Hutchinson ? Everyone expected to see an Australian on top of the leaderboard Thursday during the first round of the U.S. Women’s Open.

No one expected that Aussie to be Shani Waugh.

“I wasn’t shocked to see it up there,” Waugh said of having her name among the leaders. “I haven’t seen that for a while, but I knew I was playing well enough to get my name at least on the leaderboard.”

Waugh, who’s never won in seven years on the LPGA Tour, carded a 3-under-par 67 at Prairie Dunes Country Club and shared the first-round lead with Americans Laura Diaz and Juli Inkster.

Meanwhile, fellow Australian and two-time defending champ Karrie Webb fell apart on the front nine and finished with a 79.

Webb is the seventh golfer to attempt to win three straight U.S. Women’s Opens. None of the previous six succeeded.

Sweden’s Annika Sorenstam was the last to try for the trifecta in 1997. She missed the cut that year, and Webb is in danger of doing the same today.

“I’m shocked myself,” said Webb, who was angered  and perhaps distracted  when she was introduced on the 10th tee because the announcer mentioned her Florida residence, not her native Queensland.

“I love living down there, but I’m not from there,” she said of the Sunshine State. “I like hearing that I’m from Australia. I’m proud of that.”

Webb made the turn at 2-over. After a par at No. 1, she bogeyed Nos. 2 and 3, triple-bogeyed No. 4 and bogeyed No. 5 to soar to 8-over.

Her errant drives repeatedly found Prairie Dunes’ infamous rough.

“I’m going to have to play my butt off to make the cut,” said Webb, who was headed for the driving range to work on her swing. “I wasn’t hitting it very straight. I hit into it so many times, it was ridiculous.”

Though Waugh, 32, and Webb, 27, are compatriots, there’s never been a rivalry between them.

“I was an amateur when she first started making a name for herself in Australia,” said Waugh, whose only professional victory came on the European tour in 1996. “We played together on the European tour before we came here, but I probably played, maybe, two tournaments with her as an amateur in Australia  and she was beating me then as a 13-year-old, so I was glad to turn pro and get away from her for a couple years.”

Both players joined the LPGA in 1996, but their careers have taken different paths. Webb has won 27 times on tour, including five major titles. She ranks second all-time in career earnings with more than $8 million.

Waugh’s earnings total $602,735.

The elder Australian said she was intimidated by the Dunes during Monday’s practice round when the wind howled across the sand hills. Thursday morning’s conditions were much different with a 10-mph breeze.

“It gave me confidence, and I went in today knowing it was pretty calm, and the golf course was going to play easier than what it did Monday,” said Waugh, whose only top-10 finish this season was last week at the ShopRite Classic when she tied for 10th.

Waugh, who started on the 10th hole, heated up after the turn, making birdies on Nos. 1, 3, 6 and 7, before a bogey on No. 9 cost her sole possession of the first-round lead.

Waugh missed the cut in two of her three previous Opens, and the odds of her staying on top seem long. However, 13 players have logged their first LPGA victories in the U.S. Women’s Open.

“I’d love to win,” she said. “I don’t know whether it’s going to happen or not. It’s only Thursday.”

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Notes: American Leslie Spalding was on the leaderboard at 2-under with three holes to play. Then she posted an eight on the par-4 16th hole. She followed the snowman with a bogey on No. 17 and finished with a 73. Â American Dottie Pepper withdrew from the Open with a shoulder injury. Â The first round drew a crowd of 16,452. Three days of practice rounds drew a total of 24,738 spectators.