Yamashita early leader at CPKC Women's Open, Canadian teens and Henderson chasing

Canadian teenagers were within striking distance of leader Miyu Yamashita of Japan after Thursday's opening round of the CPKC Women's Open.

Yamashita shot a season-low 62 on the 6,452-yard, par-70 Royal Mayfair Golf Club in Edmonton to sit one stroke ahead of her countrywoman Nasa Hataoka and two up on Kiara Romero of the United States.

Vancouver's Anna Huang, 17, and 18-year-old amateur Michelle Xing of Richmond Hill, Ont., were three shots off the lead at 5-under-par 65 in a tie for fourth with China's Ruoning Yin and Japan's Yuri Yoshida.

The 25-year-old Yamashita, who won June's Meijer LPGA Classic in Belmont, Mich., recorded eight birdies.

"It's been a while since I finished the first round in good position," she said. "My putting was really nice, so I felt really good."

Defending champion Brooke Henderson of Smiths Falls, Ont., seeking a third win in her home LPGA tournament, finished with a birdie to go 3 under.

"I feel it was very important and it felt great," Henderson said. "I really wanted it. I hit it really hard. I'm glad I hit the hole, but to see it go in was really nice.

"The scores are very low out here today, the leaders especially, so just trying to go out tomorrow and make a bunch of birdies and try to catch them."

Both Huang and Xing were positioned to make the cut Friday for the first time in their careers after two tries apiece.

"Definitely making the cut would be a really big goal for me, and then hopefully some good weekend golf," said Huang, who won four European Tour tournaments in the last 11 months.

"I'm definitely a lot more confident than I was the past few years coming into this event, and then also just all the crowds out there really helped."

"As an amateur, like that's one of my biggest goals, is to make the cut at an LPGA event, especially when it's in Canada," she said. "It would mean a whole lot."

The first round was played under mostly cloudy skies, a temperature of 24 C and in occasional clouds of insect repellent.

Edmonton's 56 centimetres of rain since June 1 made the city a breeding ground for mosquitoes.