Amateurs making their presence felt

Seven amateurs made it to the weekend at Interlachen.

By MARK CRAIG, Star Tribune

Last update: June 28, 2008 - 9:47 PM

What is it about Interlachen Country Club, amateurs and U.S. Opens?

Seventy-eight years after Bobby Jones, the greatest amateur golfer of all time, won the 1930 U.S. Open as the third leg of golf's only Grand Slam, seven amateurs made the cut at the 63rd U.S. Women's Open on Saturday.

And that includes Jessica Korda, a 15-year-old and the daughter of Petr Korda, the former Czech tennis player who won the 1998 Australian Open. Jessica survived on the cut line of 4 over par before shooting 75 on Saturday. She heads into today's round at 6 over and tied for 58th out of the 74 who made the cut.

Asked what she thought about all the amateurs still in the field, Korda smiled and said, "I think we rule."

Why is that? "I guess we have less pressure," she said. "Nobody is expecting us to go out and shoot low scores."

Petr is on the bag for his daughter this week. "He's my daddy caddie," Jessica said. "He knows how to calm me down."

Petr introduced Jessica to tennis at an early age, but she switched to golf at age 9 because she didn't like running.

Four years later, she became the youngest player to make the cut on the Ladies European Tour. She also is a two-time national junior champion in the Czech Republic.

The low amateur through 54 holes is Maria Jose Uribe, 18. She shot 1-under 72 on Saturday and is five strokes off the lead.

Going for it at No. 7

Mike Davis, the U.S. Golf Association senior director of rules and competitions, tempted golfers Saturday by moving up some tee boxes. The once-daunting par-5 third hole was shortened by 58 yards, causing more players to use a tailwind to go for the green in two. Paula Creamer and Helen Alfredsson, who battled at or near the top of the leaderboard the entire day, both reached in two.

The seventh hole was shortened from 316 to 248 yards. A right-to-left shot was required to reach the green around the trees.

Most players hit into the front bunkers. A sampling of four threesomes found nine players going for the green and three laying up.

Creamer laid up 60 yards short of the green, chipped close and made the birdie putt. Alfredsson tried to drive the green, got caught in the rough just short of the fringe, pitched to about 6 feet and also made the birdie putt.

Stacy Lewis, the 54-hole leader, hit the green, but the ball ran through to the back rough. A poor pitch left her with a par.

No. 7 played as the 14th-toughest hole, with a stroke average of 3.945. There were 18 birdies there Saturday, compared with 15 per day the first two days.

Etc.

• Se Ri Pak shot 78 in the second round, finished 8 over and missed the cut for the first time in 12 U.S. Women's Open appearances. The Hall of Famer finished tied for fourth last year and has five top-10 finishes overall.

• Laura Davies, the 1987 champion, followed Thursday's 70 with an 81 than left her a stroke outside the cut line of 4 over.

• The oldest player to make the cut was 51-year-old Sherri Turner, who shot an 81 Saturday. She turned pro in 1984 and played in at least 20 tournaments in all but four seasons through 2007. Turner has three top-10 finishes in 20 appearances at the U.S. Women's Open, including a second-place finish to Juli Inkster in 1999.

• Plymouth resident and LPGA veteran Michele Redman made the cut at 4 over, shot 80 and is last among the players who made the cut.

• Saturday's crowd was announced at 22,336.

Staff writer Michael Rand contributed to this report.