By David Shefter, USGA

Edina, Minn. – Tylar Lunke started emptying his wife’s golf bag Tuesday looking for anything to give away to adoring fans behind the ninth green at Interlachen Country Club.

As if on an assembly line, balls then gloves were being passed at a torrid pace to his wife, Hilary Lunke, who happily signed away. Contents were going so fast that the 29-year-old might need a visit to the merchandise trailer to replenish her weekly supply.

Now signing autographs is hardly a new phenomenon for touring professionals, but when the U.S. Women’s Open is being played literally in your backyard, the biggest championship in women’s golf suddenly takes on a larger-than-life persona.

Everywhere Lunke has walked for the first two official practice rounds, she has been greeted with cheers of "Good luck Hilary" or "Go Hornets," a reference to Edina High School, where Lunke competed on the school’s golf team.

While Interlachen was not her home course – her family belongs to nearby Edina C.C. – Lunke played the front nine (second nine for the Open) many times for high school events, and she was the runner-up at the 1997 Minnesota Women’s Amateur held at the Donald Ross-designed course.

So ever since Lunke shocked the golf world in 2003 by winning the Women’s Open in a playoff over former USA Curtis Cup teammate Angela Stanford and Kelly Robbins at Pumpkin Ridge Golf Club outside of Portland, Ore., 2008 and Interlachen had been circled on her calendar.

"That’s why it’s been surreal because I’ve been thinking about it for five years," said Lunke Tuesday after another 18-hole tour around the challenging course. "Right away when I won, I locked in on Interlachen. I said, ‘Oh my gosh, I’m going to get to play in my hometown.’ "

Lunke’s childhood home is about a long par-5 from the course. Her father, Bill, a fine player in his own right who has qualified for the USGA Senior Amateur and is serving as a volunteer this week, has even walked to the course (it’s a five-minute drive). And Lunke, who gave birth to daughter Greta eight months ago, has turned the homecoming into a large family reunion. Walking the course, she has run into friends and former competitors.

And the USGA added one more carrot. When the groupings were released last week, Lunke was given the honor of playing the opening shot off the first tee at 7 a.m. on Thursday.

"I’m introduced every week as being from Edina, Minn.," said Lunke, "and this will be the only week that I am actually in Edina, Minn. It will be pretty neat to hear the crowd at the first tee."

Lunke hopes she can give her supporters something to cheer about. Since winning the Women’s Open five years ago, Lunke’s results have been downright pedestrian. The 2003 Women’s Open has been her only top-15 finish in seven seasons on the LPGA Tour. In three events in 2008, she has yet to make a cut or break par.

Some people believe she’s a one-hit wonder much like Orville Moody, whose only PGA Tour victory was the 1969 U.S. Open.

Part of that has been her recent dual life as a mother and tour player. She’s also the current president of the LPGA Tour, which has placed added stress on her practice time.

Another issue is length. Lunke is not part of that new breed of tour golfer who plays the power game. When she won at Pumpkin Ridge, it was her red-hot putter, accuracy off the tee and impeccable short game that proved to be the difference. Plus, unlike a lot of LPGA Tour events, the U.S. Women’s Open is not a birdie fest, and puts more of a premium on shot-making, accuracy and mental fortitude, areas where Lunke can succeed if everything is clicking.

But with Interlachen measuring as the longest course in Women’s Open history (6,789), it would seem, at least on paper, to not to fit into Lunke’s modus operandi.

"It will be difficult," said Tylar Lunke, who only caddies for Hilary at the Women’s Open as he maintains a full-time job in wealth management back in the couple’s adopted hometown of Austin, Texas. The two met at Stanford when both played on the university’s golf teams. "But for her, most of the courses these days stress her game."

Lunke hasn’t adjusted her usual implements for the longer venue. She’s still carrying five woods and because there are five par 5s, all of which she’ll have to play as true three-shotters – Lunke has kept her usual assortment of wedges. Mapping a game plan has been paramount in her pre-championship preparations, knowing that any miss will have to be in the proper spot to allow for a relatively easy recovery.

"I’m hitting every club in my bag," said Lunke, a member of the 2000 USA Curtis Cup and Women’s World Amateur teams. "On certain holes if you hit a good drive and hit the down-slope you are going to be hitting a wedge or 9-iron into the green if you’re in the fairway. On other holes, if you slide off the fairway a little bit or don’t get that roll, I’m hitting woods in for sure. And there are some holes like 17 that are going to play long even with a good drive.

"But no matter what it doesn’t matter where you put your on the greens here, you are going to have a tough putt. If I can start hitting my drives consistently solid I think I can have a good tournament because I am putting really well and I think that’s the most important thing out here."

Keeping her mind focused on golf will be the real challenge for Lunke this week as she deals with all the outside distractions of being the hometown favorite. Interview requests have gone up exponentially and so have the number of autograph seekers. At least her mom and other family members are taking care of Greta, who turned eight months old on Wednesday.

Then again, Hilary and Tylar don’t lead a normal life. Not with Hilary on the road and Tylar maintaining his regular job. A young baby just adds more complexity to the equation, but it’s a situation both have made work.

"The day we’re both at home and living that everyday life is when we’ll probably get bored," said Tylar, who played at Stanford with former Walker Cupper Joel Kribel. "From the get-go, we’ve had a different lifestyle. We’re rolling with the punches like we always have."

Come Thursday morning, Lunke doesn’t know what to expect. Just the announcement at the first tee should bring one of the day’s biggest cheers. While Lunke can’t be catalogued in the same group as superstars Lorena Ochoa, Annika Sorenstam, Paula Creamer and Cristie Kerr, she does have her name etched on a major-championship trophy.

And at least for this week, she can revel in the same superstar treatment.