Amid drama, South Korea's Choi leads Women's Open after opening round

There's no denying this is the biggest week in women's golf -- full of good news and bad.

The game's top-ranked player, a former champion and a developmental tour qualifier are one stroke behind a talented second-year LPGA player at the U.S. Women's Open, on a course in Bethlehem, Pa., that doesn't yield birdies easily.

All the while, controversy is swirling around the women's tour amid reports Thursday that LPGA commissioner Carolyn Bivens could be out of her job as early as next week after a faction of key players signed a letter calling for her resignation.

Despite the theatrics, it has the makings of a developing drama on the golf course as well, with the game's top players off to hot starts and a 14-year-old amateur trying to make her first cut in her third Open.

Leader Na Yeon Choi birdied her first three holes, and four of her first five, making the tough Saucon Valley Country Club course look tame with an opening round 3-under 68.

"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 South Korean said through an interpreter.

It could get quite interesting considering the players chasing the 21-year-old.

No. 1-ranked Lorena Ochoa, 2007 champion Cristie Kerr and qualifier Jean Reynolds opened with 2-under 69s, and Hee Young Park, also of South Korea, was another stroke back after a 70.

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

But major news about the LPGA and its players keeps intruding on the championship.

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.

The move comes after a call for her resignation by key players, who wrote to the LPGA board asking Bivens to step down.

PGA Tour

The stark reminder is right there on Lee Janzen's cell phone, a grizzly picture that makes him wince and reminds him how far he has come.

It's his swing.

His old swing, the one that made him a non-factor.

"I think confidence is your most valuable club in your bag," Janzen said.

He just got a big boost.

Janzen stirred some memories with a 7-under 64 that left him tied with Darron Stiles for the lead after the first round of the John Deere Classic on Thursday.

Janzen has not won on the PGA Tour since he captured his second U.S. Open in 1998, yet he's in position after an impressive start at TPC Deere Run in Silvis, Ill.

The 44-year-old was at 8 under after birdies on 16 and 17, but had his first bogey on 18 when he hit into a bunker and missed an 8-foot par putt. He was off the course by the time Stiles made a 7-foot birdie putt on the same hole to forge the tie.

-- Associated Press