New Zealand's Lydia Ko opened with eight under par and is in a joint lead with Thailand's Pajaree Anannarukarn.
For the Swedish hopes, things are worse.
Johanna Gustavsson and Lisa Pettersson are the best of the blue and yellow, but first in shared 17th place, five strokes behind the top duo.
Anna Nordqvist, who broke off a Saudi collaboration last week, is nevertheless taking part in the competition in Saudi Arabia.
Another is rising star Linn Grant, who was named Newcomer of the Year at the Sports Gala and who, after last week's second place in Morocco, is ranked 23rd in the world, the highest of all Swedes.
However, both Nordqvist and Grant have already fallen well behind.
If Grant had a rough day, with his par round, Nordqvist's etter was worse.
An already half-hearted Thursday became downright miserable after a pair of four-holes, the 17th, when the three-time major winner needed a full nine strokes to get the ball.
Nordqvist went three over par for the day and is eleven strokes off the lead.
The same prize money as for the men
A total of nine Swedes are in the starting field in Saudi Arabia, where the total prize money has been raised from last year's one million dollars to five million dollars.
The winner of the competition, which began on Thursday, will receive a check for the equivalent of nearly eight million kroner.
It is as much money as the men, including Henrik Stenson and all the other LIV golf stars, played on the same course in a competition on the Asian Tour a couple of weeks ago.
Swedes choose differently
At the same time, there are a couple of well-known Swedes who choose not to play in Saudi Arabia.
Madelene Sagström, 26th in the world, makes her annual debut only in next week's LPGA competition in Thailand.
Nor is Maja Stark, ranked 32nd after her victory in Morocco last week, in the starting field in Saudi Arabia.