The gallery around the ninth green at Interlachen in Edina, Minn., grew quickly late yesterday as the fans anticipated the arrival of Annika Sorenstam in her final U.S. Women's Open. They arrived in time to see Pat Hurst finish off quite a turnaround.

Down in the dumps after missing yet another short putt, Hurst played her next seven holes in 6 under and finished off her round of 6-under 67 with an 8-iron that rolled off the fringe to 3 feet for a share of the lead with Ji Young Oh.

Sorenstam played in the group behind Hurst, before the largest galleries of a sunshine-filled afternoon, but she didn't give them much to cheer. The three-time Open champion, retiring at the end of the year, made four bogeys in a six-hole stretch and staggered to a 75, her highest opening round at this major since she played in 1992 as an amateur.

Sorenstam wasn't alone in her struggles.

Lorena Ochoa, the No. 1 player in women's golf who has won two of the past three majors, didn't make a birdie until the 14th hole in the morning, when the conditions were soft. She rallied with three birdies on her final five holes for a 73.

Michelle Wie, hoping to build on recent momentum, butchered the ninth hole on her way to a quintuple-bogey 9 and shot 81.

Hurst figured she was headed in a similar direction until one putt changed everything.

She had missed the cut in her previous two events, including the LPGA Championship, which she chalked up to her putting. On greens that became firmer in the afternoon sun, she stubbed a chip on the 13th for bogey and followed that by missing a 4-foot par putt.

That's when Hurst started moaning to her caddie about a vicious cycle she couldn't shake.

"I was whining," she said. "I was being a golfer."

Then came a 35-foot birdie putt down the hill that disappeared into the cup, and Hurst looked up at her caddie in mock disgust.

"It just turned it all around right there," she said.

She birdied the 16th hole, reached the par-5 18th in two with a 3-wood for a two-putt birdie, then took advantage on the consecutive par 5s on the front nine.

Other tournaments

• Buick Open: Corey Pavin, Bo Van Pelt and Dudley Hart shot 8-under 64s to share the first-round lead in Grand Blanc, Mich. Briny Baird and Daniel Chopra were a stroke back, and Woody Austin, Shigeki Maruyama, Kenneth Ferrie and Jon Mills shot 66s. Jim Furyk was among a big group four shots behind the leaders. Pavin, who closed strong to tie for 10th last week at the Travelers Championship, shot 64s in consecutive rounds for the first time in his 25-year career. Greensburg native Rocco Mediate, making his first start since pushing Tiger Woods for five-plus rounds at the U.S. Open, opened with a 71.

• French Open: Spanish qualifier Pablo Larrazabal shot a 6-under 65 to take a one-shot lead after the first round in Saint-Quentin-En-Yvelines. Playing without a driver, Larrazabal relied on a 3-wood off the tee. England's Oliver Fisher and Ireland's Peter Lawrie opened with 66s, and Argentina's Angel Cabrera, the 2007 U.S. Open winner, had a 67.