Janice Moodie had a 71 and Catriona Matthew handed in a score of 72 in the first round of the Mizuno Classic in Japan.

But it was two Japanese players that shared the first round lead on 67 in the LPGA tournament – Mayu Hattori and Miki Saiki.  

Ji0Yai Shin, the South Korean who scored a shock win in this year’s Ricoh Women’s British Open, was in joint third place on 68.

Moodie was in the top 20 after her three birdie round, while Matthew had four birdies and was joint 41st.