Women's British Open 2018: Minjee Lee Leads After Round 1

Minjee Lee holds a narrow one-shot lead after Round 1 of the 2018 Women's British Open.

The Australian talent sits one shot ahead of Mamiko Higa, with five more players just two shots behind the leader.

For a look at the full leaderboard, visit the LPGA's official website.

Lee dropped a single shot on the back-nine to finish with an excellent score of seven-under, doing most of her damage during the second half of her round.

She was already three-under at the start of the back-nine, and a phenomenal eagle on the 15th was her best shot of the day.

Here's a look at that stunning effort:

The putter was Lee's biggest key to success, and if her short game continues to click like that, there's no reason to doubt she could go all the way.

The 22-year-old explained her approach:

Meanwhile, Higa carded a single bogey to break up a run of birdies on the front nine, as part of an excellent first round. She had multiple chances to grab a share of the lead, but finished her round of six-under with four straight par efforts.

Consistency was an issue for Florentyna Parker, but the 29-year-old made the shot of the day on her way to a score of three-under, landing an ace on the 9th:

She was two-over at the time, with two bogeys and a double bogey already, but used the momentum of that great shot to climb the leaderboard.

The Open lost one of its biggest stars early on Thursday, as Michelle Wie retired after a disastrous showing.

In a message on social media, she explained a hand injury gave her too much trouble to continue playing:

At the time she called it quits, Wie was seven-over through 12, one of the worst scores anyone carded on Thursday.