PINEHURST, N.C. -- Comparisons were inevitable by hosting the U.S. Open and U.S. Womens Open on the game golf course in consecutive weeks. Only these had nothing to do with numbers. Stacy Lewis found comfort in comparisons with U.S. Open champion Martin Kaymer. The No. 1 player in womens golf studied Pinehurst No. 2 on her own a few weeks ago, formulated an idea how to play the golf course, and then watched Martin Kaymer follow the script she had in her head and win by eight shots. Just like Kaymer, she opened Thursday without a bogey on her card, a 3-under 67 for a one-shot lead over Michelle Wie. "It was cool to see the plan I had laid out in my head. He was kind of doing the same thing," Lewis said. "So it was nice coming into the week knowing that my plan was going to work on this golf course. ... If youre hitting the ball well enough, you can definitely run away with it. At the same time, you have to know par is a good number and keep grinding away." Right behind was Wie, who studied as hard for Pinehurst as she ever did at Stanford. She was at Pinehurst on Sunday to watch the final round, and later picked up the yardage books from a few friends in south Florida -- U.S. Open runner-up Rickie Fowler and Keegan Bradley -- and compared notes. Wie charted her way to four birdies on the back nine for a 68. "I did a lot of homework," she said. "Just took the notes from both of the books. It really helped just because they played last week in similar conditions. And theyre obviously great players. I definitely learned a thing or two." Her putter certainly helped. Wie rolled in long birdie putts at Nos. 12 and 14, made a good par save after going into a bunker on the 17th and hit her approach to 5 feet on the final hole. It was her lowest opening round in a U.S. Womens Open. She had started with an 80 or higher four of the last six years. They were among only five players under par when the first round was halted by thunderstorms with 30 players who did not finish. Sue Kim of Langley, B.C., and Brooke Henderson of Smiths Falls, Ont., were the top Canadians on the day. They both shot 71 to finish the first round in a tie for 11th place. Kaymer, who started with a bogey-free 65 on his way to a wire-to-wire win, was among 15 players who broke par in the first round of the mens Open. The scoring average Thursday was 75.73, about 2 1/2 shots harder than it was for the men. Pinehurst No. 2 played 1,064 yards shorter than it did for the opening round of the U.S. Open. That didnt make it any easier. Except for Lewis. "It was such an easy day," Lewis said, referring to her game more than the golf course. "I played really, really solid, other that I had to make a few par putts. But other than that, I didnt put myself in too bad of spots and made a few birdies." Former Womens Open champion So Yeon Ryu, Katherine Kirk and 18-year-old amateur Minjee Lee were at 69. "I think we put on a great show," Wie said. "There are a couple of red numbers out there. There are a lot of people hovering around even par. But I think its great. I love that we are playing on the same stage as the men. I think its really interesting. It makes it very exciting." The show belonged to Lucy Li, the 11-year-old from the Bay Area who became the youngest qualifier in U.S. Womens Open history. She missed only one fairway and was rarely out of position, though it cost the sixth-grader dearly when she was. Li made one triple bogey and two double bogeys, three blemishes on her card that led to a 78. "I mean, its 8 over," Li said. "Its not bad. But I was 7 over in three holes, so thats 1 over in 15 holes. So yeah, I just need to get rid of the big numbers." There were plenty of those to go around. At least 17 players failed to break 80, including Laura Davies. She had an 82, her worst score in a Womens Open since Cherry Hills in 2005. Perhaps more shocking was Lydia Ko, Cristie Kerr and defending champion Inbee Park, each of them at 76. Karrie Webb and Paula Creamer were at 70. Juli Inkster, at 53 and playing in the Womens Open for the 35th time, had a 71. "I dont think the course is on the edge at all," Webb said. "I think the USGA had to be a little bit cautious. We havent played a tournament here with this course setup before, and it is the second week. So I think theyre probably trying to see how the course is playing, just to see where theyre at with the golf course. I think they were just sort of seeing how we handled it." One thing didnt change from either week. Anything around par in a U.S. Open was not a bad place to be. "It was a grind out there today," Wie said. "It will probably be a grind the next three days." Heath Miller Jersey .com) - The Hatch Attack is back in the Southern Conference. 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Ernie Stautner Womens Jersey .com) - Former New York Mets general manager Omar Minaya is joining the Major League Baseball Players Association staff as a senior advisor to executive director Tony Clark.It seems in todays world of goaltending, theres still a couple of contrasting styles that help netminders have success. Every goalie has a specific skill set - I call this the toolbox - and youre trying things and adding them if they work for you along the way. Certain plays, saves, reads and how you consistently play them help define you as a goaltender. With the evolution of goaltending at an all-time high over the last 20 years, most goaltenders play relatively the same way - especially in their save selection in certain areas of the crease. Where it differs is how you arrive to make the save. Some goalies play deeper in their net, while others play more aggressive. Some netminders have better lateral movement and flexibility and some play a more upright style, while others play with more patience. The bottom line is that everyone plays a little bit different from one other. When I started to look at how guys play in the league today, there wasnt much difference in what I would term the middle group. Its their modified styles that are the most noticeable difference. Lets start with the majority group - the hybrid goaltender. These are the goaltenders that have a lot of different skills in their tool box, play with structure, a near-predictability in their save selection and are basically a cross between a standup goalie and a butterfly goalie. Aggressive, But With Structure These goaltenders play the top of their crease and will try and take as much ice as they can. They use athleticism, try not to open a lot of holes and work within the confines of good crease management. When theyre on their game, they make it look easy because the puck hits them and dies. Modifications of it are also noticeable if the goaltender plays more upright or in a deeper crouch. Goaltenders in this category include Floridas Roberto Luongo, Bostons Tuukka Rask, Ryan Miller of the Vancouver Canucks, Detroit netminder Jimmy Howard, Washingtons Braden Holtby, Antti Niemi of the San Jose Sharks, Brian Elliott of the St. Louis Blues, Columbus Blue Jackets goalie Sergei Bobrovsky, Chicagos Corey Crawford, Kari Lehtonen of the Dallas Stars, Ottawas Craig Anderson, Colorados Semyon Varlamov and Ben Scrivens of the Edmonton Oilers. Most goalies go down on almost every play to take away the lower part of the net because shots are rarely clean nowadays. With net-front traffic, screens and tips, the puck changes directions constantly. With the middle group comes the aggressive hybrid style - and you can lump most of todays goaltenders into that category. And theres different groups within this category based on how they react to shots. Patient With Structure These are goaltenders wwho dont go chasing the puck - they allow the puck to come to them.dddddddddddd. They still incorporate all the features of a good hybrid style, but look a lot more relaxed doing it. Theyre very efficient with their use of energy, almost to the point that they could be accused sometimes of not trying on certain shots. Goaltenders in this category include Montreals Carey Price, Phillys Steve Mason, Darcy Kuemper of the Minnesota Wild, New Jerseys Cory Schneider, Torontos Jonathan Bernier, Cam Ward of the Carolina Hurricanes, Jaroslav Halak of the New York Islanders and Buffalos Jhonas Enroth. Aggressive And Athletic/Garage Sale These guys have all the skills and have the athleticism to get away from structure, but will stop the puck by any means necessary. Theyll use flexibility, quickness and willpower to keep the puck out of the net and throw everything they have at the puck to make the save. Were talking about Jonathan Quick of the Los Angeles Kings, Nashvilles Pekka Rinne, Marc-Andre Fleury of the Pittsburgh Penguins and Winnipegs Ondrej Pavelec. Deep And Athletic Netminders that use their size and athleticism to their advantage. But theres also no margin for error, as they play a foot-and-a-half deeper within the blue paint. It helps to conserve energy, be more efficient on side to side plays and theres not a lot of scramble mode. This includes Tampa Bays Ben Bishop, Mike Smith of the Phoenix Coyotes and New Yorks Henrik Lundqvist. Pure Butterfly I term butterfly as more the style of a save. Calgarys Jonas Hiller makes no apologies for playing from his knees, uses the 6-foot-2 frame to be as big as he can and tries to force shooters to go high. Standup Style This has gone the way of the Dodo in todays NHL. It used to be the style for most of the league, but the biggest adaptation in goaltending over the last 20 years has been covering that lower part of the net where 80 per cent of the shots end up going. Now the 30 NHL starters listed above each have unique traits that separate one from another. But it all comes back to structure and base and whats in your toolbox. At least 13 of 30 starters play an aggressive game with structure. Maybe thats why when it comes to goaltending chats, people always say theyre interchangeable. Its how they use and incorporate the skills that separates the good ones from the elite ones. It also includes the extras or intangibles. I know my analytics friends hate those words, but when it comes to goalies, thats just a fact. Durability and mental capacity, along with the skills Ive talked about above, are what really separate the good from the great. And that will be for another chat to come. ' ' '