The first day of the U.S. Women’s Open concluded Thursday with, as expected, few low scores. Many expects have said that even par could win the tournament and if the first day is any indication, that’s likely to be true.
There were only five players under par in the 156-woman field. Brittany Lang is the leader at -2. Lang could be a real contender, since she finished second a few years ago in the 2005 Open. Four golfers, including amateur Kelli Shean are tied for second at -1. Other expected contenders such as Paula Creamer and #1 ranked player Cristie Kerr are right there at +1. Last year’s winner, Eun Hee Ji, is off to a slow start at +6.
The story of the day, however, belongs to Michelle Wie. She finished at an extremely disappointing +11 and will almost assuredly miss the cut. Wie credited the tough greens as the reason for her poor performance:
“They’re pretty tough,” Wie said of Oakmont’s wickedly fast greens. “You just can’t be above the hole, like I did the first hole. I hit a good putt and you just leave yourself 4-5 footers and then you miss a couple. Hopefully [on Friday] I’ll make all the putts I missed today.”
Tomorrow, temps are expected to cool. It was 94 degrees today and it should drop into the lower 80s tomorrow with some chance of rain.