Park leads weather-delayed first round

~ Storm threat prevented half of the field from completing the opening round.

SOUTHERN PINES, N.C. -- The serenity of Pine Needles was interrupted by one wild day at the U.S. Women's Open.

In a tournament dominated by talk of teenagers, one of them wound up atop the leaderboard, and hardly anyone noticed. That would be 18-year-old Angela Park, who played early and played great on her way to a 3-under 68. Only half of the 156-player field completed the first round because of a 3 1/2-hour delay that didn't produce a drop of rain.

Alexis Thompson, the youngest qualifier in Women's Open history, played well beyond her 12 years until darkness forced her to come inside, a typical occurrence for most kids having a blast on their summer vacation.

Lorena Ochoa went from celebrating one of the most amazing shots of her career, holing out from a bunker with a 5-wood, to stunning bad luck when her approach bounced between two bleachers and out-of-bounds.

Karrie Webb, the winner at Pine Needles the last time the Women's Open was in town, couldn't make a birdie and wound up with an 83, the worst score of her Hall-of-Fame career.

About the only thing that wasn't much of a surprise was Michelle Wie, who continued her free fall with an 82, the second time in three rounds she has failed to break 80, this one matching her highest score in the Women's Open.

Thompson, who just finished the sixth grade while being home-schooled in south Florida, split the middle of the fairway with her opening tee shot and finished the back nine with four pars, four bogeys and her first birdie in a Women's Open.

The kid had a respectable start, considering she played the tougher back nine first.

"I'm pretty happy -- I'll just go into tomorrow and try to make my pars," Thompson said.

The first round resumes this morning.

Three players were at 2 under at various points on Pine Needles -- In-Bee Park (16 holes), Jee Young Lee (12) and Karine Icher (10).

Defending champion Annika Sorenstam was at even par through 13 holes.

Starting times for the second round have been pushed back about two hours, making it uncertain it will finish before dark.

That might be the only way Wie makes it to the weekend.

The 17-year-old player from Hawaii teed off early and fell off the map quickly. She hit only four fairways, four greens and offered an assessment that was difficult to grasp.

"It's just a very fine line between shooting 69 and shooting what I shot today," said Wie, who has gone 21 rounds without breaking par.

She wasn't the only one who struggled.

Webb is a seven-time major champion who was considered one of the favorites, given her history at Pine Needles, the way she was striking the ball and her runner-up finish three weeks ago in the LPGA Championship.

"I have no excuses. I'm not that kind of player," Webb said. "Do you think I had any idea I'd shoot 83? It was a terrible round, one of the worst days of my career."

Park continues to thrive at the start of majors. If her lead holds up, it will be the second straight major in which she was atop the leaderboard after one round. She was in a three-way tie at the LPGA Championship, where she wound up fifth.

"Maybe this week will be different," said Park, who was born in Brazil to South Korean parents and grew up in California.

Park played before hardly any gallery, most of them watching Wie self-destruct. Time and again, the Hawaii teenager posed on a shot, only to have the club slide through her hands as she realized the shot was off its mark.

"I know I'm a better player than this," Wie said.

Among those at even par were Ochoa, Kraft Nabisco champion Morgan Pressel, Brittany Linciome and Cristie Kerr.

"I'm doing good so far," Ochoa said. "Playing in a U.S. Open, it's always good to be around par."

She got there in the most peculiar fashion.

Ochoa was hitting fairways and greens, always a good recipe at this tournament, when she found a fairway bunker on the 14th and had 195 yards to the hole. She figured her caddie wanted her to hit 7-wood, but Ochoa wanted a 5-wood.

"I had a really good feeling," she said. "I said, 'Just trust me, I like this one.' And I hit it perfect."

She heard the crowd cheer when it hit the green, and it got louder as the ball approached the cup, dropping for eagle.

A good break turned into a rotten one on the 440-yard 17th, when Ochoa was one shot out of the lead. She hit a 7-wood that jumped out of the rough and sailed over the green. But instead of banging off the grandstand, it shot through the two sets of bleachers, crossing a small path and settling just beyond the out-of-bounds stakes.

"A little bit of bad luck," Ochoa said. "But nothing you can do, and I'm really happy with my round."

Wie offered only a feint smile when she rapped in her 82nd stroke of the round on the final hole.

It was similar to the 83 she shot in the third round at the LPGA Championship, where she finished in last place by 10 shots with her highest 72-hole score as an amateur or a pro. She played without a brace on her left wrist, and her injury seemed to be the least of her worries the way she slashed out of the Bermuda rough, often the case from hitting only four fairways.

"All I need is the confidence to play well," she said. "And I just need to see one round where all my shots are where I want them to be. Then after that, it's a done deal. I just need to see it."