First Round Gets Going Without Any Other Hiccups

By Dave Shedloski

Newport, R.I. – With clouds overhead but promise in the air instead of stubborn fog, Wendy Ward started the 61^st U.S. Women’s Open 24 hours later than scheduled.

Despite more precipitation overnight in what has become the aptly named Ocean State, the Women’s Open finally began at 7 a.m. EDT Friday after Thursday’s play was wiped out by heavy fog. The forecast for the weekend appears promising, with a chance of a thunderstorm Sunday, but otherwise sunny skies that could allow the championship to conclude on schedule.

The second round is scheduled for 7 a.m. Saturday followed by a 36-hole marathon on Sunday.

Ward found the left side of the fairway on the par-5 first hole with her opening drive and went on to record the first birdie of the championship as the favorable scoring conditions – soft turf and little wind – contributed to a number of early birdies on the scoreboard.

A mixture of veterans and youngsters headline the field, led by two-time champion Annika Sorenstam, who has not won since the season-opening MasterCard Championship. Meanwhile, two of her rivals, Karrie Webb and Se Ri Pak, who are also former champions, have won the year’s first two majors on the LPGA Tour, the Kraft Nabisco and the McDonald’s LPGA Championship, respectively.

The younger contingent is led by Morgan Pressel, runner-up to Birdie Kim in last year’s Open at Cherry Hills Country Club, 2005 LPGA Rookie of the Year Paula Creamer, and Michelle Wie, who is playing on a special exemption and has finished no worse than fifth in her three previous LPGA starts this year.

Among early starters Friday, one of the most intriguing to watch is veteran Brandi Burton, who returns to the Women’s Open after a one-year hiatus. A one-time Solheim Cup player and two-time major champion, Burton has not won a tournament since 1998 as she has battled a series of shoulder problems.

She has undergone 13 surgical procedures on her right shoulder since she first hurt it in 1999. The most recent was in December. Burton, 34, of Laughlin, Nev., was champing at the bit Thursday to get on the golf course after missing last year’s Open at Cherry Hills. Since tying for third in 1996, Burton hasn’t finished better than 14^th, and has missed thee of her last five cuts in the Women’s Open.

"I definitely missed it. This is one of the great events of the year for us," said Burton, who finished third last month at the LPGA Corning Classic but has missed the last two cuts and withdrawn from a third event.

The long wait that turned into a washout didn’t bother her. "I’m used to having to be patient," she said. "I wouldn’t say it hasn’t been frustrating (being often injured), but at this point I’m getting to be pretty philosophical. I’m just glad to still be playing."

She said her health would grade out at 85 percent. It doesn’t figure to get much better. "But if I can be 100 percent in that 85 percent, I think I still have a chance to do well," Burton said. "It’s not going to get any better, probably. I just have to go out and play with what I have and maybe that will be good enough."

Dave Shedloski is a freelance writer whose work has appeared previously on www.uswomensopen.com.