The flags whipping throughout Ko Olina Golf Club might as well be a welcome sign for Shanshan Feng.

While a gusty day on Oahu’s leeward coast could give some pause, “I even get like more excited,” the No. 1 player in the world said after her opening round of the Lotte Championship.

“Because a lot of people would be like worrying, ‘Oh, my God; it’s so windy.’ I wake up and I’m like, ‘Yay, it’s windy.’ That’s what I always feel, and that’s why in this kind of situation I still stay patient on the course and still stay doing my routine. That’s it.”

Feng, holder of the top spot in the Rolex World Golf Rankings for the last 22 weeks, brushed off an opening bogey to set the early pace with a 5-under-par 67 and will take a one-shot lead over three pursuers into today’s round.

Haeji Kang birdied three of Ko Olina’s four par-3s to finish her morning at 4 under and Brooke Henderson and tour rookie Martina Edberg matched her in the afternoon.

Henderson, ranked 14th in the world, punctuated one of just two bogey-free rounds for the day (fellow Canadian Alena Sharp had the other) with a 10-foot putt for par on No. 18, the toughest hole on the course.

“It feels good, because minus-3 compared to minus-4 is a big difference,” Henderson said. “It’s only one shot, but it’s a couple places on the leaderboard, and also gives me that little bit more confidence going into tomorrow.”

Edberg played her college golf at Cal State Fullerton, where she earned Big West player of the year honors last year. She birdied her first two holes on Wednesday to set the tone for a 68 in her first round as a tour member.

“We were here three times so I knew it was going to be windy and I knew there was a lot of grain,” Edberg said. “I felt pretty comfortable here, so it’s nice but I’ve also built up this whole year trying to play well here. It’s just the first day, but this is a goal so just have to go after it and try to look up the leaderboard.”

As with the world rankings, the rest of the 144-player Lotte field will be looking up at Feng when play resumes this morning.

Feng began her day with a bogey the par-4 10th hole and made her move with three consecutive birdies from holes 15 to 17. She also put together another run with three birdies in the four-hole stretch on the front side.

Feng said she’d been struggling on the greens recently and made a change — actually going back to a familiar putter — during the break after tying for 25th at the ANA Inspiration.

“A lot of people told me when I putt my toe (of her putter) is up, so I did adjustments and stuff and actually found out that I couldn’t putt,” Feng said. “So I asked Callaway, I was like, ‘Can you get me a new one just like what I got at the beginning?’ Then I got a new one, and I’m putting like before again. I’m actually putting well.”

Defending champion Cristie Kerr opened with a 71 for the second straight year. Last year’s first round had her near the cut line before she blitzed through the next three days to win the tournament at a record 20 under.

Given the conditions on Wednesday, Kerr felt better about her start this time around after playing her last eight holes at 3 under. By the end of the day, Ko Olina had yielded 21 under-par rounds and the first-round scoring average jumped to 74.64 compared to 71.94 in calmer wind last year.

“More determination,” Kerr said of what she found on her closing run. “I was a little wishy-washy on my scoring clubs and I hit some bad shots.

“Just mentally getting in there saying, ‘No, we’re not doing that. We’re going to hit it where we’re looking. We’re going to get it close to the hole.’ I had a lot of opportunities I could’ve made on this second nine. Could have been 3 or 4 under.”

Hawaii’s Michelle Wie ended the day in a tie for 22nd at even par and will tee off with Kerr at 12:39 p.m. today.

Wie moved to 2 under when she rolled in a 15-foot birdie putt on the par-5 fifth hole. Her drive at No. 6 sailed to the right, exacerbated by a cross wind, and settled on the slope beneath the seventh tee box. Her approach shot plugged in a greenside bunker and she could only blast out into the rough. A two-putt left her with double bogey and back at even.

“(The approach) was like an inch from being perfect. That’s just golf though,” Wie said. “Stuff like that happens. You just have to brush it off and move on to the next.

“I feel like I finished strong, gave myself opportunities, and that’s all I can ask for.”

She gave herself an 8-footer for birdie on No. 9 closing hole, but her putt stopped on the right edge of the cup.

“I feel like back in the day I was really used to (the wind) because I played every week. Now that I’m living on the mainland and come back I get a little surprised by it,” Wie said. “Yeah, it makes it a little bit tougher. But it’s fun. I like playing in the wind. I think this golf course should be played in the wind.”