Georgia Hall has credited a changed in mindset for overcoming tough scoring conditions to make a strong start to her bid for a second AIG Women’s Open title.
The 2018 champion eagled her final hole to close an opening-round 71 and be one of only four players in the morning wave to finish under par, leaving her within three strokes of early clubhouse leader Ruoning Yin.
Hall started in the year inside the world's top 20 but has dropped to 40th in the Rolex Rankings after registering just one worldwide top-10 in 16 starts this season, with the Englishwoman pleased to see her fortunes slowly starting to change.
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"Sometimes I look negatively on things, more outside of golf, and then it kind of affected my mentality on the golf course," Hall told reporters after her round. "Now I try and see and be grateful for what I have in my life, that I get to do a job that I love, be more positive and have a more positive outlook.
"Some good golf, as well, helps me with that. I don't think anyone can win a golf tournament unless they are mentally happy and in a good place, on and off the golf course. I think that's just very important.
"As golfers, we spend our lives being a golfer and having everyone look at us, but we don't have a lot of time to focus on ourselves off the course. I've come to kind of recognise who I am off the golf course, not just Georgia Hall the golfer, so I think that's been good for me."
Hall's best finish of the season came with a tied-third finish at the Aramco Team Series event in London in July, with the Englishwoman coming into this week off the back of a top-20 finish at the Evian Championship and strong performance at the ISPS Handa Women's Scottish Open.
"The first half of the year was probably some of the worst performance of golf that I've had, but my golf actually wasn't bad," Hall added. "Mentally, I was just struggling a little bit but now, the past couple months, my results have been pretty good, I would say.
"Pretty consistent. Put myself into contention a few times. I was pretty confident coming into this event, obviously just outside top 10 last week. I was happy signing my scorecard [today] for one over on the last hole, so to manage to get an eagle there is definitely a bonus.
"I was very glad we didn't stop play. I love those conditions, whether I play bad or not. This is a true Women's Open like this and I believe that's how it should be every day. That's part of the battle with the weather, and I just tried to make the most out of that out there."
Woad after strong start: 'I'm not getting ahead of myself'
Augusta National Women's Amateur champion Lottie Woad is also in touch with the leaders after starting her AIG Women's Open debut with a level-par 72 on Thursday morning.
Woad - the amateur world No 1 and part of Great Britain and Ireland's Curtis Cup team next week - mixed three birdies with as many bogeys, although she refuses to get carried away about a potential push for major contention.
"I'm used to playing in the wind," Woad said. "I play a lot of links golf over the summer, so it definitely helps that I have that experience and know how to play those knockdown shots. Just got to keep the ball on the ground.
"I was trying not to too ahead of myself. I was around par or one under with a fair few holes to play and you're just thinking about the clubhouse. You're trying to not get too far ahead of yourself, as you can let some shots go in this wind pretty easily."
On what her expectations were for the rest of the week, Woad told Sky Sports: "It has definitely helped me [playing in two majors already], albeit those experiences have been a bit different to this one and links golf. I just kind of want to play all four days, experience the weekend at St Andrews and then see where that will put me."
Who will win the AIG Women's Open? Watch all four rounds live this week on Sky Sports! Live coverage of the second round continues on Friday at midday on Sky Sports Golf. Stream the women's majors and more sport with NOW.