espnW Blog: U.S. Women's Open
Scott Halleran/Getty ImagesThe first ever U.S. Women's Open on Long Island tees off 50 days from today at Sebonack Golf Club in Southampton, N.Y. Na Yeon Choi is the defending champion, claiming the 2012 title at Blackwolf Run in Kohler, Wis.
AP Photo/Jeffrey PhelpsKOHLER, Wis. -- Going into the weekend, several American golfers seemed poised to contend for the U.S. Women’s Open title. But their hopes of winning pretty much went down the tubes with Saturday’s third round.
Mary Langenfeld/US PresswireKOHLER, Wis. -- Yani Tseng almost sounded Saturday as if she were checking out of the U.S. Women’s Open a day early. She already was looking ahead to the next chance to play like she knows she can.
Andy Lyons/Getty ImagesKOHLER, Wis. -- Even at a distance across the rolling hills of Blackwolf Run, it was pretty easy to spot Lexi Thompson. After all, she was wearing those awesome bright turquoise shoes. Actually, the television cameras never have a hard time finding Thompson, who at 17 is already a seasoned veteran of the U.
AP Photo/Jeffrey PhelpsKOHLER, Wis. -- We’ve all had this feeling when needing to wake up really early in the morning, right? The alarm goes off, and it seems a little too light outside? The first stab of panic hits shortly after consciousness does.
AP Photo/Jeffrey PhelpsKOHLER, Wis. -- Brittany Lincicome has been down this road before; she led the U.S. Women’s Open as an amateur after one round in 2004. She was just 18 years old at the time, and her father was her caddie.
AP Photo/Scott A. MillerKOHLER, Wis. -- So what kind of opening round was it at Blackwolf Run on Thursday for some U.S. Women’s Open former champions?It was pretty great for three-time winner Annika Sorenstam. She’s now doing television commentary for the tournament and didn’t have to worry about solving these large, pesky greens.
AP Photo/Scott A. MillerKOHLER, Wis. -- With so much focus on the youth movement in women’s golf in the past decade or so, sometimes we forget that not everyone plays her first U.S. Women’s Open before she gets her driver’s license.
Streeter Lecka/Getty ImagesKOHLER, Wis.-- Despite her success on the LPGA Tour, Stacy Lewis for the most part goes about her business off the course relatively anonymously. Except when competing in Arkansas.“I love playing there, but it's probably one of the hardest weeks of the year,” Lewis said of the Walmart NW Arkansas Championship in Rogers, Ark.
David Cannon/Getty ImagesKOHLER, Wis. -- Among the most fun times I’ve ever had covering golf was watching Dottie Pepper in the Solheim Cup. It wasn’t that she set out to be a lightning rod, it’s just that she never seemed to care if she was.
Jonathan Ernst/Getty ImagesKOHLER, Wis. -- The U.S. Women’s Open may not be quite as big of a challenge for the majority of the field this year as it was when this event was here at Blackwolf Run in 1998. Suffice it to say, though, it’s still going to require considerable patience and planning on every hole, likely significantly more than for a standard week on the LPGA tour.