Sandra Gal, the Wegmans LPGA first-round leader, paused after revisiting her score card and stopped.

“Where’s my birdie?” she asked. Which one? Gal, a German native in her second year on tour, finished the first round 8-under par with eight birdies and no bogeys. She set a personal best with her score and tied a tournament record, matching a round by Karrie Webb in 2002.

Dark storm clouds threatened to put an end to Gal’s outstanding five-birdie performance through six holes Thursday.

It only delayed it. For three hours it rained on the course, but ultimately not on her parade. After Gal resumed play—she started on No. 10—she birdied the 17th, continuing her hot streak with three birdies after restarting.

“I just went out and played confidently,” she said. “I had a good run on the front nine, well, the real back nine. When we had the delay, I thought it was a shame since I was just going on a run. But I decided, I’m going to take it as a positive and start a fresh round and see how low we can go.”

As Gal watched the two other members of her group make their putts on the fifth hole, she responded with praise.

Good shot, she said to Mika Miyazato on the fifth and sixth holes.

The praise proved more fitting for her own play. Gal made three consecutive bunker saves to retain her lead with five holes to go.

“All of [a] sudden I missed a few irons,” she said. “Maybe I was tired. It was a long day, but it was nice to see all those [saves] there.”

On her final hole, Gal sunk a 4 foot putt, ending her day in fitting fashion—with a birdie.

During the rain delay, Gal said she knew she had to stay loose. Luckily, she had good company.

“I had a really funny caddie and he was just talking my ear off,” she said. “For the second half, I played chess with my dad.”

Her father, Jan, from Prague, Czech Republic, gave her some trouble, though. He had her in a few check situations. So who won?

“We’re not done yet,” she said.

Jiyai Shin was one shot back of Gal while Becky Lucidi was in third place at 6 under through 15 holes. Kristy Mc- Pherson and Michele Redman were tied for fourth place with 5-under 67s.

Shin picked up her first LPGA victory at the HSBC Women’s Champions event in Singapore in early March and was runner-up behind Webb in the J Golf LPGA International three weeks later.

Defending Wegmans LPGA champion Eun-Hee Ji, 23, posted an 8-over round and finished tied for 140th place.

She had nine bogeys and only one birdie on the day. The day’s total ranked among the top-10 worst rounds shot in the history of the Rochester LPGA tournament.

Cheyenne Woods, Tiger Woods’ niece, posted a score of 75 in her LPGA debut, with four bogeys and a birdie. Woods, tied for 106th, is the lone amateur in the tournament.

“I thought I played pretty well overall,” she said. “I’ll have to go back and do better to make the cut.”

Amanda Blumenherst, Paige MacKenzie and Ashley Simon sported special yellow golf bags to show support for Lance Armstrong’s LiveStrong Foundation and cancer awareness. The players’ bags from the tournament will be autographed and auctioned and proceeds will go directly to the LiveStrong Foundation.