The Home of Golf welcomed back the best women in the world with a tremendously difficult day of play. The wind never stopped whipping, gusting near 40 mph and battering down player after player. Exhausting both mentally and physically, today will go down as one of the toughest Women’s Open rounds in recent memory.

Eleven years in between AIG Women’s Opens at St. Andrews made today’s return one of the most highly anticipated days on the golf calendar. Unfortunately, fans were asked to wait a few extra hours to see anything, with coverage beginning not in the wee hours of the morning but instead starting well past sunrise on the East Coast.

Once the broadcast began, viewers were treated to entertainment in all forms. The par-4 first hole, which normally fits its “gentle handshake” billing, became unreachable without a wood in hand in the fairway.

The course flirted with becoming unplayable during the windiest part of the day, especially at the exposed 11th green. Avoiding the Old Course’s bunkers, a tougher task for the women than the men, was even more important due to flying sand becoming an additional hazard.

Georgia Hall, 2018 AIG Women’s Open champion, summed it up succinctly. “Some of the toughest conditions I’ve ever played in. It was a struggle for sure, like mentally such a battle.” A battle she enjoyed, however, saying with a smile that “this is a true Women’s Open.”

That’s the type of attitude the top of the leaderboard shared. Charley Hull leads at five under, embracing the difficulty and managing to have fun despite the first round becoming one of the longest of the year.

Rounds stretched north of six hours for the late tee times. Trying to “make the wind my friend” was Ruoning Yin’s strategy. She jumped out to the early lead during the more difficult morning wave.

Nelly Korda, Lilia Vu, Georgia Hall, Patty Tavatanakit, and Lydia Ko round out a star-studded leaderboard.

Without much experience on the Old Course, the top players expertly navigated the hallowed grounds. Unfamiliarity with St. Andrews is not out of the ordinary this week. Only 18 of the top 50 players in the field have played a competitive round at the Old Course.

Many walked the course for the first time ever in their early week practice rounds. Yin drew upon a different type of prior experience with St. Andrews. She hadn’t played the real-life version of the course prior to this week, but said she frequently played the PGA Tour 2K23 video game version as Tiger Woods.

At the end of a marathon day, much of the leaderboard will have an early wake-up call tomorrow. They’ll face a slightly less windy St. Andrews, but will likely have to contend with a new element: the rain.

Friday coverage begins at 7 a.m. Eastern on USA and streaming. Enjoy this piece? Consider checking out the Fried Egg Golf newsletter. Subscribe for free and receive golf news and insight every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.