DONGGUAN, Guangdong Province, March 26 (Xinhua) -- Two birdies and an eagle three over her first six holes proved the difference for Onkanok Soisuwan as the Thai veteran carded a four-under 68 on Thursday to take a one-stroke lead in the opening round of the GolfJoy Women's Open in Guangdong province.

Rookie pro Ren Yijia of China, a four-time winner as an amateur on the CLPG Tour, was a stroke back on 69, tied with Thailand's Kultida Pramphun at the RMB800,000 tournament being played on the Olazabal Course at Mission Hills Golf Club Dongguan.

Canadian Shauna Liu was the top amateur on 70 in a group that included Indonesian Holly Victoria Halem, Chinese Taipei's Chen Hsuan in the first full-field tournament of the CLPG Tour season.

Onkanok started her early morning round on the back nine and came out firing with birdies at the 10th and 12th holes, her first and third holes. At the par-five 15th, her sixth hole, she found the green on her second shot and converted the putt for an eagle three to quickly get to four-under.

After eight consecutive pars, the Bangkok native then found trouble at the 433-yard sixth hole where she put her tee shot to the right. With an unplayable lie, she had to take a double-bogey six. She quickly rebounded with birdies over the next two holes.

"It's a good score. My shots were quite solid. I had one bad shot but other than that I played pretty well. At the 15th, my second shot I was 210 yards out and I took a half swing with a three-wood and put it to within four to five feet and then putted it in for the eagle," said the 24-year-old Onkanok.

"I've played a lot of golf courses in China, but I love this course, the weather, the conditions. I'll just take it shot-by-shot tomorrow, stay focused and do my best."

Ren, who turned pro last month after an outstanding amateur career, stayed close with a round featuring five birdies and two bogeys after also starting on the back nine in the calm morning conditions.

"I think this is still a pretty good score. I lost focus a couple of times and dropped two shots. My chipping was good today. After each chip I left myself a good distance and I was able to follow up by making the putts," said the 16-year-old Dalian native who missed the cut at the Blue Bay LPGA earlier this month in her first pro start.

"I have been working on my swing for a while and spending less time on putting practice. The issue at Blue Bay came down to putting. After that I increased my putting practice time and today that part felt okay. I let off some steam at Blue Bay and now I've left the disappointment behind."

Notable scores Thursday included rookie pro Zhou Shiyuan on 71, while defending champion Wang Zixuan was even-par 72.

Japan's Misaki Takagi (75) had a hole-in-one on the 132-yard second hole using a nine-iron. It was her second career ace and first in competition.

Liu, a 17-year-old Toronto native who has committed to play for UCLA next year, impressed in her CLPG Tour debut, carding a round featuring four birdies and two bogeys.

"There were some things I could have done better. I feel like I missed a lot of shots and probably could have shot a few strokes better. But I was striking it pretty well so I'm happy," said the teenager whose family hails from Tianjin.

Liu, who won the Canadian Junior Girls title last year, will next month play in the first Major of the LPGA Tour season, the Chevron Championship. She said she appreciated playing against pro competition as it could only be good for her game.

"It's really good to be playing with people who are better than me. It's good for me to be able to look at their game and things they do and maybe that's something I could put into my own game. It's really nice to see where I am in relation to where they are." ■