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THE WOODLANDS — All week long the talk concerning the Chevron Championship’s new venue was that it favored a big bomber off the tee.

Marina Alex is nowhere close to being one of the longest drivers on the LPGA Tour. But after Thursday’s first round, she is not far off the lead.

Alex’s 4-under 68 over the Jack Nicklaus Signature Course puts her just one shot back of leader Peiyun Chien, who birdied four of her final six holes to leapfrog Alex, and with the same score as Stephanie Kyriacou, who holed out from 81 yards for eagle-3 on the 18th hole.

“For me, coming in with some longer clubs maybe relative to the rest of the field, it requires me to work pretty hard and be strategic about what I'm doing,” Alex said.

Alex relied on accuracy in bagging five birdies, offset with one bogey. The two-time tour winner hit 14 of 14 fairways and 10 of 18 greens in regulation, needing only 24 putts over 18 holes.

She averaged 253 yards off the tee. In contrast, Chien had an average driving distance of 271.0 yards.

“I'm going to try not to worry too much about that because I can't worry about how far I hit the ball off the tee,” Alex said. “I just need to handle that as it comes.”

Depending how far up or back the tees are set up on par 5s, that to a degree dictates whether Alex will go for a green in two shots or lay up on that particular hole.

“I take advantage of those when I can and make sure my wedges are tight,” Alex said. “That's how I'm going to have to play out here for my game.”

On the inward nine, Alex went 3 under. When she finished her morning round, she was the only golfer in the 132-player field to reach 4 under.

But Chien’s late surge pushed her ahead of Alex. Starting on the back nine, Chien bogeyed her first hole for her only bad hole. She ran off three straight birdies on holes 4-6 before making birdie on No. 8 to get to 5 under.

Chien did not feel a 5 under was out there in the LPGA’s first of five majors this season.

“Actually, I saw the pin sheet last night, and I can't sleep,” Chien said. “It feels so hard. We're doing very well today, just focused on what I want, what we want, and which way we can miss. I think 2 under would be a very good score for this course.”

Alex is off to her best start in a major championship. Her putting was spot-on as the 2019 U.S. Solheim Cup player managed her game by constantly getting up-and-down, as well as minimizing her mistakes. The momentum began on the first hole with a par-saving putt.

“It's a tough golf course. I think for a longer hitter, it is just a bit more receptive into the greens having shorter clubs,” Alex said. “But I'm not the longest hitter, I had a fair amount of hybrids into these holes. A good scrambling day.”

Despite a marginal round of putting that included two three-putt greens among her 30 putts, Angel Yin is in contention at 3 under. Yin’s round was highlighted by eagle-3 on the par-5 No. 8 hole.

Yin averaged 288 yards per drive, and set herself up for birdie putts, but could not get enough putts to drop.

Not only is the Nicklaus Course long at 6,800 yards over a par 72, it is a challenge putting on the greens. Yin experienced that on Thursday, but still speaks favorable of the layout.

“I really like it,” Yin said. “It plays tough, tests all parts of your game. It’s a really good golf course.”

Golfers who teed off in the afternoon wave faced more adverse weather conditions. Rain hit the area in the early afternoon.

Because of lightning strikes, play was suspended at 3:38 p.m., and restarted at 4:32 p.m. Not all the golfers completed their rounds on Thursday.

Carlota Ciganda finished just before rain descended, posting a solid 2 under.

“The course is playing like a major,” Ciganda said. “It's a tough test, and I think the scoring won't be too low.”