Hull leads Women's Open after blustery 1st round

ST. ANDREWS, Scotland (AP) — Golf balls wobbled on the tees and greens. Players wore big earmuffs and neck warmers and donned oven-style mitts between shots. American star Rose Zhang said she lost balance simply standing up.

Gusts of up to 40 mph (64 kph) played havoc with the best female golfers in the world at the Women’s British Open at St. Andrews on Thursday.

Charley Hull dealt with it the best.

The No. 10-ranked English player rolled in a 6-foot putt on No. 18 for the last of her six birdies at the home of golf to shoot 5-under 67 and take a one-stroke lead after the first round of the year’s fifth and final major.

Hull, seeking her first major title, has plenty of high-profile company at the top of the leaderboard.

Not least her playing partner, top-ranked Nelly Korda, who birdied No. 17 — the famous Road Hole — and also the 18th to join fellow major champion Ruoning Yin of China on 4 under.

Among those a further shot back was defending champion Lilia Vu, who produced two monster birdie putts on the front nine of the Old Course — hosting the Women’s British Open for the third time — in her round of 69.

Some were just glad to get through it.

“Definitely some of the toughest conditions I’ve ever played in, for sure,” said England’s Georgia Hall, the 2018 champion who eagled her last hole — No. 9 — for a 71.

Hall is the last British player to win her home major. Now her close friend is looking to do the same.

By the time Hull walked down the last, the wind had dropped and she was looking cool in her sunglasses as she waved to the spectators lining the fairway. She would be a popular winner, not least because of her approach and attitude.

Not forgetting the aggressive way she plays golf, either.

Hull was regularly the longest driver in the marquee group containing Korda and Vu, with one tee shot — on the 14th — going 336 yards.

Level par after a bogey on No. 8, she made five birdies on her last 10 holes. There was a 12-footer on No. 12, an 8-footer at No. 15 to join Yin in a share of the lead before Hull played the last — that glorious hole back into town — perfectly by driving to the front of the green, hitting the second to 6 feet and making no mistake with the putt.

Hull was slightly concerned watching the early starters on TV in the worst of the windy weather.

“I said to my coach, it feels like they could call it at any minute because I don’t know how the balls are staying on the green,” said Hull, who was second by six shots to Vu at the British Open last year.

“You know what it’s going to be like before the beginning of the round, so you kind of just mentally prepare for that before.”

That was half the battle on a tough day.

Korda, who won the Chevron Championship for a second major amid a dominant 2024 for the American, wound up enjoying the grind.

“There’s something fun about playing in these conditions,” she said, adding: “Not that I would do it every single time.”

Yin, ranked No. 6 and the winner of the Women’s PGA Championship last year, took it all in her stride.

“The conditions were tough but it’s the same for everyone,” she said. “You’ve just got to try to make the wind your friend.”

Vu was in a six-way tie for fourth place with Jenny Shin and Mi Hyang Lee of South Korea, Andrea Lee of the United States, Patty Tavatanakit of Thailand and Mao Saigo of Japan.

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