Bees and Dawn Coe-Jones don't mix.

The fact that she didn't miss a beat after an encounter with the swarming insects says something about the groove she was in during the first round of the Standard Register Ping.

Coe-Jones mastered the bumpy new greens at the Moon Valley Country Club -- as well as her fear of being stung -- to shoot a 7-under-par 65 today and open a one-stroke lead on Tracy Hanson and Lorie Kane.

"Tee to green, I hit it really well, and I made a 25-footer on the second hole," said Coe-Jones, who was working with a new putter and new irons. "When you haven't made putts all year long, and you make some early, you kind of get your confidence up, and you get hungry to play."

Hanson had a rare eagle-2 late in her round and tied the tournament's nine-hole record shared by six others, including Coe-Jones, who fired a 6-under 30 on the front nine in 1993.

Cathy Johnston-Forbes was alone at 67, while Martha Nause and big guns Karrie Webb, who has won twice this year, Laura Davies and Juli Inkster, last week's winner in Tucson, Ariz., were three shots off the lead.

"I haven't missed a cut this year, but I have not had one top-10 finish. There just hasn't been anything really good," said Davies, whose run of four consecutive titles in Phoenix was interrupted last year when Liselotte Neumann beat Rosie Jones in a three-hole playoff.

Twenty-six players broke par on the redesigned layout, which was shortened to 6,292 yards during the offseason to reduce par from 73 to 72. Three greens were rebuilt.

"They're actually a little better than what I thought they'd be," Hanson said after her best round of the season.

The new course was a nightmare for pros like Korean sensation Se Ri Pak, who had a 74, and Neumann. The Swedish star ballooned to an 82 that included two double bogeys and seven bogeys, including the last four in a row.

Coe-Jones, who is subject to anaphylactic reactions to insect stings, handled the patchy greens well. The swarm was something else.

She and playing partners Betsy King and Leta Lindley were walking to the 11th tee box when people began yelling about bees in the area. The three left the course to seek refuge on the porch of a nearby house, and the bees eventually moved on.

"As soon as I heard 'bees,' I just turned around and I bolted back into hiding," Coe-Jones said. "We were in some lady's driveway. Betsy was tugging on the door and like, 'Let me in here.' She was as terrified as I was.

"I've gone through all the injections to build up your immunities or whatever they do, but I just don't want to test those waters by getting stung. It was pretty frightening."

The shaken Coe-Jones managed to reach the green in regulation and two-putt for par, staying in the consistent rhythm that carried her to seven birdies and no bogeys.

She missed just one green, coming up short with an approach shot on the 16th hole, but saved par by chipping to six feet and making the putt.

"That was one of the only times I struggled all day, actually," Coe-Jones said.

She birdied No. 18 from eight feet to pull ahead of Hanson and Kane.

Hanson, who started on the back nine, eagled the 15th hole of her round when she holed out a 185-yard shot from the fairway.

She watched the 5-wood carry to the front of the green, bounce twice and disappear behind a slight ridge. The reaction of fans told her she had a rare eagle-2.

Hanson also had five birdies after bogeying the third hole. She got the first with a 50-foot chip on the seventh hole and punctuated her spectacular round with a 24-foot birdie putt on the last.