Marquee Names Pop Up On First Morning: Local Knowledge: Golf Digest

Marquee Names Pop Up On First Morning

Thursday, July 9, 2009 Comments

BETHLEHEM, Pa. - So far, so good, for two of the LPGA's star players through the early going in the first round of the U.S. Women's Open.

Cristie Kerr, the 2007 Women's Open champion, and Lorena Ochoa, who is still looking for her first Open victory, were tied for the clubhouse lead with Duramed Futures Tour player Jean Reynolds at two-under 69 at Saucon Valley CC.

Playing on a crisp, beautiful morning that felt more like May than July, Kerr and Ochoa put themselves right in the mix with solid play. "Today I did about as good as anybody is going to do," said Kerr, a winner at the Michelob Open earlier this season. "I played really well to shoot two-under. The greens were really firm for the morning rounds."

Ochoa, who counts two 2009 wins among her 26 career LPGA triumphs, was sparked by a long, breaking birdie putt on No. 2. "You know, anything in red numbers to start a U.S. Open, I will always take it," said Ochoa, who tried to go back to basics on the greens.

"I think I've been a little bit too stressed out on the technique and getting the right line," said Ochoa, who was T-12 and T-23 in the year's two previous majors. "I made sure today that it was more about seeing the line and just trying to make them."

-- Bill Fields