Top-ranked Lorena Ochoa, 2007 champion Cristie Kerr and qualifier Jean Reynolds opened with 2-under 69s, and Hee Young Park, also of South Korea, is another stroke back after a 70.
The biggest week in women’s golf is being overshadowed by reports that LPGA Tour commissioner Carolyn Bivens could be leaving her post as soon as next week.
Just as Choi was completing her round, Golf Digest and Golfweek Magazine reported on their Web sites that Bivens’ four-year tenure is coming to an end. The move comes after calls for her resignation by key players.
Birdies were tough to come by for nearly everyone but the 21-year-old Choi, who has won four times in international events.
She made Saucon Valley’s narrow fairways seem wide and handled its speedy, undulating greens. She relied on accurate approach shots throughout and reached 5 under by her 12th hole, before backing up just a bit. After starting on the back nine, Choi had consecutive bogeys on the 409-yard, par-4 fifth and 559-yard, par-5 sixth before closing with three pars.
Ochoa started early Thursday on the back nine and offset two bogeys with two birdies on her first nine, then moved below par with consecutive birdies at Nos. 2 and 3.
Kerr hit 15 greens and 10 fairways in a round of three birdies and a bogey, using her knowledge and confidence of being a former Women’s Open champion on the challenging course. She drained birdie putts of 15, 12 and 8 feet and shrugged off her only bogey.
Reynolds, a two-time winner on the Futures Tour and the leading money winner on the LPGA’s developmental tour, had four birdies and two bogeys.
She opened with a birdie at the first and made a strong par save at the second hole after driving into a fairway bunker. She hit a 7-wood to about 45 yards and got up-and-down.
LPGA Championship winner Anna Nordqvist, a 22-year-old rookie from Sweden, is in a six-way tie for sixth at even-par 71 with Candie Kung, Eun Hee Ji, amateur Alexis Thompson, Kristy McPherson and Young Kim.
Former champion Laura Davies, who received a special exemption that extended her streak of competing in the Open to 24, opened with a 1-over 72. There were 14 players that came in at 72, including Paula Creamer, Christina Kim, Brittany Lincicome and three amateurs.
Defending champion Inbee Park opened with a 4-over 75, and two-time champion Juli Inkster, making her 30th straight Open start, shot a 7-over 78.
