Ji-Young Oh, strategizing with her caddie Thursday, shares the lead with Pat Hurst. (John Mummert/USGA)

By David Shefter, USGA

Edina, Minn. – Interlachen Country Club a pushover? Is it too easy?

With all the red being splattered around the historic venue Thursday for the opening round of the 2008 U.S. Women’s Open, one would think a needle was punctured right into one of its main arteries.

So much for all the rhetoric about the longest course in the championship’s history. On day one, Interlachen turned out to be more balmy than brute.

Heck, the 156 players couldn’t have asked for better conditions to play the longest course in Women’s Open history (6,789 yards) – very little wind, temperatures in the lower 80s and the humidity under 50 percent.

Perhaps that can explain the 32 sub-par rounds, the most in a single round since 1999 at Old Waverly when 61 were posted in round two and another 44 were registered in the first round.

From that group, six broke 70, including co-leaders Ji Young Oh, 19, of Korea and 39-year-old Pat Hurst of Scottsdale, Ariz., both of whom carded 6-under-par 67s for a one-stroke lead over 19-year-old Korean Song Hee Kim..

Reigning U.S. Women’s Amateur champion Maria Jose Uribe of Colombia, Ji-Yai Shin of Korea and LPGA Tour rookie Louise Friberg of Sweden, who is playing in her first Women’s Open, were another stroke back at 69.

The group at 3-under 70 included Paula Creamer of Pleasanton, Calif., a two-time winner on the LPGA Tour this year who is seeking a first major title, and England’s Laura Davies, who could qualify for the LPGA Hall of Fame with one more major title or two regular LPGA Tour wins.

Defending champion Cristie Kerr opened with a 1-under 72, while world No. 1 and two-time major champion Lorena Ochoa of Mexico carded a 73 after making the turn at three over. Three-time champion Annika Sorenstam had a 74, while Michelle Wie, who qualified June 9 at a sectional in Rockville, Md., took a quintuple-bogey 9 at the ninth hole en route to an 81.

"The greens weren’t as firm as I thought they would be," said Hurst, who lost an 18-hole playoff to Sorenstam at Newport (R.I.) Country Club two years ago. "When you’re hitting the ball well and putting well, it seems like the golf course is playing pretty easy. So as long as I keep it in the fairway and keep making putts it’s always going to be easy."

Hurst was the lone American to crack the top five and she and Creamer were the only U.S. players among a top-10 leader board that shows the diverse collection of nationalities that now dominate women’s golf. Korea, Colombia, Sweden, Scotland, England, Chinese Taipei, Japan and Australia had golfers among the top 15. Even that golf power known as the Czech Republic got a 1-under 72 round from 15-year-old amateur Jessica Korda, whose father Petr was a highly successful professional tennis player.

Hurt, bidding to join JoAnne Gunderson Carner as the only player to win a U.S. Girls’ Junior, U.S. Women’s Amateur and U.S. Women’s Open, was one over through her first five holes and began what she called "whining" to caddie Chris Birdseye.

"I was being a golfer," she said smiling. "You know, whining about being one over after four holes. I can say other words that a woman does, but I am not going to."

Maybe she should get angry more often. Hurst went on to play 7-under golf over the final 14 holes, including back-to-back birdies at 15 and 16 and both first-nine par-5s (holes two and three). She capped off the round with an 8-iron approach to 4 feet to set up a birdie that tied her with Oh.

"There’s a lot of golf left," said Hurst, trying not to get too far ahead of herself. "I’m just going to go out and play the best that I can and like today … not think about the outcome. If it was the 71st hole, it might be a little bit different but it’s only the first round."

Ironically, Oh’s best finish (sixth) in two seasons on the LPGA Tour came when she shot a career-low 66 in the first round of the 2007 Safeway Classic. She almost matched that number at Interlachen, making seven birdies against just one bogey at the par-3 fourth where her 7-iron tee shot found a greenside bunker. Two tap-in birdies at 10 and 11 got her round jumpstarted and then at the par-4 16th, she knocked her 9-iron approach to 2 feet. Her fourth birdie came at the first hole, a 9-iron to 6 feet and she hit a wedge to the par-5 third to a foot for another tap-in birdie.

She closed her round with a 3 at the challenging par-4 ninth, knocking a hybrid club to 6 feet from 180 yards away.

"Yeah it is a surprise," said Oh on leading the U.S. Women’s Open.

In her first Women’s Open last year, she posted rounds of 75-74 at Pine Needles to miss the cut.

"Big difference," said Oh of her 2008 turnaround. "I like this course. I like the greens. It’s cause the condition is good."

Notebook: Young, Old Contestants Enjoy Experience

When Martha Nause won her third and final LPGA tour victory at the 1994 du Maurier Classic, Alexis Thompson was merely a twinkle in her mother’s eye.

Nause, the oldest player in the field this week at 53, was paired with the precocious 13-year-old Thompson, who entered the record books in 2007 for being the youngest-ever qualifier for a USGA "Open" championship.

"Still being the youngest at 13 is pretty amazing," said Thompson, who is the youngest contestant this year at Interlachen Country Club.

Thompson picked up the game just nine years ago at the age of 4, the same year that Nause retired from the LPGA Tour.

The duo shared the same focus and determination throughout the round. The lanky 5-foot-8 Thompson carried the poise of a young professional, while Nause paced with the determination of a seasoned athlete. A closer look and it was obvious that Thompson was still a new teenager. Dressed in pink and topped with a frilly pink and silver hair ribbon, she was adored in ladybugs, her favorite, as they serve as a good-luck charm.

The generation gap was also shared by their caddies. Throughout the day, Thompson received constant guidance from her father Scott. Nause, on the other hand, was taking advice from a player she once coached. Now the head coach of the men’s and women’s golf teams at Macalester College in nearby St. Paul, she had former player Eric Kelsey on her bag. Kelsey played for the Scots two years ago.

Although Nause’s appearance is in the heart of recruiting season, she can not yet look to woo Thompson to join the Scots. Thompson has yet to matriculate to high school and NCAA rules forbid college coaches to formally talk to potential recruits until July 1 of the student-athlete’s senior season. So the pair kept their distance, even though Thompson admired the elder stateswoman from afar.

Nause and Thompson were joined by 51-year-old Sherri Turner, the second oldest player in the field, bringing the combined age of the group to 118 years. "They hit is so long," noted Thompson. "They were just amazing. Most people were out rooting for them."

Thompson finished one shot lower than her 2007 U.S. Women’s Open debut, carding a 2-over-par 75. "Last year I was so excited," said Thompson, a quarterfinalist at the 2007 Women’s Amateur. "I am a little less nervous [this year]. Once I hit it, I was okay."

Both players are hoping to make the cut, which be the eighth for Nause and the first for Thompson.

"It’s fun," said Thompson of the grouping, "but it’s serious now."

Emotional Day

Hilary Lunke prides herself on being stoic when stepping to the first tee. Certainly she balled her eyes out after the surprising Women’s Open triumph five years ago at Pumpkin Ridge, which remains her only professional victory.

But on Thursday before friends, family and a lot of other well-wishers, Lunke could barely clear the tears as her name was called at 7 a.m.

"From Edina, Minn., the 2003 U.S. Women’s Open champion, Hilary Lunke!"

Playing the biggest championship in women’s golf in her hometown, Lunke tried to collect herself. The nerves appeared evident as her opening drive hooked into the rough, which led to a bogey. She played even-par golf over the remaining 17 holes for a 1-over 74. A respectable round since she has missed the cut in her last two Women’s Open appearances.

"It was kind of overwhelming," said Lunke of the introduction and having the honor of starting the championship. "It just kind of hits home that I’m a former champion of the event and playing in my hometown, and it was really special."

Lunke said she fed off the positive energy, making birdies at two and three before closing the first nine with three consecutive bogeys from No. 7.

"I would say I found it a little bit more nerve-wracking just knowing how many people are rooting for you," she said. "Normally you’re kind of out there for yourself and the fans aren’t caring too much if you make the putt or miss the putt. And you wanted to make them all today for the fans."

Lunke wasn’t the only local competing. Michele Redman of Minneapolis hit the first shot off the 10th tee and also carded a 1-over 74.

Rosales Recovering

Jennifer Rosales entered the final round of the 2005 Women’s Open at The Orchards as the leader after shooting 67-69 in the middle rounds. But with only two wins under her belt in her five-year-career, Rosales was in uncharted territory.

After a final-round 75, Rosales finished fourth and her best and so far only chance to win the Women’s Open went by the wayside.

"You learn from your mistakes," said Rosales, reflecting on her experience in 2005. "Meg Mallon, I mean I couldn’t do anything, I mean she played unbelievable golf there.  No matter what I do it just, she keeps on making it, making it and it’s like okay, I guess it’s not for me.  I thought, ‘Next time,’ because there’s always next year."

Rosales did play the following year and finished T-23, but after withdrawing in 2006 Rosales has not been to the Women’s Open until qualifying this year.

The reason was her left wrist, which has nagged her most of her career, flared up when she tried to hit a ball off the Lava rocks in Hawaii.

"It was very stupid of me and then it got worse the past two years," Rosales said of the injury. "I had a tear in my tendon.  So I had to really quit, I had to stop and did a lot of therapy."

Rosales has struggled through 2006 and 2007, but last week at the Wegmans Rochester International in Rochester, N.Y., she recorded her best finish (T24) since the Mizuno Classic in late 2005.

Now with an opening round of 1-over-par 74, and the Wegmans accomplishment under her belt, Rosales is looking for a good week at Interlachen.

"My game is going good because I have been playing a lot," said Rosales of the current sate of her game. "A couple of years ago I kind of got in a rhythm but I couldn’t because I was injured and I just didn’t have it.  Now I’m playing good and I’m hitting the ball good. I just couldn’t make any putts. And now the putts are starting to fall in and I just got to be patient.  I can’t push myself too much.  The more you try harder, the other way it goes."

Alex Miceli and Erica Goodman contributed to this story.