Newport CC taking its toll on Women's Open field

	Michelle Wie took a drop for relief, but needed two shots to get out of this muddy bunker on the 17th hole. Andy Lyons/Getty Images

By E.M. Swift, SI.com

NEWPORT, R.I. -- Saturday is supposed to be moving day. Low scores, hot putting, strings of birdies that separate one or two players from the pack. At the fog-delayed 61st US Women's Open at Newport Country Club, however, the only movement on the leaderboard in Saturday's second round was in reverse. With an America's Cup wind picking up in the afternoon, temperatures dropping, and the fairways still providing no roll, this venerable old course, which is hosting its first professional tournament in 110 years, was the true winner on a day when only three players broke par.

"This is a tough course, a long golf course," said Annika Sorenstam, who shot even-par 71 and is tied at top of the leaderboard with Pat Hurst at 2-under par.

Said Hurst: "2-under feels like 20-under today."

At the halfway point, those two veterans have a two-shot cushion. No one stands at one-under, and only Michelle Wie, Shi Hyun Ahn and amateur Jane Park are even-par after 36 holes. The scary thing is the scores are only going to get higher. Newport's greens still aren't very fast from all the rain they've absorbed, and long irons shots have been holding as if they've been landing on featherbeds. "It's getting tougher because the course is drying out," says Hurst. "It's going to get firmer."

And faster. Though possibly the USGA will show some compassion and put the pins in more accessible places than they did Saturday. "The pins didn't look that hard," said Wie, who shot a respectable 1-over 72 despite being forced to take an unplayable lie on the 7th hole and leaving a ball in the bunker on 17. "But they were tucked at the base of the hills. And the wind was very tricky, always across or in your face. It was only behind you on one or two holes."

The cut was 8-over par, and only 68 players of the 156-woman field made that number. Among the casualties was last year's winner, Birdie Kim (plus-12) and 2003 winner Hilary Lunke (plus-13), who followed her opening 72 with a disastrous 83 that included a dreaded snowman on the par-4 3rd. Newport, which, at 6,564 yards, is the second longest course in Women's Open history, behind Cherry Hills outside Denver, is giving the ladies all they can handle and more.

Thirty-six holes more, to be specific. All scheduled for Sunday. For the first time since 1990, the women are doubling up on the final round. Exhaustion, both physical and mental, will be a factor. "Even after one round you're mentally exhausted," said 19-year-old Paula Creamer, who's in the hunt at 1-over par after rounds of 71 and 72. "It's hard to get a rhythm going in that wind."

The 36-hole final doesn't bode well for Hurst, an unmade bed of a woman who doesn't seem to be in training for a marathon, or perhaps even a jog around the block. Her best hope is to play 18 and summon her remaining reserves to do a rain dance. Sorenstam, a fitness fanatic who's rediscovered the art of driving the ball into the fairway this week, got a break by finishing Saturday's round by 1:15 p.m., giving her plenty of time to rest up in preparation for Sunday. Same with Lorena Ochoa, a former triathlete, who finished Saturday with two birdies and is just four shots behind. Wie, by contrast, only had about 13 hours between the end of her round on Saturday and her tee time Sunday morning.

Still, she's 16. Wie may just be young enough not to have the sense to get tired. "It hasn't really hit me yet that tomorrow I'm playing 36 holes," she said, her eyes still wind-reddened from the cool, gusting winds off the Atlantic. "It still feels like Friday. I'm not really going to take it too seriously. I'm looking forward to it. It's going to be a fun ride."

A long ride is more like it. If the wind blows and the greens dry, possibly a brutal ride. The fun will be in the watching.

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