World No 1 Nelly Korda made a dismal start to her defence of The Chevron Championship title, finishing the opening round 12 shots off the lead.
Korda posted a five-over 77 with six bogeys and one birdie on the day in Texas.
World No 3 Lydia Ko of New Zealand may also struggle to make the cut on Friday after opening with a one-over 73.
Haeran Ryu and Yan Liu each fired rounds of 65 to surge to the top of the leaderboard following the opening day of the first women’s major of the season.
Liu’s closing birdie tied her with Ryu on seven under par to end the first round on a high.
South Korean Ryu made a strong push early on, birdieing five of her first 10 holes, and China’s Liu also got off to a hot start with four birdies in a five-hole stretch.
Hyo Joo Kim finished the day third, while Hye-Jin Choi, Ariya Jutanugarn, Brooke Matthews, Lucy Li, Manon De Roey and Carlota Ciganda ended the day in a six-way tie for fourth place.
England’s Georgia Hall mixed six birdies with three bogeys in a 69 to tie for 10th place on three under, while Charley Hull, who closed her round with a triple-bogey seven at the ninth, and Lottie Woad are both way off the pace after carding three-over 75s, with Ireland’s Leona Maguire four over thru 17 holes.
Play was interrupted by a late storm, with Maguire one of 24 players unable to finish their rounds.
The top score by an American came from an unlikely source. Matthews is ranked No 340 in the world and has just one top-10 finish on the LPGA Tour.
Watch The Chevron Championship throughout the week live on Sky Sports. Live coverage continues on Friday from 4pm on Sky Sports Golf. Get Sky Sports or stream with NOW.
