The ladies kicked off the first round of the Women’s US Open today at Oakmont, and to my surprise there were several rounds of even par or better. What astonished me the most is that an American player sits atop the leaderboard heading into Friday. Duke University grad, Brittany Lang, began the day with a birdie on the very first hole, but quickly gave it back with bogey on the par4 2nd. She picked up another birdie on the par3 6th, but struggled on the par3 8th and a bogey took her back to level par on the outward nine. Lang then kicked it in gear with birdies on the short par4 11th, the short par4 14th, and again on the long par4 15th. She would give a shot back at the end with a bogey on the difficult 18th, but came in with 33 and leads the tournament with an impressive opening round of 2-under 69. The difference for Lang on Thursday was clearly with her putting, as she only needed 27 strokes with the putter. Given the speedy, treacherous putting surfaces at Oakmont, that’s saying something. She only found 8/14 fairways and 11/18 greens, but managing only two bogeys on the day paints a pretty nice picture of her opening round this week.
The Korean contingent of M.J. Hur, Inbee Park, and Amy Yang all posted strong opening rounds as well, shooting 1-under 70′s. But the story of the day was South African amateur, Kelli Shean, who would make the biggest news in the tournament thus far with an opening round of 1-under 70, tied for 2nd with Hur, Park, and Yang.
American Notables: Vicky Hurst, Christina Kim, Cristie Kerr, Wendy Ward, Kristy McPherson, and Paula Creamer all sit three shots back of the lead after opening with 1-over rounds of 72.
Tags: 2010 Women's US Open, Brittany Lang, Cristie Kerr, LPGA Tour, LPGA Tour Golf, Oakmont Country Club, Paula Creamer, USGA
