Oh, what a round! Ji Young Oh was tied with American veteran Pat Hurst after the 1st day of the Women's U.S. Open. Both shot 6 under 67s at the par 73 Interlachen Country Club. The course was rather forgiving for an Open set up with moist greens and no real wind to speak of. Song-Hee Kim had sole possession of 2nd place and was the 1st Kim. Seven of the eleven Kims on the tour are playing this week. At -4 were Colombian amateur and U.C.L.A. sophomore Maria Jose Uribe and Louise Friberg. Six players were tied at -3 including Paula Creamer and Laura Davies. Davies had a great round and was quoted as saying this tournament is probably her last best shot at a major championship. She's just two points shy of being in the Hall of Fame and a win here would clinch it for her.
Some big names finished down the board and as we say in Average Golferland, "They have a lot of wood to cut." Defending champ, Cristie Kerr, sits at -1, which is well within reach of the leaders. Lorena Ochoa carded an even par 73. Julie Inskster and Morgan Pressel came in at +1. Karrie Webb and Annika Sorenstam are at +2, both tied with 13 year old amateur Alexis Thompson. One of the pre-tourney favorites and Average Golfer's pick to win, Suzann Pettersen, finished with a disappointing +4, 77. Lastly, Michelle Wie stumbled to an 81 including a round killing quintuple bogey 9 on the par 4 ninth hole. Even had she parred the hole though, she'd still be nine shots behind. Wish her the best and a good comeback round tomorrow. Perhaps not to make the cut, but at least a confidence builder.
The scoring conditions tomorrow may determine the fates of a lot of big names. They can't afford to have too much of a gap between them and the front runners if they make the weekend. With today's low numbers I'd expect the U.S.G.A. may counter with what they can control. Namely pin positions and green speeds. They don't really enjoy seeing 6 unders turned in at their premiere tournament.
Should be fun! Back tomorrow.
Til' next,
Thursday, June 26, 2008
Oh, Hurst Lead 2008 U.S. Women's Open on Day #1.
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6 under par at any U.S. Open is really frowned on. You can bet they will counter drastically. I hope Annika can do better today. It would be nice to see her win in her last U.S. Women's Open.
ReplyDeleteYup, I would guess pin positions will be much tougher. You can't really slick up those greens too much. They're too small and mounded.I'm dying to step over the McCord-line and predict they won't be bikini waxed.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the visit.