Lydia Ko won the event last year when it was held at St Andrews. Photo: Brian Spurlock/Icon Sportswire / PHOTOSPORT
New Zealand's Dame Lydia Ko is six strokes off the pace after the first round of the Women's Open at Royal Porthcawl in south Wales.
Japan's Eri Okayama and Rio Takeda topped the leaderboard, with rounds of five-under 67, while Ko had a one-over 73 as she failed to take advantage of calm conditions on the coastal course.
Fellow Kiwis Amelia Garvey and Momoka Kobori were a stroke further back, in joint 91st place.
Ko won the event last year at St Andrews, but it is her first time playing in Wales.
She opened well enough in the final major of the year, with a birdie on the first hole but negated that with a bogey on the par-4 third hole.
She had one more birdie, on the ninth hole, while dropping shots at the par-5 13th and the par-3 15th before finishing in a 17-way tie for 74th place.
Garvey had birdies on the same two holes that Ko birdied, with four bogeys spoiling her round, while Kobori had a late spree of three consecutive bogeys after an early double-bogey before finishing with her second birdie.
Okayama's five-under 67 gave her the lead before she was joined by Takeda after she birdied the 18th, Reuters reported.
Japanese players dominated the opening day with Miyu Yamashita at four-under ahead of a large group on three-under that included Chevron Championship winner Mao Saigo, Shiho Kuwaki and Chisato Iwai.
World number one Nelly Korda finished two-under par.
Okayama, who is world number 139, bogeyed her opening hole but birdied five of the next eight and was rock solid on the way back with another birdie at the 17th moving her ahead.
Takeda recovered from a double-bogey seven at the ninth with four birdies on the back nine, putting her joint first.
By far the largest galleries assembled just after lunchtime to watch England's Lottie Woad in a group alongside Ko and American Lilia Vu.
An astonishing July, which culminated in Woad winning the Scottish Open in her first event as a professional, had made the 21-year-old favourite for the year's final major.
But the former Florida State University player found the going tough as she ground out a level-par round of 72 thanks to a birdie at the last.
- RNZ Sport / Reuters
