Irene Cho, a USC golfer and my former academic tutee (see below), ended up five strokes behind the leader through Round 1 of the U.S. Women’s Open, tied for ninth place out of 156.

Irene was tied for the lead at one point, and was only two strokes back when she finished her round, but ended the day further behind thanks to a late surge by Mhairi McKay of Scotland, who is 5-under-par and in first place.

Two players are tied for second place at 2-under-par, and five are tied for fourth at 1-under. Irene, at even-par, is tied with 12 others for ninth place. (Annika Sorenstam is 1-over, a stroke behind Irene. Heh.)

There has apparently been an explosion and fire at a nuclear plant in Japan.

UPDATE: The Associated Press reports:

A spokesman at the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency said on condition of anonymity there was no danger of leaking radiation because the plant had not been generating power since March. It was shut down because of high operating costs.

Irene Cho, a USC student who I tutored, is tied with several other players for the third-best score at the U.S. Women’s Open, the most prestigious women’s golf tournament.

Irene just finished up her first round. Her score: even-par 71. At the moment, she is tied with — among others — Annika Sorenstam, the best female player in the world, who recently played with the boys on the PGA Tour.

Irene was actually tied for the lead, at 1-under-par, until a few minutes ago, when she bogeyed the 17th hole and fellow amateur Aree Song birdied the 16th. Song presently leads at 2-under-par; nine players are tied at 1-under.

I tutored Irene in freshman writing and journalism last semester, when I was working for Student Athlete Academic Services at USC. (All freshman athletes automatically receive tutoring from SAAS, regardless of their academic standing.) She’s a smart girl, and (obviously) a great golfer — she finished third at the NCAA Championships in May. She’s 18 years old. Here’s her bio from the USC Athletics website.

Here is Irene’s scorecard, and here is the latest leaderboard for the tournament. Go, Irene, go!