Sarah Schmelzel and Japan's Minami Katsu grabbed shares of the lead after one round of the Walmart NW Arkansas Championship on Friday in Rogers, Ark.

Katsu posted a bogey-free, 8-under-par 63 at Pinnacle Country Club. Schmelzel matched that number with a white-hot finish -- four straight birdies at Nos. 14-17, then an eagle at the par-5 18th.

They're one stroke ahead of six players tied at 7 under: Alison Lee, Lilia Vu, Spaniard Carlota Ciganda, Ireland's Leona Maguire, Japan's Nasa Hataoka and Somi Lee of South Korea.

Schmelzel, 31, is in ideal position to go after the first win of her LPGA career.

"This always plays kind of like a birdie-fest," Schmelzel said. "You just got to make a bunch of birdies and stay super aggressive. And then with all the rain we got yesterday, it's playing

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