Choi Hye-jin shares second place after opening round of Portland Classic

Choi Hye-jin sits one stroke off the lead in a tie for second after the opening round of the LPGA Tour's Standard Portland Classic.

Choi carded a 6-under-par 66 on Friday at Columbia Edgewater Country Club (par 72) in Portland, Oregon, posting seven birdies against a single bogey to join Grace Kim of Australia, Apicha Yubol of Thailand and Olivia Cowan of Germany in the second-place group.

Starting on the 10th hole (par 5), Choi birdied her opening hole and reeled off four consecutive birdies from the 13th through the 16th to briefly take the outright lead. She dropped a shot at the 18th (par 4) — her only bogey of the day — before picking up two more birdies on the back nine. Choi enters the second round one stroke behind leader Mariel Galdiano of the United States, who finished at 7 under par.

Ryu Hae-ran, who has won two majors this season, also made a clean start, carding five birdies with no bogeys for a 5-under-par 67 to share eighth place alongside Hwang Yu-min, Jeon Ji-won and Joo Su-bin. Ryu kept her ball-striking and putting steady throughout, finishing with a spotless scorecard.

Ryu is in contention with Nelly Korda of the United States for the Vare Trophy, awarded to the player with the lowest scoring average. Ryu's season average stands at 69.51, putting her 0.33 strokes behind Korda (69.18) in second place. Korda is not competing in this event.

Hara Erika of Japan, who is chasing Hwang Yu-min for Rookie of the Year honors, opened at 3-under-par 69 to share 31st place alongside Anna Lin, Lim Jin-hee, Noh Ye-rim of the United States and Saigo Mao of Japan. Hara leads the rookie standings with 442 points, while Hwang is second with 319.