LONDON, Ontario — Angela Stanford trusted her instincts.

Faced with a tricky downhill lie in the 14th fairway, she talked herself into an aggressive, 7-iron shot in the first round of the Canadian Women's Open.

"My gut was telling me, `Hit the 7. Cut the 7 in there. Put a little more spin on it,"' she said about what turned out to be the best shot of the best round of her life.

Stanford deftly faded the approach around a large greenside tree to set up a tap-in birdie, the last of her eight birdies in a bogey-free 64 Thursday that matched the lowest round in the history of the national championship.

The 64 in ideal conditions on the tree-lined London Hunt and Country Club course tied the record set by JoAnne Carner in 1978.