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| Lining up: Cristie Kerr removes her ball mark shortly before attempting a birdie putt on the 18th hole. She settled for par. (John Mummert/USGA) |
By David Shefter, USGA
Bethlehem, Pa. – Take a red number and be happy.
Despite a near-perfect day to play golf and nary a breeze blowing through the Lehigh Valley, the Old Course at Saucon Valley Country Club was hardly in a giving mood for Thursday’s opening round of the 2009 U.S. Women’s Open.
Anything under par at the 6,740-yard layout, the third-longest in the championship’s history, was outstanding.
Just ask 2007 U.S. Women’s Open champion Cristie Kerr, or two-time major winner and world No. 1 Lorena Ochoa. Both were grinning after posting 2-under-par 69s to share the early lead with unheralded 24-year-old Duramed Futures Tour player Jean Reynolds, of Newnan, Ga., who is competing in her second Women’s Open.
That trio held a one-stroke lead over Korean Hee Young Park, who led the field after 16 holes before suffering a double-bogey 5 at the 17th hole. Those four were the only competitors to break par among the early wave. The double bogey took the wind out of an otherwise impressive round by Park.
“It was just a normal par-3 hole, but [I] played it a little too aggressive,” said Park.
The group at even-par 71 included 2001 U.S. Women’s Amateur Public Links champion Candie Kung and 2009 McDonald’s LPGA Championship winner Anna Nordqvist. Kung parred all 18 holes.
Another group of 78 players, including 2009 LPGA Tour leading money winner Jiyai Shin, reigning Kraft Nabisco champion Brittany Lincicome and Suzanne Pettersen, had afternoon starting times.
Kerr thought conditions might be tougher for those playing in the afternoon, although 21 players from the morning wave shot 80 or higher.
“The greens are starting to get a little baked,” said Kerr, who made three birdies and one bogey. “And there’s no wind to get them … really firm. The edges of the cups are going to start drying out. I’ll tell you, every single pin today with the exception of maybe one or two is near a slope or on a slope. You have to really be paying attention to what’s going on.”
Nowhere was that more evident than at the 373-yard, par-4 third hole, which was playing to a stroke average of 4.791, making it the toughest on the course. Plenty of balls found the creek that fronts the sloping green. With the hole cut on the front-right portion, aggressive shots were finding the water.
Katherine Hull suffered an 8 and Helen Alfredsson made a 7. Paula Creamer and In-Kyung Kim both posted double-bogey 6s in their 1-over 72 rounds.
Ochoa, meanwhile, gained on the field by holing a 17-foot downhill birdie putt at the third. That came on the heels of a 50-foot birdie at the second.
“I had 111 yards,” said Ochoa of her play at the third. “I hit a 9-iron just to keep it safe. I make sure to hit it 5, 6 yards past [the flagstick]. That was a good birdie.”
In eight previous Women’s Opens, Ochoa has never been better than ninth after the first round. She has held first-round leads twice previously in majors – at the 2007 Women’s British Open where she won her first major and the 2006 Kraft Nabisco when she shot a 10-under 62, but finished second.
“I hit the ball good, but more important, I had the right speed on the greens,” said the 27-year-old native of Mexico who owns 26 LPGA Tour victories. “That helped me a lot. One round down and three to go.”
Kerr, 31, has enjoyed a solid 2009 LPGA Tour season, winning the Michelob Open at Kingsmill, and posting seven other top-10 finishes. She has not missed a cut in 14 starts, but is still searching for a second major title to go with her Women’s Open triumph at Pine Needles two years ago.
“Every day is kind of its own separate competition, and today, I did about as good as anybody is going to do,” said Kerr. “This is a pretty solid round for this golf course.”
The surprise leader among the triumvirate of 69s had to be Reynolds, who posted rounds of 75-82 in her only other Women’s Open appearance in 2008 at Interlachen. Looking at her recent results from the Futures Tour, however, would suggest Reynolds might well contend this week. She has two victories in 2009, including her last event in Hammond, Ind. She also finished second in Mason, Ohio and third in Decatur, Ill., the former coming a day before she qualified for the Women’s Open outside of Chicago.
“I came out here expecting to have a good round and play solid,” said Reynolds, a member of the victorious Georgia squad at the 2005 USGA Women’s State Team Championship. “So this is a nice feeling.
“It’s just confidence. Wins, they kind of jolt you out there and just make things a little bit easier to … fire at some pins when normally you’d be scared to.”
David Shefter is a USGA Digital Media staff writer. E-mail him with questions or comments at dshefter@usga.org.
