My answer to the "who's going to win the U.S. Women's Open" poll down below is "Suzann Pettersen." She drove the ball beautifully last week at Wegmans, long and straight, the perfect combination for U.S. Open conditions. While she didn't win - stumbled down the stretch - she's playing well. I think she's ready for a bounce-back.

Or maybe Lorena Ochoa will win by 8. But I'm going with Pettersen.

As for sleepers ... let's list Inbee Park, Jane Park and Stacy Lewis. My definition of "sleeper" requires the player to really be under the radar. If Inbee or Jane won, well, it wouldn't surprise me and it might not surprise you, but it would probably surprise most casual fans. Both are looking for the first wins, and Lewis is playing her first event as a professional. Jee Young Lee, Jeong Jang and Angela Stanford have been mentioned elsewhere as sleeper candidates, but I don't consider any of those three to be "sleepers" (one of them is a major championship winner!). Ji Yai Shin doesn't qualify either. Hard to be a sleeper when you're in the Top 10 in the world, although Shin winning would certainly surprise most casual fans.

The real sleepers in the field are the amateurs, 27 of them in this U.S. Women's Open.  

Here is how amateurs have fared at the Women's Open in recent years:

2007
23 amateurs
4 made cut
Low amateur: Jennifer Song and Jennie Lee (tie), 39th

2006
29 amateurs
4 made cut
Low amateur: Amanda Blumenherst and Jane Park (tie), 10th

With the exception of 2004, I can't find cut information for years prior to 2006, so don't have the total number of amateurs playing. But here are the numbers for amateurs making the cut:

2005
6 amateurs made cut
Low amateur: Morgan Pressel and Brittany Lang (tie), 2nd

2004
16 amateurs
4 made cut
Low amateur: Michelle Wie and Paula Creamer (tie), 13th

2003
8 amateurs made cut
Low amateur: Aree Song, 5th

2002
2 amateurs made cut
Low Amateur: Angela Jerman, 51st

2001
4 amateurs made cut
Low amateur: Candy Hanneman, 30th

2000
3 amateurs made cut
Low amateur: Naree Song, 40th

I put the over-under of amateurs making the cut in 2008 at five. It's a good crop. But which of the amateurs is going to be low amateur? Here are the 27 amateurs in the 2008 field (in no particular order):

Alison Walshe, Maria Jose Uribe, Kimberly Kim, Victoria Tanco, Emily Powers, Erynne Lee, Mina Harigae, Sydnee Michaels, Jennifer Song, Tiffany Lua, Cyd Okino, Jessica Korda, Alexis Thompson, Kristen Park, Joanne Lee, Ha-Na Jang, Lauren Doughtie, Kathleen Ekey, Jenny Shin, Angela Oh, Courtney Ellenbogen, Amanda Blumenherst, Jennie Lee, Paola Moreno, Cydney Clanton, Sarah Almond, Tara Goedeken

I'm going to pick five who I think will make the cut: Amanda Blumenherst, Kimberly Kim, Sydnee Michaels, Angela Oh and Jennifer Song. But I put the biggest "names" into the poll:

(ed - All the sectionals are now accounted for.)

Michelle Wie earned a spot in the field for the U.S. Women's Open by finishing second in the Rockville, Md., sectional qualifier on Monday. In the 36-hole qualifier, Wie shot 70-67 and finished behind only Kelli Kuehne. Michelle Redman was third.

There are seven sectionals taking place around the country today, and I'll be trying to track down as many scores as possible tonight. Alas, while the USGA and its state and regional associations do a great job of quickly posting scores from U.S. Open qualifiers, they do a lousy job of quickly posting scores from U.S. Women's Open qualifiers. So we'll have to wait and see what we get this evening, or whether I can find scores elsewhere.

I'll update this post as best I can.

Update: 13-year-old Alexis Thompson is in, finishing third at the Hobe Sound, Fla., sectional. Amy Yang also in from this sectional.

Update II: Praise to Golfweek for getting some scores posted. Note that the players listed at each qualifying location represent the full list of qualifiers from that location. 

Hobe Sound, Fla.
Victoria Tanco, 72-73–-145
Amy Yang, 70-75–-145
a-Alexis Thompson, 74-72–-146
Nicole Hage, 76-73–-149
Jessica Korda, 81-68–-149
Lynn Valentine, 74-76–-150
• Failed to qualify: Vicky Hurst (alternate), Lindy Duncan. Stephanie Sparks is listed as "NC."
Full results

Pinehurst, N.C.
Lauren Doughtie 68-71--139
a-Cydney Clanton 69-71--140
Sarah Almond 74-68--142
Marcy Hart 70-72--142
a-Courtney Ellenbogen 71-71--142
• Failed to qualify: Kristina Tucker, Marika Lendl (Ivan's daughter)
Full results

Rockville, Md.
Kelli Kuehne, 136
Michelle Wie, 137
(a) Angela Oh, 138
Jill McGill, 138
Michele Redman, 138
Eva Dahllof, 139
Meena Lee, 139
Moira Dunn, 139
Shanshan Feng, 139
Carri Wood, 140
Il Mi Chung, 140
Alena Sharp, 141
Ji-Young Oh, 141
Charlotte Mayorkas, 142
Diana D'Alessio, 142
Heather Young, 142
Helen Alfredsson, 142
Janice Moodie, 142
Patricia Meunier-Lebouc, 142
Karin Sjodin, 143
Sherri Turner, 143
Anna Grzebien, 144
Candy Hannemann, 144
Giulia Sergas, 144
Heather Daly-Donofrio, 144
Jennifer Rosales, 144
Katherine Hull, 144
Kim Hall, 144
Miriam Nagl, 144
Silvia Cavalleri, 144
Hee Young Park, 145
Linda Wessberg, 145
Wendy Doolan, 145
(a) Alison Walshe, 145
Carin Koch, 145

Glencoe, Ill.
Katrina Leckovic, 149
Leah Wigger, 149
Ashleigh Simon, 150
Sunny Oh, 150
(a) Kathleen Ekey, 150
Kristen Samp, 150
Rachel Bailey, 150
Virada Nirapathpongporn, 151
Na Lee Kim, 151
Gina Umeck, 152
Martha Nause, 152
Jeanne Cho-Hunicke, 152
Janell Howland, 152
Jamie Fischer, 152
Whitney Wade, 153
Sin Ham, 153
Bomi Suh, Korea, 153
Note: A 9-person playoff takes place Tuesday morning to determine final two qualifiers plus alternates.

Garland, Texas
Stacy Lewis, 142
Laurie Brower, 146
(a) Erynne Lee, 148
(a) Tara Goedeken, 149

Kahuka, Hawaii
(a) Cyd Okino, 142

Rancho Santa Fe, Calif.
Liselotte Neumann, 146
(a) Jenny Shin, 147
(a) Mina Harigae, 148
(a) Paola Moreno, 148
(a) Joanne Lee, 149
(a) Sydnee Michaels, 149
(a) Jennie Lee, 150
(a) Ha-Na Jang, 151
(a) Jennifer Song, 152
Aiko Yoshida, 152
Chieko Amanuma, 153
Vanessa Brockett, 152
Kristen Park, 153

We noted a couple weeks ago that Golf Channel on-air personality Stephanie Sparks was getting back into tournament golf. She played in the Ginn Open this week on a sponsor exemption and missed the cut, although she did so respectably - back-to-back 75s.

A check of the USGA's page of U.S. Women's Open local qualifying results reveals that Sparks won her qualifier a couple days ago at San Jose Country Club in Jacksonville, Fla. Sparks won with a round of 72.

Checking back in on the local qualifying results for the U.S. Open - and now for the U.S. Women's Open, for which local qualifying has now begun.

Qualifiers for the men's open can be found here; for the women's open, here.

Since our last post, notable qualifiers on the men's side include Lee Rinker and Doug LaCrosse, plus amateur Sam Saunders. Saunders is Arnold Palmer's grandson who plays with him in the Father-Son tournament and has often been seen caddying for Arnie in the past five years.

If you follow women's college golf, you'll recognize a whole lotta names in the U.S. Women's Open local qualifiers. Dewi Schreefel, the 2006 NCAA champion at USC, made it, as did Pepperdine super frosh Taylore Karle.

And some of the professionals making it through the first stage to date include Cindy Pasechnik, Sarah Tiller, Maru Martinez, plus Big Breakers Ashley Gomes and Bridget Dwyer.