Sorenstam not so grand
CHERRY HILLS VILLAGE, Colo. – No stranger to pressure, Annika Sorenstam had to cope with jangled nerves as she stood on the 10th tee Thursday at the U.S. Women’s Open, the snowcapped Rockies and a chance to make history both on the horizon.
She took a deep breath of mile-high air to steady herself, then promptly hit into the rough and made bogey.
It wasn’t the best start as she resumed her bid for the Grand Slam. It wasn’t a great finish, either, not after taking three putts from just off the ninth green for another bogey.
But she conquered her nerves and broke even with tough Cherry Hills, finishing with an even-par 71 that left her two shots behind Angela Stanford and 19-year-old amateur Brittany Lang when the first round was suspended.
Why the queasy feeling?
“U.S. Open, a lot of people, tough golf course, a lot on my mind,” Sorenstam said with a smile. “I put a lot of pressure on myself. I really want to do well here. When you stand on the tee, you know you have to hit fairways. That’s double pressure right there. I’m just happy I found the rhythm in the middle.”
Karine Icher, of France, was at 2 under with four holes left when play was suspended by storms in the area, with 48 players unable to complete their round.
Michelle Wie, the 15-year-old from Hawaii who was second behind Sorenstam at the LPGA Championship, again put herself near the top of the leaderboard with back-to-back birdies on the back nine, starting with a 20-footer on the par-3 12th. She was at 1 under with three holes to play, facing a delicate chip from just off the 16th green.
The scorecard showed an even-par round for Sorenstam, who breezed to victories in the first two majors. But she worked hard to keep it from being worse, salvaging her round with nifty par saves along her back nine. Steeped in concentration, she twice made 6-footers without looking at the hole until she heard the ball rattle around the bottom of the cup.
“Around par is always good at the Open,” Sorenstam said.
Cherry Hills didn’t leave anyone with much chance to relax. Of the 108 players who completed the first round, only six of them broke par.
Lang had a chance to take the outright lead until her approach on the 459-yard 18th hole – which yielded no birdies in the opening round and might not all week – clanged into the grandstand.
Natalie Gulbis went over the 18th green and made bogey to drop her to a 70, joined by former Women’s Open champion Liselotte Neumann, Young-A Yang and Nicole Perrot.
Others at 71 were defending champion Meg Mallon, Sophie Gustafson and 17-year-old Morgan Pressel, who was at 5 under through eight holes, but dropped three shots on the last two holes and wound up in tears.
“You do get beat up out there,” Stanford said.
Stanford kept the ball in the short grass, but she was all over the leaderboard.
She opened with three birdies on the first five holes, gave all those shots back by the time she made the turn, then closed with a pair of birdies to take the outright lead among early starters.
The most important hole might have been a par on the uphill 18th, where she hit a 4-iron into the front bunker, blasted out to 7 feet and made the putt.
“It’s an emotional roller coaster,” she said.