\n<\/p>\n
Lottie Woad shot a level-par first round to lie five shots off the Women’s Open lead jointly held by Japanese duo Eri Okayama and Rio Takeda.<\/b><\/p>\n
England’s Woad began as favourite at Royal Porthcawl, having won two events and narrowly missing out on a first major title in July.<\/p>\n
The 21-year-old, playing in her second tournament since turning professional, made lengthy birdie putts at the first and sixth holes as she reached the turn in level par.<\/p>\n
A superb approach to within four feet set up another birdie at the 14th and Woad also birdied the last to sign for a 72.<\/p>\n
However, she was unable to build any real momentum during her opening round and some solid putting for pars and bogeys prevented irretrievable damage to her tournament chances.<\/p>\n
“It was a bit mixed,” Woad said. “It’s one of those rounds that could have got away from me so I am happy I hung in there.”<\/p>\n
Scoring was generally good on a breezy day when short bursts of rain punctured longer spells of sunshine at the links course in south Wales.<\/p>\n
Okayama, appearing at a Women’s Open for the first time since 2018, did not drop a shot after a bogey at the first hole and made six birdies in her round of 67.<\/p>\n
The only blemish on Takeda’s scorecard was a double-bogey seven at the ninth, with four birdies on the back nine putting her alongside Okayama at the top of the leaderboard.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n