Ai Miyazato and Stacy Lewis got an unexpected lesson from the birds and the bees in the first round of the LPGA Lotte Championship.

Defending champion Miyazato and Lewis, until this week No. 1 in the Rolex world ranking, each had encounters with Mother Nature during play at Ko Olina Golf Club on Wednesday. Miyazato nearly stumbled into a black swan on her way out of the scorer’s tent and Lewis was harassed by a carpenter bee while lining up a putt on the sixth hole.

They were no worse for the wear, though, as each carded a 5-under 67, three shots back of leader Ariya Jutanugarn going into Round 2 today.

Miyazato, of Okinawa, and Lewis, of Texas, played off each other well. They were tied or within one stroke of the other from the fourth hole on.

But it was Miyazato’s close encounter with a large waterfowl near the 18th green that touched off laughter from a large contingent of Japanese media on hand to interview her.

"He almost bit me. I didn’t see him," a laughing Miyazato said.

Miyazato, another former world No. 1, was at ease the rest of the way. She had four birdies and no bogeys on the front nine and was mostly content to tread water after the turn, despite missed birdie opportunities on 15 and 16 for both her and Lewis.

One of nine career Miyazato victories came here last year. She shot a 71 to open that time, so she’s already ahead of her own pace in conditions she compared to her homeland of Okinawa.

Miyazato expressed moderate confidence when asked of her ability to repeat.

"Well, it depends on the wind on this golf course," Miyazato said. "One day it’s going to be leaning into the wind and one day it’s going to be no wind. You need to adjust really well and just go day by day. I don’t know how the wind is going to be tomorrow. You know, my golf is in good shape and I had a really fun day."

Lewis was supplanted as the world leader by Inbee Park this week. She came out on a mission — birdieing the first three holes — but she could not keep up the torrid pace.

"It’s been in the back of my mind since I became No. 1," Lewis said. "I knew I would lose it at some point. I never had a goal of staying there for a certain amount of time."

She settled for par at No. 6 after an insectoid inspector forced her to back off a 10-foot birdie look right as she was about to putt.

"It was one of the big ones, so I was just trying to make sure I didn’t hit the ball when I backed off of it," Lewis said, smiling.

She rebounded with birdies on 13 and 14.

This event was the only one that Lewis missed the cut last year while becoming Rolex Player of the Year.

"It was kind of the turning point for me," Lewis said. "It was the point where I had to get things taken care of off the course. … I learned a lot from this tournament last year. I think you learn more from your failures than you do from success."

Lewis and Miyazato will play together again today and will tee off at 7:40 a.m.

"We play together a lot and our games are pretty similar," Lewis said. "We seem to play well on the same golf courses."