A six-time winner on the Japan LPGA and now in her fourth year on the LPGA Tour, Nishimura closed out the front nine at Pinnacle Country Club with three straight birdies. Even better was the finish, birdie-eagle for a one-shot lead over Yu Liu.
"I really went for the last putt. I wanted to make it so I kind of went aggressively and it went in, so I'm hoping it's going to continue tomorrow," Nishimura said.
Australia's Cassie Porter and Robyn Choi both carded an opening round of four-under but given the low scoring were locked in group tied for 26th.
Steph Kyriacou and Gabi Ruffels were in a tie for 81st after one-under rounds.
Europe once again had the upper hand among the Solheim Cup players, even if there won't be a score to settle for two more years. Celine Boutier and Charley Hull each had a 65, while Lottie Woad had a 66. The eight players from Europe's winning Solheim Cup team all broke par.
Auston Kim and Andrea Lee had the top scores from the US team at 67.
"I feel like you're in bit of a downer because obviously the adrenaline, and then last week was a crash," Hull said.
"This week actually feels nice to come out on the golf course with not a whole load of nerves that the Solheim Cup produces."
The tournament is one of two 54-hole events on the LPGA schedule, leaving Saturday for Nishimura or anyone else to get some separation.
There were 25 players at 66 or lower, and 99 players in the 144-player field broke par.
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