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In just her second appearance at the HSBC Women's World Championship, Auston Kim carded an impressive opening-round 66 to take the solo lead at Sentosa Golf Club. The Epson Tour graduate finished the day at 6-under par, fueled by seven birdies and a bogey, punctuated by birdies on her final two holes. She holds a narrow one-shot lead over the People's Republic of China's Yan Liu.

Kim is becoming a familiar face at the top of LPGA leaderboards. While she is still chasing her maiden victory, the 25-year-old American has already secured eight career top-10 finishes in just two seasons—most notably a runner-up finish at last year's KPMG Women's PGA Championship.

Her performance marks a turnaround from her Singapore debut last year, where she opened with a 78 before finishing T39.

"When I think about my game and myself as a golfer since last year… it obviously feels great to score well. But I feel like I can handle things a lot better," Kim said. "There are a lot of things that I've changed and a lot of things I feel like I'm doing better. Today was a testament to what we've been working on. We talked about this past week, trying to win each day, win each shot, and I feel like I did a really good job of it."

Chasing her is Liu, who carded two bogeys and seven birdies to post a 5-under 67. It was a stellar debut for Liu, who admitted the course felt difficult during the practice rounds.

"I (was one) hundred percent focused and committed to what I want to shoot," Liu said. "That's the best thing for me."

Further down the leaderboard, defending champion Lydia

Auston Kim Takes Early Lead at HSBC Women's World Championship

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