Na Yeon Choi of South Korea opens with 3-under 68 for 1-stroke lead at US Women’s Open

Na Yeon Choi takes 1-shot lead at US Women’s Open

BETHLEHEM, Pa. — The U.S. Women’s Open has the makings of a thrilling drama — even if an LPGA Tour hierarchy controversy keeps intruding.

Two of the biggest names in women’s golf are just off the lead; a record-setting 14-year-old amateur is just strokes behind; a qualifier from the LPGA’s developmental tour is in the mix; and the first-round leader is feeling awfully comfortable on a tough course that yields few birdies and fewer under-par rounds.

And that’s after Thursday’s opening round at Saucon Valley Country Club.

Na Yeon Choi of South Korea birdied her first three holes, and four of her first five, racing to an opening round 3-under 68 for a one-stroke lead.

“I know it’s a difficult course, but I was really excited to start my round and I thought it was going to be a very, very interesting week for me,” the 21-year-old Choi said through an interpreter.

That excitement could get contagious.

Right behind are No. 1-ranked Lorena Ochoa, 2007 champion Cristie Kerr and qualifier Jean Reynolds, who each opened with 2-under 69s. Hee Young Park, also of South Korea, was another stroke back.

But just as the golf moved to the fore, the controversy swirling around the women’s tour reappeared. There were reports Thursday that LPGA commissioner Carolyn Bivens could be out of her job as early as next week after a faction of key players called for her resignation.

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.

With decisions of when and how Bivens leaves the LPGA Tour as the seemingly only remaining questions, all eyes might now turn to golf.

And the drama promises to be compelling as Ochoa and Choi chase their first Women’s Open title, and Kerr aims for her second championship crown.

“Patience is the No. 1 thing you have to have this week,” Ochoa said.

Saucon Valley yielded few birdies, and just five sub-par rounds. Yet Choi, a four-time winner in international events, seems comfortable.

Playing in her second Open, Choi easily navigated the narrow fairways and speedy, undulating greens. She relied on accurate approach shots throughout and reached 5-under by her 12th hole, before backing up. 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.

“I think being here for the second time, being on the Tour for two years now, I think I find it much more comfortable,” Choi said. “I now understand better about the magnitude of this U.S. Women’s Open, and to be honest, I think I’m much more comfortable playing on this tour and these golf courses than I do in Korea, so, you know, everything is good for me.”

Ochoa offset two early bogeys with two birdies on her first nine and then moved below par with consecutive birdies at Nos. 2 and 3.

The Mexican star had her best start in an opening round at the Open since being ninth after the first day in 2003.

“It’s always hard, you have to be 100 percent at 7:30 in the morning,” she said. “I’m just glad I beat it today, and will try to do the same tomorrow.”

Kerr used her knowledge and confidence of being a former Women’s Open champion on the challenging Old Course, draining birdie putts of 15, 12 and 8 feet.

“I’m an Open champion, I know what to expect,” Kerr said. “You have to take what the course gives you at a U.S. Open. You try and be aggressive when you can and most of the time you can’t be.”

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. She had a chance to take sole possession of the lead, but missed a birdie putt at the 18th.

She’s enjoying the ride.

“I was pretty nervous,” Reynolds said. “It was a good feeling, but then again, coming in under the radar and leading at the U.S. Open after the first round is pretty awesome.”

Alexis Thompson, a 14-year-old amateur is in a good position to make the cut. She is the low amateur after a first-round 71, her finest showing in the first round after missing the cut the last two years. The teenager from Coral Springs, Fla., is the reigning U.S. Girls Junior champ. In 2007, she was the youngest Women’s Open qualifier in history.