Na Yeon Choi of South Korea birdied her first three holes, and four of her first five, for a 3-under 68 Thursday and a one-stroke lead after the first round of the U.S. Women’s Open in Bethlehem, Pa.
Top-ranked Lorena Ochoa, 2007 champion Cristie Kerr and qualifier Jean Reynolds opened with 2-under 69s, and Hee Young Park, also of South Korea, was another stroke back after a 70.
The biggest week in women’s golf is being overshadowed by reports that LPGA Tour commissioner Carolyn Bivens could be leaving her post as soon as next week.
Just as Choi was completing her round, Golf Digest and Golfweek Magazine, citing sources, reported on their Web sites that Bivens’ four-year tenure with the tour is coming to an end.
The move comes after calls for her resignation by key players.
Easily overlooked in the fallout of the LPGA brouhaha were solid rounds by Choi, the runner-up for rookie of the year in 2008, Ochoa, who is seeking her first Women’s Open title, and Kerr, aiming for her second championship crown.
Birdies were tough to come by for nearly everyone but the 21-year-old Choi, who has won four times in international events.
Choi made Saucon Valley’s narrow fairways seem wide and handled its speedy, undulating greens. She relied on accurate approach shots throughout and reached 5-under by her 12th hole, before backing up just a bit. Starting on the back nine, Choi had consecutive bogeys on the 409-yard, par-4 fifth, and 559-yard, par-5 sixth before closing with three pars.
Ochoa started early Thursday on the back nine and offset two bogeys with two birdies on her first nine and then moved below par with consecutive birdies at Nos. 2 and 3.
On the par-4 second hole, she rolled in one of the longest putts of her career — a putt that moved right, left, up and down before falling for a 3.
Kerr hit 15 greens and 10 fairways in a round of three birdies and a bogey, using her knowledge and confidence of being a former Women’s Open champion on the challenging Old Course. She drained birdie putts of 15, 12 and 8 feet and shrugged off her only bogey.
Reynolds, a two-time winner on the Futures Tour and the leading money winner on the LPGA’s developmental tour, had four birdies and two bogeys.
Reynolds opened with a birdie at the first and made a strong par save at the second hole after driving into a fairway bunker. She hit a 7-wood to about 45 yards and got up-and-down.
David Leadbetter Golf Academy product Paula Creamer shot a 1-over 72.
n LPGA commissioner Carolyn Bivens reportedly is on the way out as leader of the tour after calls for her resignation by key players.
Golf Digest and GolfWeek Magazine reported on their Web sites the embattled commissioner will be replaced.
Golf Digest cites multiple sources saying Bivens’s four-year tenure could end as soon as next week.
PGA — Lee Janzen stirred some memories and was tied with Darron Stiles for the lead after firing a 7-under 64 in the first round of the John Deere Classic in Silva, Ill.
Janzen has not won on the PGA Tour since he captured his second U.S. Open in 1998, yet he’s in position after an impressive start at TPC Deere Run.
The 44-year-old was at 8 under after birdies on the 16th and 17th holes and played bogey-free golf until the 18th, when he hit a bunker and missed an 8-foot par putt. He was off the course by the time Stiles sunk a seven-foot putt for birdie on the same hole to forge the tie.
J.J. Henry, Matt Bettencourt and Dean Wilson were all one stroke off the lead at 65.
Last year’s winner Kenny Perry, who’s second on the money list, opened with a 68, while U.S. Open champion Lucas Glover and Zach Johnson shot 69.
EUROPEAN PGA — Martin Laird twice chipped in for birdie on his way to a 6-under 65 that left him one shot behind Richard Green after the opening round in Luss, Scotland.
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