(9 July 2009 – Bethlehem, Pennsylvania)
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South Korean Na Yeon Choi&aposs round of 3-under 68 was enough to take the outright lead after the opening round of the most prestigious women&aposs professional golf event, the US Women&aposs Open which is being played at the Saucon Valley Country Club in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.
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Choi, who is in her second year on the LPGA, teed off in the afternoon on the back nine and got off to a flying start with three consecutive birdies on the first three holes to sit atop of the leaderboard. She then posted another birdie on the 14th, her 5th hole of the day. A bogey on the par 3 17th hole saw Choi turn in three under par 32 and outright leader. Choi looked in some trouble on the 2nd (her 11th hole) when she pulled her second shot into the greenside bunker, however she holed the bunker shot to record another birdie and move back to four under par. Choi then drained a 15 metre monster putt on the most difficult hole of the day the par 4 3rd. When asked about that putt after the round she said "I&aposll be honest with you, I didn&apost think I was going to make that putt, but for some reason I saw the line very clearly, I wanted to make sure that I saved par, but it just went in".
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At 5-under par she held a comfortable three shot lead over Rolex World No. 1 Lorena Ochoa, American Cristie Kerr and Duramed FUTURES Tour leading money leader Jean Reynolds, all of whom posted 2-under par 69 in the morning on the testing Saucon Valley layout. However, back-to-back bogeys on the 5th and 6th holes saw Choi drop back to 3-under par and that is where she finished the day. Hee Young Park was the only other player to break par and she sits outright fifth at 1-under 70. Five players including McDonalds LPGA Championship winner Anna Nordqvist, American Kristy McPherson and leading amateur Alexis Thompson who are all at even par 71.
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Of the Australians in the field, our leading player on the LPGA money list, Lindsey Wright, is the best placed, after carding a 3-over par 74 to be tied 37th. Wright&aposs round included two birdies, three bogeys and a double bogey on the par-4 3rd hole. Wright said after her round "I thought I played well today, I hit one bad drive (on the 3rd) which cost me two shots. I also thought the greens were a little slower today so I left a lot of putts short."
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Karrie Webb is a shot behind Wright at 4-over par 75 and sits in a tie for 50th position. Webb got off to a solid start with pars on the 1st and 2nd holes, an errant tee shot left on the par-4 3rd saw her chip out as she had no chance of going for the green which is protected by a creek running across the front. She made a bogey and then took a double on the 5th hole after hitting her second shot long and left out of bounds. However, she recovered to birdie the next hole and another birdie on the 8th saw her turn at 1-over par. Webb couldn&apost convert a couple off excellent birdie opportunities on the 10th and 11th holes before she bogeyed the 13th and doubled the 14th hole to finish on 75.
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Katherine Hull and Rachel Hetherington struggled on the challenging layout. Hull carded a 7-over par 78 to be tied for 103rd. The third hole was not kind to the Australians today, Wright took double, Webb bogey and then Katherine took a quadruple bogey 8 after hitting two balls in the water. Hetherington finished at 9-over par and sits in a tie for 124th position.
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Photo by Paul Melville – Na Yeon Choi