Drama, intrigue aplenty at U.S. Women's Open

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 1 stroke behind a talented second-year LPGA player at the U.S. Women's Open, on a course 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 in Bethlehem, Pa., 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.

Easily overlooked in the fallout of the LPGA brouhaha were solid rounds by Choi, the runner-up for rookie of the year in 2008, Ochoa, who is seeking her first Women's Open title, and Kerr, aiming for her second championship crown.

Birdies were tough to come by for nearly everyone but Choi, who has won four times in international events.

Playing in her second Open, she made Saucon Valley's narrow fairways seem wide and handled its speedy, undulating greens. Choi relied on accurate approach shots throughout and reached 5-under by her 12th hole, before backing up just a bit. Starting on the back nine, she had consecutive bogeys on the 409-yard, par-4 fifth, and 559-yard, par-5 sixth before closing with three pars.

"I think being here for the second time, being on the Tour for two years now, I think I find it much more comfortable," Choi said. "I now understand better about the magnitude of this U.S. Women's Open, and to be honest, I think I'm much more comfortable playing on this tour and these golf courses than I do in Korea, so, you know, everything is good for me."

Ochoa started early Thursday on the back nine and offset two bogeys with two birdies on her first nine and then moved below par with consecutive birdies at Nos. 2 and 3.

The Mexican star seeking her first Women's Open was happy to take advantage of her early tee time. Her previous best start in an opening round was a ninth in 2003.

"It's always hard, you have to be 100 percent at 7:30 in the morning," she said. "I'm just glad I beat it today, and will try to do the same tomorrow."

John Deere Classic: Lee Janzen stirred some memories and was tied with Darron Stiles for the lead after firing a 7-under 64 in the first round of the John Deere Classic in Silvis, Ill., 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.

The 44-year-old was at 8 under after birdies on the 16th and 17th holes and played bogey-free golf until the 18th, when he hit a bunker and missed an 8-foot par putt. He was off the course by the time Stiles sunk a 7-foot putt for birdie on the same hole to forge the tie.

J.J. Henry, Matt Bettencourt and Dean Wilson were all 1 stroke off the lead at 65.

Last year's winner Kenny Perry, who's second on the money list, opened with a 68, while U.S. Open champion Lucas Glover and Zach Johnson shot 69. It was not a good day for David Duval, who finished with a 75 and was in danger of missing the cut after a surprising three-way tie for second at the U.S. Open last month.

This time, Janzen was the veteran turning heads.

"It'd be exciting; I would love to win," Janzen said. "If it doesn't happen this week, I still think that I'm capable of winning, and it won't stop me from continuing to work on my game to get better."

An eight-time winner on the PGA Tour, Janzen has just two top-10 finishes the past three years. He's spent much of that time trying to repair his swing with Mike Bender after leaving Butch Harmon, but the results have been slow coming.

One good sign for Janzen came in April at the Verizon Heritage in Hilton Head Island, when he opened with a 6-under 65 and finished in a tie for fourth. He got another boost on Thursday, when he made a late push to grab the lead.

He was at 4 under through 12 when he birdied four of the next five holes. His seven foot birdie putt on par-5 17 put him at 8 under before his mishaps on the final hole. That created an opportunity for Stiles, who two-putted from three feet for a bogey on the 17th but made up for it on the final hole.

Otherwise, it was a good day for Janzen, who also cautioned: "It's only Thursday."