ISPS HANDA Women's Scottish Open: Charley Hull and Lottie Woad struggle as Jenny Shin and Lauren Coughlin take first-round lead

Charley Hull, Lottie Woad and Georgia Hall all endured tough days on the golf course, dropping below par for their first rounds, as Jenny Shin and Lauren Coughlin surged to take the co-lead at the ISPS HANDA Scottish Open.

Both Shin and Coughlin shot scores of six-under par 66 in windy conditions at Dundonald Links on Thursday, and sit one shot clear of South Korea's A Lim Kim on five under par and Sweden's Lisa Pettersson at four under.

Solheim Cup captain Anna Nordqvist enjoyed a brilliant day on the course, wrapping up her opening round at two under par, and could have moved to join her compatriot Pettersson, had she not made two bogeys on her final three holes.

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The wind picked up in the afternoon, with multiple players toiling against the hardy conditions, including Hull, who wrapped up her round at six over par, thanks to a quadruple bogey on the par five fifth.

Her round had started poorly, with Hull failing to get down for a par on the first hole, before she reached the fifth. She had been putting for a birdie to move back to even and had only deftly tapped the ball with her putter, but it caught a slope and rolled down a bank into the rough.

She failed to chip back onto the green three times before eventually putting enough weight behind her wedge and getting back on.

From there, she holed out her resulting putt, which wasn't too similar to her earlier birdie chance, but it ultimately proved costly. Hull added another two bogeys and a birdie to wrap up her round at six over par.

Defending champion Woad also struggled to find momentum early on, going three over through her first four holes as she went on to card a two-over-par 74, posting a double bogey and a bogey on the third and fourth holes before bouncing back with a birdie on five. But she ended her front nine at four over par thanks to another bogey on the eighth hole.

"That front nine was very difficult. The wind was pretty strong from the get-go," Woad, who hit eight out of 14 fairways, said.

"It pretty much stayed the same all day. There were a few interesting pin placements on the front nine with the wind, and it was tough to get it close.

"I didn't make enough putts to really be under par. But for me, two over is not disastrous. I'm still going to be in it. A day of not trying to play yourself out of it, really."

Nelly Korda also found the conditions testing but battled back after going one over in her front nine, carding a birdie on the par-five 18th hole to end her round at level par.

The world No 1, who is normally so accurate with her driver and irons, hit nine fairways out of a possible 14, but showcased her brilliant putting skills, draining a long 70ft stroke on the par-three fourth for birdie, before putting an eagle putt close to the cup on the 18th.

Georgia Hall, who is preparing to make her return to Royal Lytham and St Annes next week at the 2026 AIG Women's Open, the site of her sole major triumph in 2018, also endured a torrid day, posting a first-round score of 10 over.

Like Hull, Hall also found the conditions difficult to deal with, making a quintuple bogey on the par-five 14th hole, which she sandwiched between two more bogeys as she ended her day shooting a 10-over 82.

Coughlin: It was tough out there

While others struggled to score, Coughlin, the 2024 champion, had a field day, making eight birdies in her round, and could have finished two shots clear of Shin at the end of day one.

"I played really solid," the American said. "It was pretty difficult out there.

"I've never really played it when it's been this firm, especially off the tee, so quite a few different things off the tee than normal where I used to be able to hit driver a lot of places."

Watch round two of the ISPS HANDA Women's Scottish Open LIVE on Sky Sports Golf from 9.30am on Friday. Get Sky Sports or stream golf with no contract

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