World No1 Lorena Ochoa grabbed the limelight with a flawless seven-birdie 65 in the first round of the Evian Masters in France.
The 26-year-old Mexican has not played a tournament since the end of June, but her hunger was clear as she reduced the back nine to 30 shots and finished one ahead of South Korea's Sun-ju Ahn, Brazils' Angela Park and Taiwan's Candie Kung.
On a day of sweltering heat, Ochoa ran cold over the front nine, but was red hot with half a dozen birdies on the inward half.
A six-time winner already this season, the Mexican could not have been happier.
"I rolled in putts on the 10th and 11th and it got my confidence going," said the 26-year-old, who defends the Ricoh Women's British Open at Sunningdale next week.
"I'm glad to be at the top and I'm really happy with my position. But I still have to be patient, there are another three rounds to go.
"It's good to be back after the break. I needed to recharge the batteries and now I want to win my first Evian Masters."
Annika Sorenstam, champion of 2000 and 2002, managed four birdies, but her card was ruined by three bogeys leaving her on 71.