Hurst, Sorenstam Position Themselves For 36-Hole Run

By Ken Klavon, USGA

Newport, R.I. – Annika Sorenstam is right where she wants to be after the second round of the Women’s Open. Problem is, she’s got company.

Pat Hurst matched Sorenstam’s 2-under-par 140, both recording level par Saturday, to head into the third round tied atop the leader board at Newport Country Club. Sorenstam posted her number in the morning, forcing the rest of the field to play chase.

Her facial expression wouldn't suggest it, but Pat Hurst birdies the 16th hole Saturday to move into a tied for the lead. (Steve Gibbons/USGA)

Now the rest of the competition segues into a 36-hole marathon that will begin at 6:30 a.m. Sunday. Players will go off in 11-minute intervals, have a 45-minute break between rounds and no one will be re-paired. Inclement weather caused the postponement of Thursday’s first round, leading to the long final day. The last time 36 holes were conducted in a single day at the Women’s Open occurred in 1990 at Atlanta Athletic Club.

Weather has certainly been a factor this week and Saturday wasn’t any different. Swirling winds caused scores to bob up and down more times than a buoy in coarse waters. When calm prevailed, Shi Yun Ahn, amateur Jane Park and Michelle Wie positioned themselves one shot out of the lead. Five players stayed within striking distance at 1-over 143.

"I think it’s going to be a lot of fun," said Wie, who suffered a twinge in her left wrist and will be going for her first major win. "Obviously it’s going to be a very long day, but it’s going to be interesting. I think I’m just not going to take it too seriously. It’s going to be a fun ride, playing 36 holes in one day."

Defending champion Birdie Kim won’t be one of the 68 players to make the cut after she shot 12-over 154. Either will Meg Mallon (12-over 154) or Hilary Lunke (13-over 155), rounding out the last three Women’s Open winners not to make the cut. But 14-year-old Kimberly Kim was still alive, carding a 6-over 148.

The low 60 scores and ties and any contestant within 10 shots of the lead earned the right to play Sunday.

"I’m smiling and hopefully tomorrow too," said 35-year-old Sorenstam, even par on Saturday. Sorenstam is attempting to win her third Women’s Open and 10^th major overall. Hurst, 37, will be going for her second, but maybe more important, will be trying to rewrite history. Only one other player, JoAnne Carner, has won a Girls’ Junior, Women’s Amateur and Women’s Open in a career.

Hurst understands that people won’t view her as a prohibitive favorite.

"I’m going to go out and swing the golf club and hopefully my golf club will do the talking," said Hurst, even par on Saturday. "She’s the No. 1 player in the world and she’s the one that got herself in that position, and I respect her for being the No. 1 player in the world."

For Park, the 2004 Women’s Amateur champion, it’s a new take on life after losing faith in her game last year. Through two rounds, she’s missed just two fairways, both being the eighth hole. She, too, like Hurst, will be pursuing history. If she can win, she’ll become the second amateur to do so, following Catherine Lacoste’s 1967 lead.

"Why not? I might," she said following a 2-over 73 round. "I had nothing to lose. This is a ball for me."

With the way the afternoon winds picked up, the layout that measured at roughly 6,510 yards challenged everyone from No. 1 to 156. That’s roughly because Mike Davis, in charge of setup for the USGA, again had to alter yardages due to lasting effects from uncompromising weather this past week. Tee markers on six holes were moved back, but the distance was still shorter than the envisioned 6,616 yards Davis had for the weekend. The second round played to the tune of a 75.775 scoring average.

"The course has dried out but it’s not dry," said Davis, using a double entendre. Actually the course had firmed up between the ropes, but not on the outside where marshy mud paths were common.

Annika Sorenstam had a stable round that saw only two blemishes, bogeys on Nos. 6 and 9. (John Mummert/USGA)

It would be hard to describe the rounds played by Hurst and Sorenstam as murky. Both did all the things well that the USGA requires in its setup. They hit fairways, greens and didn’t experience balky putting. In fact, Hurst took 28 putts Saturday, not needing any on the par-4 eighth hole when she chipped in from the fringe some 40 feet away. That got her to 3 under, but bogeys on 12 and 13 left her looking up at Sorenstam before a birdie on 16 pulled her even again.

Sorenstam started on No. 10, registering 13 consecutive pars to start her round, capping the last par with a gritty up-and-down from a right greenside bunker on the par-3 fifth. She said she had a tough time reading green speeds before making the turn.

With the USGA double-cutting them in the morning and night, and then rolling them, speeds measured 11 on the Stimpmeter when play began Saturday, according to Davis.

"I didn’t really have the speeds," said Sorenstam, trading two birdies for two bogeys on the final five holes. "I figured it out."

Now she’ll rest up for what’s gearing up to be a grueling 36 holes of golf Sunday. It’s made her more poised to outlast the rest of the field in what likely will shape up as a test of endurance.

"I think it’s harder to win when you want it more, knowing that you can win it and your game fits the course," said Sorenstam, whose last major victory came at last year’s McDonald’s LPGA Championship.

Said Paula Creamer, in the mix with an aggregate 1-over 143: "This is what I want. I want to put myself in contention. Even after one round you’re pretty mentally tired. … but I think whoever wins this tournament will be the most mentally tough."

Ken Klavon is the USGA Web Editor. E-mail him with questions or comments at kklavon@usga.org.