Pittsford, NY (My Sportsbook) - Cristie Kerr shot a four-under 68 to earn a share of the lead Thursday after the first round of the LPGA Championship, the year's second major.

Playing in the afternoon, Kerr carded five birdies and one bogey on the Locust Hill course to join early finishers Stacy Lewis and Seon Hwa Lee on top of the leaderboard.

They shared a one-stroke lead over Lindsey Wright, Inbee Park and Mika Miyazato.

Christina Kim, Teresa Lu and Louise Stahle were another stroke further back at two-under 70, while Paula Creamer and Juli Inkster led a large group at 71.

Inkster had six birdies and five bogeys while celebrating her 50th birthday. She was tied for the early lead after a birdie at No. 11, but made four late bogeys to fall back.

"I'm kind of disappointed in finishing the way I finished, but I hit a couple of bad drives that got me in trouble," said Inkster, who won back-to-back LPGA Championships in 1999 and 2000.

She wasn't the only seasoned star to struggle on a day when breezy conditions and thick rough kept scores high.

In fact, Kerr, the world No. 5, was the only top-10 player in the rankings to break par Thursday.

New world No. 1 Ai Miyazato, who captured her fourth win of the season last week at the ShopRite LPGA Classic, opened with a four-over 76 and was tied for 97th place.

Defending champion Anna Nordqvist, the world No. 6 who was ranked 214th when she won last year, opened with a one-over 73.

Kerr said she tasted blood in the water as she began her drive to win a second career major championship. She started hot despite a brief rain delay that interrupted the early part of her round, making birdies at the 10th and 11th -- her first two holes.

The 13-time tour winner rolled in a 20-foot putt for birdie at the 15th, then got up-and-down from short of the green at the 17th for another birdie. Kerr slipped to a bogey at he 18th when she teed off into the rough, but it was her only dropped shot of the round.

She re-gained that stroke and her share of the lead with a birdie at No. 2, where she knocked a gap-wedge to six feet.

"I'm very comfortable being in the lead. I like coming from behind, too. But it's better to have the lead," said Kerr, who captured her only major at the 2007 U.S. Women's Open.

"This is what I wanted starting the first day, and you get kind of a taste of the blood in the water in a sense. It kind of motivates you, and I look forward to getting up and playing golf tomorrow."

Lewis was the first player in the clubhouse at 68 after making four birdies, two bogeys and an eagle at the par-five 11th, where she holed out from 86 yards with a wedge.

"The wind was really hard. That was the hardest part because sometimes you would hit and it wasn't blowing and then it depended where you were on the golf course," said Lewis, who is seeking her first official win. "It was really tricky out there picking clubs."

Lee joined Lewis moments later after a round that included five birdies, three bogeys and an eagle at the par-four 12th, where she holed an eight-iron from 127 yards.

"It was really hard to play today because of the wind," said Lee, a four-time winner.

Also scuffling to score well on Thursday were world No. 2 Jiyai Shin (72), No. 3 Suzann Pettersen (74), No. 4 Yani Tseng (75), No. 7 Michelle Wie (72), No. 8 Karrie Webb (72), No. 9 Angela Stanford (74) and No. 10 Na Yeon Choi (73).

NOTES: Shin is playing despite having an emergency appendectomy two weeks ago...Wright posted a career-best second place finish at this event last year...Tseng won the season's first major at the Kraft Nabisco Championship in April.