Change in fortunes for teens at U.S. Women's Open

SOUTHERN PINES, N.C. -- Alexis Thompson is now one better than Morgan Pressel in two areas at the U.S. Women's Open.

Thompson, the 12-year-old from Florida who beat Pressel's record by one year as the youngest qualifier in history, finished off her first round Friday morning by chipping in for birdie from 40 yards, giving her a 5-over 76 and a big smile after she signed her card.

It was one shot better than Pressel's 77 when she made her debut at Pine Needles six years ago.

She was eight shots behind Angela Park, who finished her 68 some 20 hours earlier on Thursday, before dangerous weather moved into the area and caused half the field to return the next morning to finish the round in sunny, serene conditions.

"It was going off the green," Thompson said of her bump-and-run with a lob wedge. "But it goes in. I was like, 'Oh, no. Oh, no. Oh, thank God. Whew!"'

In-Bee Park and Shiho Oyama each completed a 69 to finish one shot out of the lead. Defending champion Annika Sorenstam birdied the par-5 15th and hung on for pars to finish at 70. Only 10 players broke par in the first round.

Thompson was in a tie for 93rd, and had a decent chance of making the cut if she kept the ball in the fairway.

The only way 17-year-old Michelle Wie would make it to the weekend was if weather interrupted play again, and thunderstorms were likely Friday afternoon.

Michelle Wie opened up the U.S. Women's Open with an 11-over 82. (Getty Images)

"I know I'm a better player than this," the 17-year-old from Hawaii said after hitting only four fairways, four greens and signing for an 82 that extended her streak to 21 rounds without breaking par, 13 of those on the LPGA Tour.

Thompson figured she could do better, too. She finished the tougher back nine in darkness at 3 over and was hopeful of playing the front nine at around even. But she twice had to save bogey, chipping over the green at No. 2 and barely getting out of a bunker on the next hole. She ran into problems off the tee, usually pulling her shots into the rough or pine needles.

But she came up with two big shots at the end. After running a 35-foot birdie putt some 15 feet by the hole at No. 8, she made that coming back for par, then drew the biggest cheers from a gallery of some 75 people by chipping in for birdie.

"I just wanted to treat this like another junior tournament," Thompson said. "I knew there was going to be more people and more media. But just do your best."