BETHLEHEM, Pa. - Timing, the saying goes, is everything, and with the week the LPGA Tour is having, there might not be two more important names at the top of the US Women’s Open leaderboard than Cristie Kerr and Paula Creamer.
If all the pretournament focus was on the player-led coup that might cost commissioner Carolyn Bivens her job, or about the exemption changes that left famous faces Michelle Wie and Natalie Gulbis watching from home, Kerr and Creamer are giving the tour’s marquee event the inside-the-ropes sizzle it desperately needed. Throw in upstart Jean Reynolds, and Americans sit 1-2-3 halfway through the 64th national championship.
Kerr is the one to catch, her 1-under-par 70 at Saucon Valley Country Club good for a one-stroke lead on Creamer, with Reynolds two back. The US-led charge wasn’t lost on Kerr, whose win at the 2007 Women’s Open remains her only major championship.
“I got the question earlier in the week, why aren’t more American golfers playing well, and I think we’re kind of answering that,’’ said Kerr. “It’s important for women’s golf, and especially girls’ junior golf here in America, to have us up there. That’s how I learned. I wanted to be a professional golfer by watching the US Open.’’
Creamer hit on the same theme.
“I think it’s great. It seems like our majors lately there have been more and more Americans in the top bunch,’’ she said. “Any tournament, it’s wonderful to see Americans, but especially here.’’
Only six players broke par yesterday, including Kerr and Creamer. Kerr threatened to run away from the field when she reeled off three straight birdies starting on No. 15 to build a three-stroke lead, but three bogeys on the front nine sliced the margin to one.
But of the top seven players on the leaderboard, Kerr is the only one with a major, something she hopes to draw on today and tomorrow.
“It’s great to know that I’ve won one, and I know I can do it on the weekend,’’ said Kerr. “I feel like I know what I have to do, instead of in [2007] you’re kind of like, well, what do I do in this situation? I kind of have a little advantage there.’’
Creamer shot 68, helped by five birdies, including a 35-footer on No. 18 that she estimated had 9 feet of break. She’ll take the tried-and-true US Open mentality into the weekend.
“To win a major championship, it’s all about two-putts, and I’ve kind of ingrained that in my mind. Just to grind out pars,’’ she said. “You have to be so into every shot mentally. You’re going to be tired. I’m going to hit some good shots and not be rewarded. But I’m going to hopefully hit some good shots and be rewarded.’’
The biggest surprise continues to be Reynolds, who has never played in an LPGA Tour event - other than the Women’s Open, which is run by the US Golf Association, this year and last year. She may not have the résumé of Kerr and Creamer, but two rounds in, they’re the only two in front of her.
“They’re the best players in the world, and I have tremendous respect for them,’’ said Reynolds. “They’ve done so much for the game, and it will just be exciting.’’
Reynolds hasn’t taken the route preferred by most US pros. She went to college to play at Georgia, but decided she wanted to be a “regular’’ student, and traded her spot on the golf team for football games and sorority parties. She resumed her golf career after graduating, and has been on the Futures Tour the past two seasons, winning twice and leading the money list this year.
Just beyond the top three, an international contingent lurks. Italy’s Giulia Sergas authored the low round of the championship, making six birdies and shooting a 4-under 67 to jump 46 spots into a tie for fourth. She’s even par, tied with first-round leader Na Yeon Choi from South Korea, who went out early and shot 74, six higher than the first round. Two more South Koreans - Song Hee Kim (69) and Eun Hee Ji (72) - were tied for sixth at 1 over.
Perhaps just as shocking as Reynolds’s place on the leaderboard was the day at the office put in by Lorena Ochoa. The top-ranked player in the world, tied for second and a shot off the lead after the first round, ballooned to a 79, which dropped her nine shots behind Kerr. Ochoa sprayed shots off the tee, missed greens, and putted poorly. It’s her second-highest score in a major championship, exceeded only by a first-round 85 at the 2005 Women’s British Open.
“It was the whole package, everything bad today,’’ said Ochoa, who has never won the Women’s Open. “It’s more than a surprise. It’s just a big disappointment.’’
