England’s Charley Hull enjoyed a superb finish, with four birdies on the back nine on the Old Course at St Andrews on Thursday, to lead the Women’s British Open with a five-under par opening round of 67. The 28-year-old, bidding for her first major title after finishing runner-up in both last year’s Women’s British Open and Women’s US Open, was in a star-studded group that also featured defending champion Lilia Vu and world number one Nelly Korda. “I would take that 100 percent,” said Hull. “I’m happy with that score, and I’m just looking forward to going out tomorrow and being patient again.” Hull, Korda and Vu clearly brought the best in each other’s games, with Korda — who won the season’s first major, the Chevron Championship — in a tie for second on four-under and Vu one of several players a stroke further back. China’s Yin Ruoning had previously overcome difficult conditions to claim the early lead. Starting on the 10th hole, the former world number one defied strong gusts to reach six-under-par through 14 holes. Although she dropped a couple of shots late in her round, a four-under 68 was a hugely creditable score. Yin held the outright lead for most of Thursday before being surpassed by Hull. “I was watching it on the TV when I saw the scores, and I thought, how is (Yin) four-under-par?” added Hull. “That was an unbelievable score. To go out there, shoot five-under, play pretty solid, it was a lot of fun.”