By BOB LENTZ, Associated Press Writer
1 hour, 28 minutes ago

Buzz up! PrintBETHLEHEM, Pa. (AP)—

The teenager from Coral Gables, Fla., is in a position to improve on her two previous appearances in the national championship. She has a realistic chance of making the cut after opening this year’s event with an even-par 71 at Saucon Valley Country Club on Thursday. That’s good enough for a tie for sixth.

Her solid play is likely just the next step in the maturation process of someone who, as a 12-year-old in 2007, became the youngest player to qualify for the Open. She also qualified last year, but the result was the same as the previous year: failing to make the cut.

But this is a new year, and Thompson has new goals.

“I expect to do a lot better,” Thompson said. “Every year, I put my goals a lot higher, so I just wanted to do well this year.”

And she has, posting her best first-round score after a 76 in ’07 and a 75 in ’08.

She credits the improvement to experience.

“It’s a little more comfortable,” she said. The first two years I was still a little bit nervous, but this year I wasn’t as nervous.”

Thompson started her opening round quickly, with a birdie, but then bogeyed three of the next four. She bounced back with two birdies and two pars to finish off the front nine, and offset a bogey with a birdie on the back.

The teenager is confident she knows what it will take to make it to the weekend.

“I shouldn’t be nervous, I don’t think,” she said. “I’m just going to go out there and try to shoot even.

“I mean, pars are good out here. If I get some birdies, that would be just bonus.”

TOUGH HOLE: The most difficult hole in the first round was the 373-yard, par-4 third, a narrow dogleg hole lined with heavy rough that requires a short-iron approach to a two-tiered green.

There were only seven birdies on the hole, that had a stroke average of 4.806. Seventy-one players posted par, 45 bogeyed, 18 had double-bogey and there were 14 others.

EYE ON THE FUTURES: Jean Reynolds has taken a roundabout route to contending at the U.S. Women’s Open. The 24-year-old from Newman, Ga., shot a 2-under 69 Thursday to tie for second with top-ranked Lorena Ochoa and 2007 champion Cristie Kerr, a stroke behind first-round leader Na Yeon Choi.

That’s pretty heady company for a Southern girl who had a solid junior career, was recruited by the University of Georgia, then redshirted her freshman year before stepping away from the game for a time.

On the last hole of her first round, the two-time Futures Tour winner and its leading money winner had a chance for the Open lead, but she missed a birdie putt.

That didn’t dampen the rush.

“I was pretty nervous,” Reynolds said after a round that included four birdies and two bogeys. “It was a good feeling, but then again, coming in under the radar and leading at the U.S. Open after the first round is pretty awesome.”

Reynolds is adamant that the Futures has prepared her for contending in the national championship, and seeing 27 of her tour’s competitors in the field this week backs that up.

JUST SPECIAL: Former Women’s Open champion Laura Davies is making the most of a special invite to Saucon Valley Country Club—with a distinct goal in mind.

Davies played the 6,740-yard layout in 1-over 72 in the opening round, and was tied for sixth place.

Davies received a special exemption into the championship that extended her Open run to 24 straight, dating to 1986. She was anxious about possibly having to qualify this year and was glad to hear from the USGA.

The 45-year-old from Coventry, England, has made no secret of her appreciation of the Women’s Open.

“It’s probably, along with the British Open, the best tournament we play in women’s golf,” Davies said. “So, it’s just lovely to be here, have a chance to play the great golf courses of America, which this is obviously one of them.

“And, I need a major win to get into the Hall of Fame. So, I’m trying to do a lot of stuff in one week.”

Davies won the 1987 Women’s Open, beating Ayako Okamoto and JoAnne Carner in an 18-hole playoff for her first pro victory.

STREAKING: Two-time Women’s Open champ Juli Inkster made her 30th straight start in the championship.

The winner of the 1999 and 2002 events opened with a first-round 7-over 78.

Inkster played in her first Women’s Open as an amateur in 1978 and finished in a tie for 23rd.

The 31-time LPGA Tour winner has missed the cut in the Open the last two years.

DIVOTS: Defending champion Inbee Park opened with a 4-over 75, one stroke better than 49-year-old Rosie Jones. … Sophie Gustafson played to the Lehigh Valley area sports fans for the second straight day. The Swede sported a white Philadelphia Phillies cap with a red “P” in the opening round. A day earlier, she wore a red Phillies cap.