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| In spite of her 3-over 74 Friday, Na Yeon Choi remains in contention heading into the weekend. (John Mummert/USGA) |
By David Shefter, USGA
Bethlehem, Pa. – Before the 2009 U.S. Women’s Open commenced, one parent of a competitor predicted the winning score would be over par.
Through 1½ days, that premonition might not be too far off.
Despite a second consecutive near-perfect day on Friday – bright sunshine, comfortable temperatures and hardly a breeze – Saucon Valley Country Club’s Old Course continued to be the winner in its battle with the world’s best female golfers.
At the midway point of the second round, the clubhouse leader was the same person who owned the top position Thursday evening: 21-year-old Korean Na Yeon Choi, who carded a 3-over-par 74 and stood at even-par 142. The second-year LPGA Tour golfer owns a two-stroke lead over four golfers, including 14-year-old Alexis Thompson of Coral Springs, Fla., the reigning U.S. Girls’ Junior champion, Australian Lindsay Wright, 2009 Kraft Nabisco champion Brittany Lincicome (72) and Japan’s Yuri Fudoh (71).
World No. 1 Lorena Ochoa, 2007 U.S. Women’s Open champion Cristie Kerr and unheralded Duramed Futures Tour player Jean Reynolds – all of whom shot 2-under 69 on Thursday – had afternoon starting times on Friday, along with Korean Hee Young Park, who fired a first-round 70.
The only red on the golf course Friday morning seemed to be the 18 flags sagging in the light breeze. Just two players managed to better par among the morning wave: Wright, whose 1-under 70 moved her to 2-over 144 for the championship, and Teresa Lu of Chinese Taipei. Lu’s 2-under 69 was the best of the morning wave and gave the 21-year-old a 36-hole score of 145, three strokes off Choi’s clubhouse lead.
But those were the exceptions. For the most part, the field again struggled with the third-longest course in championship history (6,740 yards).
“I feel like this course should be a par 73 or 74,” said Choi through a translator. “Just the fact that this is a par 71, you can see how much more difficult it is. I feel like all the par-4s and 5s were playing a lot longer than they did yesterday. So it was definitely a little more difficult than it was yesterday.”
The course nearly played to its full yardage. The tee at No. 9 was pushed back to 210 yards, but the USGA did move the markers up a little on the par-5 12th and the par-4 seventh. And the 373-yard third hole, which was the most difficult in round one, was made a little easier with a back-right hole location, taking the creek fronting the green much more out of play.
“They really haven’t made the course much shorter … which is great,” said Norway’s Suzann Pettersen, who carded a 71 and sits at 145. “The greens are what they are. They’re tough. You really want to be on the right side.”
Choi, who finished second in the LPGA Tour Rookie of the Year race in 2008, did not quite have the same sizzling start she did on Thursday. She started with consecutive bogeys at one and two, then registered nine consecutive pars before making her third bogey at the par-5 12th. Her only birdie of the day came at No. 14, but she gave the shot back with a 5 on the 374-yard 16th hole, which was ranking as the most difficult in round two.
“I played my heart out there the first two days,” said Choi, still searching for her first win on the LPGA Tour. “Obviously, I like where I am position-wise. I think I feel good with the chance I have, but we have two more days left and I just want to play the best golf with sort of the same mindset I had going into the first day.”
Two years ago, Thompson became the youngest qualifier in Women’s Open history at 12 years, 4 months and her mindset was to enjoy the moment. Last year with a few more expectations, she bogeyed two of her final holes to miss the cut by two strokes. That disappointment lingered for awhile, but after sharing low-amateur honors at the Kraft Nabisco Championship earlier this year, her goals for this particular Women’s Open changed.
And right now she’s in contention, shrugging off a double-bogey 7 at the par-5 sixth hole, her 15th of the round, to post a 73. This despite missing three birdie putts inside 10 feet on Nos. 1, 3 and 4. Her 5-foot putt at the par-5 first hole did a complete 360-degree spin-out.
“I sort of hit it a little bit hard,” she said. “I had a lot of opportunities today, but at least they all hit the hole. At least I didn’t miss by like a couple of feet.”
The double bogey was a result of a poor tee shot and a “fluffed” fourth shot before she three-putted. She rebounded, though, with a 3-iron approach to 15 feet at No. 7 to set up a birdie.
“After that double, I was like, ‘Oh no, I don’t want to blow another like last year,’ ” said Thompson. “I tried to play consistent on the last few holes.”
David Shefter is a USGA Digital Media staff writer. E-mail him with questions or comments at dshefter@usga.org.
