Tough start for the Australians at the AIG Women’s Open

On a day where only 17 out of the 144 competitors at the AIG Women’s Open managed an under-par round on The Old Course at St. Andrews, all seven Australian players struggled to keep bogeys off their cards.

Media release

England’s Charley Hull leads at 5-under, with Steph Kyriacou the best placed Aussie in a tie for 79th after a 4-over 76, with Hannah Green and Grace Kim a further shot back at 5-over.

Green’s Olympic partner Minjee Lee opened with a 6-over 78, while youngsters Hira Naveed and Gabi Ruffels carded 8 and 9-over opening rounds respectively, with veteran and three-time AIG Women’s Open champion Karrie Webb rounding out the Australian contingent after a 10-over start.

Gold medallist from the Paris Olympics just weeks ago, New Zealander Lydia Ko was one of those 17 to navigate the historic links under-par, carding a 1-under 71 on the opening day to be tied-12th.

Top-Australian Kyriacou is heading into the second day at St. Andrews with a positive mindset after battling back from a horror start.

Opening with three consecutive bogeys, then adding a double at the par-5 fifth, it would have been easy for the Sydneysider to drop her head.

Digging deep though, Kyriacou showed flashes of the game that saw her finish runner-up at the Evian Championship just weeks ago, playing her next 13 holes in 1-under, building some momentum to carry over into Friday.

The wind was up on day one at St. Andrews, and leader and world No.10 Hull suggested some players were even expecting — or hoping — for a weather delay.

“It was gusting a lot on the range, and I said to my coach, feels like they could call it at any minute because I don’t know how the balls are staying on the greens,” Hull said.

“Making the turn it was really, really strong. It was very strong, especially when we had a hold-up on 11. It got really cold there, as well.

AIG Women’s Open Leaderboard:
1 Charley Hull (ENG) -5
T12 Lydia Ko (NZ) -1
T79 Steph Kyriacou +4
T99 Grace Kim +5
T99 Hannah Green +5
T118 Minjee Lee +6
T134 Hira Naveed +8
T139 Gabi Ruffels +9
T142 Karrie Webb +10