A strong wind in the afternoon at Hoakalei Country Club had Frida Kinhult meticulously thinking through every shot.

Where to carry the ball, how to play a hole, what type of shot, hit it high, high it low, hit a curve, were all thoughts Kinhult played through her head before each shot. More often than not, she made the right decisions en route to a 6-under 66 for a share of the opening round lead at the LPGA Lotte Championship on Wednesday.

Natthakritta Vongtaveelap, who hit 17 of 18 greens in regulation, birdied her final hole just before dark to move into a tie for the lead with a bogey-free 66.

Both golfers teed off in the afternoon and played in tougher, windier conditions than in the morning.

“A lot of math in my head, so probably going to fall asleep pretty good tonight,” Kinhult said. “Super happy with the start and pumped for the rest of the week.”

Kinhult got to 7 under before closing with her only bogey on her closing hole, the par-3 ninth.

She started her day on the back nine and had a stretch of six birdies in eight holes to take the outright lead.

Kinhult has never finished better than seventh in an LPGA event after making the tour full-time in 2022.

“I was probably pretty aggressive. I was like, if I miss, the wind is just going to take it anyway, so if I can try to get it close, just do it,” Kinhult said. “I struggled yesterday, so maybe that sharpened my focus a little bit and helped me to get dialed in today.”

Vongtaveelap recorded the only eagle made in the first round on the par-5 fifth to get to 5 under before closing with her fourth birdie of the day on the only green she missed. She holed out from a bunker for birdie for her fourth round of 67 or better out of five this season.

“That hole I hit my driver really far,” Vongtaveelap said of her eagle. “My second shot is 218 from pin, yeah, and I chose 6-iron. The wind is headwind and yeah, I hit it solid.”

Vongtaveelap finished second at the Honda LPGA Thailand in February in the only other tour event she’s played this season. Her average drive Wednesday was more than 300 yards.

Defending champion Hyo Joo Kim made as many bogeys in her opening round as she did all of last year on her way to winning the tournament.

She countered those four bogeys with eight birdies to shoot a 4-under 68 to sit in a four-way tie for third at 4 under with Nasa Hataoka, Yu Jin Sung and Bailey Tardy.

Kim’s eight birdies were the most of anyone in the field. She opened with a bogey on the par-4 10th and then rallied with six birdies over her next eight holes to go out in 32.

“The putter worked really well, and that lead to a low score,” Kim said. “Swings were good. I actually made a lot of mistakes, but I actually had the thought that I should make more birdies to cover for that.”

Kim waited 43 holes before her first bogey last year en route to her fifth LPGA title. She needed only one hole to start out over par on Wednesday.

The strong winds made things different from a year ago.

“I just had to be more mindful and cognizant of the wind on the back nine in the afternoon,” Kim said. “I wouldn’t say it was an up and down round, but that there was a mistake once in a while during my good rhythm stretch.”

Hataoka and Tardy took much different routes to their 68s to match the best round of the morning groups.

Hataoka, who missed the cut last year, played bogey-free golf. Tardy’s only hiccup came on the par-4 3rd hole, her 12th of the day, when she made her only bogey.

“Honestly, I hit it pretty solid all day,” Tardy said. “You know you’re going to hit some bad shots in the wind or get unlucky breaks. I think I just played a lot of downhill wind shots to my advantage today and, yeah, just stayed patient out there.”

Tardy is one of 31 rookies in the field this week. She earned her LPGA membership by finishing second in the LPGA Q-Series.

She’s missed the cut in her first two events of the season.

“I think the first couple of tournaments were a little bit of nerves, especially the first tournament,” Tardy said. “Just kind of trying not to get overwhelmed and trying to figure out how to prepare for a tournament. It’s just a little bit different than being on Epson (Tour).”

Hataoka has been on Oahu for a week and hosted a clinic on Friday for young female golfers as part of the kickoff event for the LPGA USGA Girls Golf Hawaii Chapter.

Her best finish in her previous five events here is 19th in 2018.

“My strategy was to hit my iron more neatly than usual, because I think it’s really important … to have control of the ball,” Hataoka said. “Last year I feel like I was too aggressive with the shot, especially with my driver, so I feel like I was able to learn something from last year.”

Japan’s Hinako Shibuno, who finished runner-up to Kim last year, is among a group of four who sit three shots back at 3 under.

Two-time Lotte winner Brooke Henderson, the highest-ranked golfer in the field at No. 7 in the world, teed off in the morning and shot a 1-under 71.

“Solid is a good way to put it,” Henderson said. “It’s extremely windy out there, which makes this golf course really challenging, so it was kind of tough to not make bogeys out there.”

Cristie Kerr, who won the Lotte in 2017, finished with a 75.