Charley Hull carried her momentum from a strong finish at last week's RACV Ladies Masters into this week's ISPS Handa Women’s Australian Open in Melbourne with a first round 2-under-par 71.

Charley Hull carried her momentum from a strong finish at last week's RACV Ladies Masters into this week's  ISPS Handa Women’s Australian Open in Melbourne. Although she had a four putt and a three putt, Hull left the scorer’s tent pretty pleased with a first round 2-under-par 71.

“I’m happy. I had a four putt and a three putt, so I got frustrated in that sense, and I thought I had my putt on the last, but yeah, I’m quite happy with the way it’s going,” Hull said.

Lydia Ko talked in her press conference about how running birdie putts at the hole was like playing with fire, and Hull got her shake Thursday on her four putt.

“It was like 25-30 feet, and I just raced it past. And it was just a crazy slope coming down again, like five or six feet, and had a bit of a blip on that hole,” Hull said.

Despite the slip-up on the green, the 18-year-old LPGA rookie is feeling pretty good about a tie for second last week and the start to this week, especially considering the circumstances.

“I had a good steady round. I just changed my swing coach six weeks ago, and I’ve been working with a new coach. So i didn’t expect to be playing as well as I am this quickly,” Hull said. “So, yeah, I’m looking forward to the season.”

WATCH THE FIRST ROUND HIGHLIGHS

http://youtu.be/EAjG9jKiBHo

NUMBERS TO KNOW FROM THE FIRST ROUND:

1 - Ilhee Lee has held the lead or co-lead only once previously after round one. That lead was at the 2013 Sime Darby LPGA Malaysia, which she finished in a tie for third. Ilhee has one career win - the 2013 Pure Silk Bahamas LPGA.

17 - Ilhee Lee hit the most greens in the field Thursday

32 - Lydia Ko needed 32 putts Thursday, well up from her 27.25 putts per round entering this tournament

COLLATED SCORES AFTER ROUND 1:

68 - Il Hee Lee (KOR)
69 - Ariya Jutanugarn (THA)
70 - Lydia Ko (NZL) , Alena Sharp (CAN) , Min Seo Kwak (KOR)
71 - Brooke Pancake (USA) , Charley Hull (ENG) , Ha-Na Jang (KOR) , Paz Echeverria (CHL), Gwladys Nocera (FRA) , Melissa Reid (ENG)
72 - Marina Alex (USA) , Ryann O Toole (USA) , Katherine Kirk (AUS) , Marion Ricordeau (FRA) , Chella Choi (KOR) , Tiffany Joh (USA) , Jessica Korda (USA) , Rebecca Artis (AUS) , Min Lee (TPE), Ayako Uehara (JPN) , Mariajo Uribe (COL)
73 - Rachel Hetherington (AUS) , Sydnee Michaels (USA) , Holly Clyburn (ENG) , Julieta Granada (PAR) , Amy Yang (KOR) , Mika Miyazato (JPN) , Ju Young Park (KOR) , Ai Miyazato (JPN) , Karrie Webb (AUS) , Sophie Walker (ENG)
74 - Alison Walshe (USA) , Haru Nomura (JPN) , Jennifer Song (USA) , Lorie Kane (CAN) , Na Yeon Choi (KOR) , Karlin Beck (USA) , Maria Mcbride (SWE) , Shanshan Feng (CHN) , Danah Bordner (USA) , Catriona Matthew (SCO) , Garrett Phillips (USA) , Cheyenne Woods (USA), Jennifer Gleason (USA) , Katie Burnett (USA) , Kelly Tan (MYS) , Christina Kim (USA) , So-Jin Baik (KOR)
75 - Christine Wolf (AUT) , Maria Hernandez (ESP) , Mallory Blackwelder (USA) , Kylie Walker (SCO) , Kris Tamulis (USA) , Chloe Leurquin (BEL) , Therese Koelbaek (DNK) , Kristy Mcpherson (USA) , Anne-Lise Caudal (FRA) , Seon Hwa Lee (KOR) , Valentine Derrey (FRA) , Mina Harigae (USA) , Beatriz Recari (ESP) , Mi Hyang Lee (KOR) , Lisa Mccloskey (USA) , Kelly Shon (USA) , Marta Sanz (ESP) , Karine Icher (FRA) , Marianne Skarpnord (NOR) , Gerina Piller (USA) , Adriana Brent (AUS)
76 - Simin Feng (CHN) , Minjee Lee (AUS) , Pernilla Lindberg (SWE) , Eun-Hee Ji (KOR) , Jenny Shin (KOR) , Dori Carter (USA) , Becky Morgan (WAL) , Ssu-Chai Cheng (TPE) , Carly Booth (SCO), Sophie Gustafson (SWE) , Christel Boeljon (NED) , Jennifer Johnson (USA) , Camilla Lennarth (SWE)
77 - I.K. Kim (KOR) , Isabelle Boineau (FRA) , Connie Chen (RSA) , Amelia Lewis (USA) , Amy Anderson (USA) , Moriya Jutanugarn (THA) , Amy Boulden (WAL) , Sarah Kemp (AUS) , Belen Mozo (ESP) , Jennifer Rosales (PHL) , Kyu-Jung Baek (KOR) , Mo Martin (USA) , Keiko Kubo (JPN), So Yeon Ryu (KOR) , Jackie Stoelting (USA) , Sakura Yokomine (JPN) , Dewi Claire Schreefel (NED) , Cathryn Bristow (NZL)
78 - Julia Boland (AUS) , Ann-Kathrin Lindner (GER) , Whitney Hillier (AUS) , Corie Hou (AUS) , Emma De Groot (AUS) , Laetitia Beck (ISR) , Caroline Masson (GER) , Beth Allen (USA) , Sarah-Jane Smith (AUS) , Thidapa Suwannapura (THA) , Konomi Matsumoto (JPN) , Cherie Alison (AUS) , Kendall Dye (USA) , Wei Ling Hsu (TWN) , Ching-Tzu Chen (TWN) , Jane Park (USA) , Kim Kaufman (USA)
79 - Danielle Montgomery (ENG) , Marissa Steen (USA) , Caroline Martens (NOR) , Ye Jin Kim (KOR) , Nikki Garrett (AUS) , Jaye Marie Green (USA) , Line Vedel (DEN) , Yani Tseng (TPE) , Giulia Sergas (ITA) , Su-Hyun Oh (AUS) , Shelly Shin (AUS) , Paula Reto (RSA) , Demi Runas (USA) , Liv Cheng (NZL)
80 - Alison Whitaker (AUS) , Bree Arthur (AUS) , Jessica Speechley (AUS) , Stephanie Na (AUS) , Sophia Popov (GER) , Vicky Thomas (AUS)
81 - Jaclyn Sweeney (USA) , Joanna Klatten (FRA) , Laura Davies (ENG) , Stacey Keating (AUS)
82 - Kristie Smith (AUS) , Lee-Anne Pace (RSA) , Breanna Elliott (AUS) , Tamie Durdin (AUS) , Karin Sjodin (SWE)
83 - Sadena Parks (USA) , Perrine Delacour (FRA)
84 - Florentyna Parker (ENG)
85 - Patcharajutar Kongkraphan (THA) , Jenna Hunter (NZL)
86 - Hannah Collier (USA)
87 - Julie Greciet (FRA)
RTD – Lisa Ferrero (USA), Christine Song (USA)