Weather disruptions at US Women's Open
BY Bruce Young | LPGA Tour | 2010 US Women's Open | Round Two | 10 Jul 2010
On a day heavily disrupted by inclement and potentially dangerous weather, play in round two at the 2010 US Women’s Open at the Oakmont Country Club has been postponed and will resume at 7.30am on Saturday morning.
After an initial suspension at 2.30pm, play was finally called at 4.00pm with only one third of the field of 156 players having completed their round.
The clubhouse leaders when players finally walked from the course were world number one Cristie Kerr and first round leader Brittany Lang who will sit back and enjoy their extended break as the balance of the field battle the demanding Oakmont layout.
The leader on the golf course is the Swedish golfer Sophie Gustafson who after a birdie at her opening and only hole of round two is at even par and leads by one. Seven players including Kerr and Lang are at 1 over although the five others on that score are in the early stages of their rounds.
As the golf course continued to firm it became clear that the scoring would continue to blow out of day two and some of the early scores provided further proof of that. Eighteen of the 57 completed rounds were at or over 80.
Just how the Oakmont layout reacts to the deluge it received today remains to be seen but it will no doubt take some of the fire out of the course and perhaps offer an opportunity for those who play early tomorrow morning to gain a break.
The best of the completed rounds on day two was that of Stacy Lewis who recorded five birdies in her round of 70. She moved to 3 over for the tournament and is likely to make a lot more progress as she sits relaxes back in her hotel room before play in round three gets underway at some stage on Saturday.
Kerr is already appearing as the likely winner. The 12 shot winner of the recent LPGA Championship recovered from a shaky start with a brilliant round of 71 after making the turn at 3 over. Three birdies in her closing nine holes were particularly impressive and she is beautifully placed to secure her second US Open title. She expressed just how mentally demanding the Oakmont layout was proving.
“Oh, it’s so tiring,” said Kerr after her round. “So tiring – for example, I could only have one glass of wine last night instead of two or three. Just kidding.”
“No, but I mean, you’re just so mentally spent. I mean, I’m less tired today than I was yesterday after the round. I think I conserved a little bit better during the round.”
“The afternoon tee times, when you’re teeing off at 1:00 and it’s almost six hours for a round, in that kind of heat yesterday, that was tough. I mean, I was exhausted when I got home.”
“I think it was a little bit cooler today, and morning helped. I think it’s gonna be great for me to get some rest, maybe go catch a movie and get out here tomorrow.”
The leading Australians are Tamie Durdin and Sarah Kemp at 2 over and just two out of the lead but they have yet to even start their second rounds. The same is the case with Karrie Webb who began with an opening round of 74 and at 3 over is just three from the lead.
