MORE COVERAGE:
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Staff predictions: U.S. Women’s Open•
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Baldry: What will Suzann say this time?•
Complete U.S. Women’s Open coverage
By DAN MIROCHA
Assistant Editor
EDINA, Minn. – It was tough to miss Maria Jose Uribe Thursday morning at Interlachen, even as she played alongside the No. 1 player in the world and the defending U.S. Women’s Open champion.
The 18-year-old Colombian, decked out in a hip-hugging pink dress, fist-pumped her way to an opening 4-under 69. As she walked off the par-5 18th after a two-putt birdie, a young girl nearby yelled, “Man, she looks
good in that dress.”
Uribe smiled, waved and waltzed on by. This is one woman who relishes the limelight.
“I love the crowd,” Uribe said. “I love to have people giving me energy.”
Uribe provided plenty of her own excitement Thursday, making six birdies, including three in a row on Nos. 9-11. As playing partners Lorena Ochoa and Cristie Kerr patiently plodded their way around Interlachen’s tight fairways and humped greens, Uribe wasn’t shy about pulling driver or firing at pins.
“She’s not afraid and that’s very important,” said Ochoa, who shot 73. “It’s a great quality.”
This was Uribe’s first time playing with Ochoa, a player she said she idolizes and aspires to be like. After the pair laced fairway woods into the 18th green in two, they walked towards the green chatting like old friends. Ochoa asked Uribe how she enjoyed her recently-completed freshman year at UCLA, complimented her English, and told her she followed Uribe’s victory at last year’s U.S. Women’s Amateur.
“She’s like super nice,” Uribe said. “She’s Latin. . . so definitely I look forward to being like her.”
Uribe started golfing at age 9 in her home of Bucaramanga, Colombia, and was a two-time South American junior and amateur champion. She attended the International Junior Golf Academy in Hilton Head, S.C., before returning home to finish her senior year of high school. At UCLA, Uribe posted six top-10 finishes and helped the Bruins to a runner-up finish at last month’s NCAA Championship.
But she was introduced to the golfing world last summer at Crooked Stick, when she upset reigning college player of the year Amanda Blumenherst with a 1-up victory in the 36-hole final of the Women’s Amateur.
Uribe has played in both LPGA majors this year, tying for 58th at the Kraft Nabisco and missing the cut at the McDonald’s LPGA Championship. Even though she won’t turn 19 until next February, Uribe is playing in her third U.S. Women’s Open, having missed the cut in 2006 and ‘07.
After making a 10-foot par-saving putt on No. 8 Thursday, she looked at the leaderboard for the first time and saw a slew of names in red numbers.
“My caddie told me there were some really low scores for a USGA event, so tomorrow the greens and pins are going to be really hard,” Uribe said. “I was like, ‘OK, I better make a couple of birdies and take advantage.’ ”
Uribe followed with three birdies in a row and added two more on Nos. 15 and 18, each time coaxing the ball into the hole with a demonstrative exclamation.
“It was just nice and easy to watch her play,” Ochoa said. “She seemed very relaxed.”
Uribe admitted feeling nervous alongside Ochoa, the weight of playing on the biggest stage in women’s golf is exactly what she relishes.
“Every time I’m under pressure I do better than when I’m just playing for fun and stuff,” Uribe said. “If you play with me on a Saturday at my golf course, I know that you won’t think that I’m a good player.”
That’s hard to believe, especially after her performance Thursday.
• • •
Dan Mirocha is a
Golfweek assistant editor. To reach him e-mail
dmirocha@golfweek.com.
Posted: 6/26/2008
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