anywhere."

Li, who had a share of the opening round lead at last month's Beijing Women's Challenge before blowing up to an 80 in the second round, got her Zhuhai campaign off to a good start with five birdies, including three consecutively from the ninth hole, and two bogeys.

"All in all, it's a good round. The greens are slow at present. I made some nice putts. I made a 33-footer for a birdie at the 10th hole and a 20-footer at the next hole," said the 23-year-old, a junior at Shenzhen University. "I made my best efforts to recover after Beijing. I was fine going into this week. My swing was nice and I hit it straight today. I expect that I can have a good round again tomorrow. It wouldn't be like Beijing."

Pang, a high-school student from Tianjin, also started from the back nine and posted a round featuring four birdies and a bogey at the 12th hole.

"I hit some loose shots with my irons early in my round and had a bogey. However, I hit it better and better later in the round and had two birdies over the last three holes," said the 17-year-old rookie pro.

"There could be another downpour tomorrow. I won't change my plan. The steady strategy would be great in the rain. You should prepare more gloves and towels and try to avoid big mistakes on such a rainy day."

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