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Sunday, Jun. 6 Record round puts Kuehne in command  Associated Press
WEST POINT, Miss. -- Kelli Kuehne made her professional debut in a team event with Tiger Woods. After 18 lean months, she's finally starting to play like him.
"I guess you could say I was in a zone," Kuehne said. "Ball goes in the fairway, ball goes near the pin, ball goes in the hole. It's a great feeling."
Before she knew it, Kuehne had made seven birdies over a 10-hole stretch and finished with a one-stroke lead over Juli Inkster, who birdied the last two holes for a 65.
Kuehne, 22, made seven birdies over a 10-hole stretch and took a one-stroke lead over Juli Inkster, who birdied the last two holes for a 7-under 65.
"Confidence is a big thing when you're playing golf," Moira Dunn said after her 67. "And she definitely has the confidence right now."
That wasn't always the case.
When she left Texas in the middle of her sophomore year, Kuehne was billed as the LPGA's answer to Woods -- consecutive U.S. Women's Amateur titles, a Nike poster girl, lucrative endorsement contracts before she even earned her card.
She even played with Woods in the mixed team JC Penney Classic.
But unlike Woods, success didn't come early. Until last week in the Corning Classic, it didn't come at all.
"I don't know why, but I had a hard time with the transition to professional golf," Kuehne said. "It wasn't a fun year."
Kuehne finished 124th on the money list as a rookie last year and was in tears when she failed at Q-school in October. The can't-miss kid suddenly could only play LPGA events that had room
for non-exempt players.
But she made the most of it. With a 67-66 weekend in the Philips Invitational two weeks ago, she tied for seventh for her first top 10 on tour. She stayed in Austin, Texas, and won her Open
qualifier.
Defending champion Se Ri Pak, Dinah Shore champion Dottie Pepper and Women's British Open champion Sherri Steinhauer were at 68.
"Everything pretty strong," Pak said after her best round in nearly three months. "My putting pretty confident -- pick the line, hit the putt."
Karrie Webb, a four-time winner on tour this year, was at 70.
Kuehne burned the right edge of the cup with an 18-foot birdie putt on the 18th that would have given her the lowest round in Women's Open history in relation to par. Her 64 tied the 8-under 63
by Helen Alfredsson in the 1994 Open at Indianwood Golf and Country Club in Michigan.
"It was just one of those days when things came easy," Kuehne said.
Compared to last year at Blackwolf Run, it was a piece of cake for most of the field.
When play was suspended by darkness at 8 p.m. CT, 39 players had already broken par. Four of the 15 players who finished their darkness-delayed opening
rounds on Friday also finished under par. That's a far cry from a year ago, when only 10 players managed to break par in the first round.
Still, Kuehne's 64 was no less surprising.
"After playing the course for a couple of days, I knew under par would win this tournament," Inkster said. "But if you would have told me I'd have shot 7-under and be one stroke back, I
probably would have questioned you."
It wasn't easy for everyone.
Nancy Lopez, who felt Old Waverly might be her best chance to win that elusive Open, needed a birdie on the 18th for a 76 that left her 12 strokes back and in danger of missing the cut.
Jenny Chuasiriporn, who lost to Pak in a 20-hole playoff last year as an amateur, was tied for the lead at 3-under after nine holes. She then made a triple bogey, double bogey and a three-putt
bogey to lose six shots in three holes.
Still, it was a vast difference between Blackwolf Run and the kinder, gentler Old Waverly.
Clumpy, ankle-deep rough that has become the hallmark of USGA events was replaced by grass that left balls sitting up nicely. Slick, baked greens were spongy for most of the first round because of two days of rain.
"Even with a 5-iron, I was able to fire it right at the pin," Beth Daniel said after a 71.
Oppressive heat and humidity could change conditions by the weekend, and it already made an impact in other ways on Thursday.
Most noticeable was the number of umbrellas that players carried to shield themselves from the sun. Towels packed in ice water were available on every other tee box, and Kris Tschetter wore one around the back of her neck.
"Weather make sweat," Pak said. "Feel like inside a sauna."
Kuehne, a diabetic since age 10, used her insulin pump to help her cope with weather so steamy the heat index was at 99.
It didn't seem to bother her Thursday. The only regret was the last putt.
"I thought it would have been cool to shoot 9-under," she said.
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Kuehne catches fire in opening round
Kelli Kuehne knocks it stiff on 13.
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