Rookie Lee leads at LPGA's Safeway Classic Aug. 19, 2006 GolfWeb Wire Services Click here to find out more! PORTLAND, Ore. -- Perhaps putting away the driver did the trick. Or maybe it was that half a sandwich that was responsible for Jee Young Lee's birdie spree. Advertisement Click here to find out more! Lee hit seven straight birdies on the back nine Friday to take a two-stroke lead after the first round of the Safeway Classic. The 20-year-old from Seoul, South Korea, also had an eagle to finish with an 8-under 64 on the 6,327-yard, par-72 course at Columbia-Edgewater Country Club. "When I woke up this morning, I was a little tired from the traveling, week to week. Then I shot bogey on the second hole and I went, `OK, this week's going to be tougher," she said. "So then I was just playing my game and on the seventh hole I got an eagle and went, `OK, maybe this will turn around. "So I started focusing on my game more, and then obviously I had a great round." Christina Kim, a gregarious 22-year-old from Northern California, finished the sunny and warm first day at 6 under. After her round, she hugged everyone in her group, even her standard-bearer. Jenna Daniels, who started from the 10th tee, went on a tear with nine birdies and was tied for the lead late in the day. But the six-year Tour veteran double-bogeyed the final hole and finished at 6 under. South Korean Mi Hyun Kim was at 5 under. Lee, who has Betty Boop club covers, eagled the par-5 No. 7 hole. She went on to make birdies on the first seven holes of the back nine. Lee ate half a peanut butter and jelly sandwich at the turn and went with fairway woods and rescue clubs for her birdie spree as temperatures zoomed toward the 90s. It was the first time she could recall getting seven straight. "This course is a very tight golf course for me, small fairways," she said through a translator. "So I was afraid of missing a fairway. I didn't play a lot of drivers, I used most of the 3-wood or rescue clubs to tee off." The course record is shared by Beth Daniel, who was 10 under after the first round in 2003, and Annika Sorenstam, who had a 10 under in the second round in 2002. It was fun to watch," said Tina Barrett, who was in Lee's threesome. "She just was on a roll." Lee's caddie, Travis Wilson, said he didn't offer much advice. "After they start making birdies, you just shut up," Wilson said. Kim was bogey-free for the day, but got into trouble on the par-4 No. 17 hole. "When I hit that tree I was going, `Please hit that tree,"' she said. "Either I'm hitting a tree or I'm hitting a maintenance shed." Daniels nearly holed the par-3 No. 8 hole when her tee shot hit the pin, but she struggled on her final hole of the day, hitting way left -- nearly onto the fairway of the adjacent hole. She settled with the bogey. "I'm a little disappointed after 18, obviously," she said. "But I hit the ball really, really well today. And I putted probably the best I've putted all year." Sorenstam, who won in Portland in 2002 and 2003, is taking some time off after winning the Scandinavian TPC, the tournament she sponsors. Sorenstam also skipped last year's Safeway Classic. The defending champion is South Korean Soo-Yun Kang, who won her first and only LPGA victory in Portland. Kang had a 7-over 79 on Friday. Kang, who said she has been bothered by a neck injury, has not fared well this season. Her best finish was 24th at Hawaii. Ashley Prange, who won a place in the tournament with her victory in The Golf Channel's "The Big Break V: Hawaii," shot a 6-over 78. The former North Carolina player also won expenses to compete on the Futures Tour, where she has won twice. The top five money winners on that Tour get to play on the LPGA Tour next season. The field of 142 will be cut after Saturday's second round.