Evian-Les-Bains, France (AHN) - The first round of the Evian Masters was a thrilling one as Pat Hurst, Brittany Lincicome, and Eun-hee Ji shot 6-under, 66s to take the lead following Thursday's opening round.

The trio of women led another threesome- Christina Kim, Kyeong Bae, and Jin Joo Hong-by one stroke.

The most exciting round from the leaders belonged to American Pat Hurst as she started her round well with a birdie and ended it even better with an eagle.

Hurst's 10-foot eagle putt on the 18th hole was a fine way to end the day because it gives her plenty of confidence, especially in her short game as she had worries about her putting coming into the event.

"The putting is what is tough (here)," she said, "but the more years I come here the easier it is to read the greens."

Lincicome and Ji also had rounds where they made eagles.

The South Korean-born Ji enjoyed an eagle on the third hole and the United States native Lincicome eagled the ninth hole.

With all of the low scores, it was rather surprising to see some of the more well known players have average rounds on Thursday.

Australian Karrie Webb, who won this event last year, shot a 70, which was four strokes behind the leaders.

Laura Davies and Annika Sorenstam finished with 71s and Lorena Ochoa was one stroke behind them.

Michelle Wie continued with her recent struggles and finished with a round of 73, seven strokes behind the leaders. Thanks to her one-over score, the 17-year-old has not broken par since her fine finish at the Evian Masters last year.