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.

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 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.

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