Head had six birdies in the round to finish two shots clear of Germany’s Anja Monke.
Sweden’s Maria Boden, Germany’s Katharina Schallenberg and Italian Veronica Zorzi are all one shot further back.
Sweden’s Annika Sorenstram, competing in her final tournament, is on two-under-par for a share of sixth-place.
Head has recently been working on her short game with Ian Poulter, for whom her husband Terry Mundy caddies.
“He gave me a bit of a short game lesson and I’ve been working on that for the last couple of weeks. It’s been really helpful,” she said.
“I’ll give Ian credit for helping me with my short game; definitely. He and my husband have been on at me to not chip short all the time and they are getting me to practise all the time so when on the fourth hole I chipped in I was thrilled.”
Head had four birdies in the opening 10 holes and then finished with two more on the 16th and 18th.
Sorenstam enjoyed a strong start but then had a bogey on the 14th and two more to finish.
“I got off to a tremendous start. Played well for about 14 holes, and collapsed on the other four, which is a bummer when you feel so good about something and then you come in with such a terrible finish,” she said.
“Luckily it’s just Thursday and there’s a long ways to go. The positive thing is I’m hitting some good shots and making some putts. Have to clean it up a little bit.”
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