Like everyone else in the U.S. Women's Open field, Kuehne had to deal with oppressive temperatures at Old Waverly Golf Club, trying to keep from staggering down the fairways.

	Kuehne was 7-under over a 10-hole stretch in the middle of the round.

But Kuehne never wilted. In fact, she matched the all-time U.S. Women's Open single-round scoring record, shooting an 8-under-par 64 on Thursday and making it appear easy.

Kuehne hit 15 greens in regulation. She needed just 25 putts. At the last two holes, she had birdie putts just graze the cup, and if either or both of those drop, look out.

"I played really solid," said Kuehne, who posted her first top-10 finish two weeks ago in Austin, Texas, followed by last week's victory at the Corning Classic. "My goal today was just to hit a lot of fairways and give myself a lot of chances at birdie.

"I've been very confident coming into this week. I think the week in Texas in my home state gave me a lot of confidence coming into Corning. Corning gave me a lot of confidence coming into here."

Kuehne's round took off with four straight birdies beginning at the sixth hole. She knocked a pitching wedge to 6 feet at No. 6, a 5-iron to 20 feet at No. 7, a 5-iron to 15 feet at the eighth, and a sand wedge to 6 feet at the ninth to shoot 5-under 31 on the front.

She added three more birdies on the back nine, with room for a couple more at Nos. 17 and 18.

The 64 was one shot off the U.S. Women's Open record set by Helen Alfredsson in 1994 at Indianwood Golf & Country Club in Lake Orion, Mich. Alfredsson's mark came on a par-71 course, however.

"Old Waverly is an incredible golf course and it's in amazing shape," said Kuehne, who leads by one stroke over Juli Inkster, three over Moira Dunn and four over defending champion Se Ri Pak, Dottie Pepper and Sherri Steinhauer. "This is like our Masters. We don't have a Masters, but the U.S. Open is the ultimate and premier event in women's golf.

"A lot of birdies are being made because the greens are absolutely perfect. You've got every opportunity to make birdie because the greens are in such great shape."

Kuehne's game never looked so good, but it's only been in the past three weeks that she's showed the form of her amateur past.

Kuehne won consecutive U.S. Women's Amateur titles following her U.S. Girls' Junior championship. Her brother, Hank, is the reigning U.S. Amateur champion.

After just a year-and-a-half of school at the University of Texas, Kuehne turned pro in order to play with friend Tiger Woods at the 1996 JCPenney Classic.

Although she would have to wait nearly an entire year before she could even compete in the LPGA Tour Qualifying Tournament, Nike signed her, as did three other companies. Reportedly, Kuehne is receiving more than $6 million over five years. And the deal was done before she even qualified for the tour.

"It's a business," Kuehne said. "This is what I do for a living. Do I think people enjoy me not doing well? I don't really worry about what other people think. I mean, I've got to take care of myself.

"I wasn't given any special privileges. I went through Q-School like everyone else. I think people kind of cooled off once I did make it through."

But then she struggled. Kuehne missed her first seven cuts. She finished 124th on the money list in 1998, meaning a return to Q-School, where she missed the cut. Just two weeks ago, she was 88th on the money list before her best LPGA finish, a tie for seventh at the Philips Invitational. Her victory last week vaulted her to 15th and gave her a three-year exemption starting next year.

"Last year was a year of growing pains for me," said Kuehne, who had to qualify for the U.S. Women's Open two weeks ago. "I don't know why the jump was so difficult, but I had a hard time transitioning into professional golf. ... You get frustrated when you're struggling."

She certainly has no regrets now.

"I wish I would have known where it's been," Kuehne said. "I just feel a whole lot more calm and comfortable being out here. I know where to go and where to eat and where to stay. I know which direction the golf holes go. And I don't have nearly the amount of pressure that I have put on myself in the past year.

"And I know that makes a huge difference."

Bob Harig, who covers golf for the St. Petersburg Times, writes a column every Tuesday for ESPN Golf Online.