COLORADO SPRINGS, July 8, 2011 (AFP) - American Stacy Lewis fired a three-under par 68 on Friday to seize a one-stroke lead after completion of the storm-interrupted first round of the US Women's Open golf championship.
Lewis seeks her second major title of the season, having captured the LPGA Kraft Nabisco crown in April for her first career LPGA victory.
"I love where I am," Lewis said. "Anything under par at a US Open is a good spot."
The third major tournament of the LPGA season was halted Thursday afternoon with only 25 players having completed the first round and 72 others forced to start their first round at the par-71 Broadmoor course on Friday.
Lewis was among those who went back out to start her second round but for most players the second round will not conclude until Saturday.
"It's in the back of your mind when you're walking up those hills at the end," Lewis said. "Everybody has got to do it, so you just go out and do it."
Lewis, who began on the back nine, birdied the par-5 17th but followed with a bogey at 18, only to respond with back-to-back birdies to open her second nine, the first from 50 feet and the next from 15 feet downhill, and another birdie at the par-4 sixth.
"That just kind of got me back into what I was doing and kind of cruised in from there," Lewis said.
She answered a bogey at the par-3 eighth with a birdie at the par-5 ninth to close the round atop the leaderboard.
One stroke off the pace after 18 holes were three other Americans seeking a first-ever LPGA victory -- Ryann O'Toole, Lizette Salas and amateur Amy Anderson.
Two behind Lewis on 70 were a global set of major title challengers, including Australian Karrie Webb, South Korean I.K. Kim, Sweden's Maria Hjorth, US amateur Lindy Duncan and Japan's Ai Miyazato and Mika Miyazato.
"You never know at a US Open," Webb said. "You can come in here feeling great and have really high expectations and not do very well.
"Taking it one shot at a time, which is a bit of a cliche, but really that's what you have got to do."
World No. 1 Yani Tseng of Taiwan, trying to complete a career Grand Slam at age 22, finished with a 73 in her opening round.
"I just have to be patient. You are not going to win it on the first day," Tseng said. "I was very happy to get on the course."
Leading scores on Friday after the storm-interrupted first round of the LPGA US Women's Open (USA unless noted, par-71):
68 - Stacy Lewis
69 - Amy Anderson, Lizette Salas, Ryann O'Toole
70 - Ai Miyazato (JPN), Karrie Webb (AUS), Maria Hjorth (SWE), Mika Miyazato (JPN), IK Kim (KOR), Lindy Duncan
71 - Cristie Kerr, Cindy Lacrosse, Inbee Park (KOR), Suzann Pettersen (NOR), Chella Choi (KOR)
72 - Mi-Jeong Jeon (KOR), Hee Kyung Seo (KOR), Sakura Yokomine (JPN), Paula Creamer, Brittany Lang, Danielle Kang, Angela Stanford, Sherri Steinhauer, Karen Stupples (GBR), Lin Xiyu (CHN)