Australian Rachel Hetherington, despite stumbling with two late bogeys, had no complaints about her opening round at the US Women's Open today.
"I'm very happy with it," Hetherington said after a two-under-par 71 at Interlachen Country Club, which yielded some surprisingly good scores on a calm summer morning.
"Anytime you shoot under par at the US Open the glass is definitely half full. I hit the ball very well on the front nine and even though I missed a few greens on the back, I stayed patient."
Korean teenager Ji Young Oh, who played with Hetherington, carded 67 to take a two-stroke lead with half the field back in the clubhouse.
Hetherington was best Australian, one stroke better than Katherine Hull, while Karrie Webb battled to a two-over 75, with Wendy Doolan on 79.
Webb was not happy with her long game, but at least she did not shoot herself completely out of the tournament.
"I'm a little disappointed but there's a long way to go," said the three-time Open champion.
"I didn't swing as freely as I would have liked, didn't drive the ball very well. I only missed three greens but I had long putts and didn't have a lot of birdie opportunities."
Webb wasn't surprised there were so many low scores, observing that the greens were soft and there was little wind.
Oh, who turns 20 next Thursday, charged to six-under after 12 holes and then recorded her lone bogey of the day, before finishing in style with a birdie at her final hole.
"I think this course suits my game pretty well," Oh said. "I made seven birdies and the longest was maybe 12 feet (about four metres)."
World No.1 Lorena Ochoa shot a reasonable even-par 73, but Michelle Wie's woes continued with an 81 that left the 18-year-old near last.
The 18-year-old from Hawaii ruined her chances in just one hole, the par-four ninth, where she took six strokes to hole out from over the back of the green.
