Play was suspended at 7:12 PM ET at the U.S. Women's Open, but Stacy Lewis is in a familiar spot at the top of the leaderboard. She played a nearly perfect round on Thursday at Pinehurst No. 2.
Lewis found 13 of 14 fairways and only missed one green in her three-under-par 67.
The control she has with her driver and irons is exactly what is needed around the difficult Pinehurst golf course.
Lewis was in the early group for the first round, but no one in the field could solve the riddle that is Pinehurst’s greens and overtake her in the afternoon.
Amateur Marcella Chow took the lead for a short time with four birdies in her first six holes. Reality soon set in. She made three consecutive double-bogeys at Nos. 8-10 and a bogey at No. 11 to fall well down the leaderboard.
Michelle Wie is No.2 to Lewis on the LPGA Tour money list and is one shot behind her after the first round at Pinehurst. She made five birdies, but three bogeys left her at two-under-par.
Wie continues to play with the utmost confidence. She only hit 10 fairways and 10 greens on Thursday, but took only 26 putts to navigate the difficult Donald Ross greens.
She is maturing right before our eyes and seems to be ready to reach the potential predicted for her at a young age.
So Yeon Ryu is a former U.S. Open Champion and is tied for third at one-under-par with Minjee Lee and Katherine Kirk.
Lee, a 20 year old amateur from Australia, is the No. 1 ranked woman amateur in the world.
Veterans Paula Creamer and Karrie Webb both former U.S. Women’s Open winners are in a group of five women tied for sixth at even par.
Other young stars did not fare as well as Wie and Lee.
Lydia Ko T-77 struggled all day and posted a six-over-par 76. She will have to improve on Friday to make the cut.
Winner of the Kraft Nabisco Championship in March, Lexi Thompson is one-over-par at T-11.
Eleven-year-old, Lucy Li had one birdie, three double-bogeys and one triple-bogey in her round of eight-over-par 78 to T-111. She bested 45 players in the 156-woman field.
Pinehurst’s firm dry conditions are creating problems for the ladies. As we saw during the men’s U.S. Open last week anything near the edge of the bowl-shaped greens runs off and down into collection areas that make for difficult par saves.
Only five women were able to break par the first day.