American Ally Ewing takes lead after 1st round of Women's British Open

The United States is seeking its third female major champion of 2023 at the AIG Women's British Open this week.

Few would have predicted Ally Ewing leading the charge.

Ewing made eagle from 5 feet at the par-5 16th to leapfrog a five-way tie for first place and parred the last two holes to shoot 4-under 68 for the solo lead at Walton Heath in the opening round of the year's final major.

Ranked No. 39, Ewing missed the cut in two of the last three majors and her most recent top-10 finish in the biggest events in golf came at the Chevron Championship in early 2021.

She has a long way to go to win her first major at the age of 30, even if she'll be comforted that the names right behind her are hardly the biggest in the women's game.

Only one of the five players to shoot 69 is a former major winner — Jeongeun Lee6, the Women's U.S. Open champion from 2019 — and she has dropped to No. 94 in the rankings.

Of them, only Yang is in the world's top 50. Boonchant is No. 148.

Allisen Corpuz, the U.S. Women's Open champion at Pebble Beach last month, was among a slew of players sharing seventh place on 2 under on a day many of the most celebrated players in the women's game struggled despite the pleasant conditions at Walton Heath, a heathland course southwest of London.

Canada's Brooke Henderson, coming of a solo second-place finish at the Evian Championship, struggled to a 3-over 75. Fellow Canadian Maddie Szeryk shot a 5-over 77.

WATCH | Henderson shoots 3-over:

Rose Zhang, the new American sensation who only turned pro this year, battled all day and got up-and-down for par from a greenside bunker at No. 18 to shoot 72.

Top-ranked Nelly Korda and No. 2 ranked Jin Young Ko were 1 over, along with up-and-coming Swede Linn