Pregnant players paired in first round.(Knight Ridder Newspapers)

SOUTHERN PINES, N.C. _ Brenda Kuehn, despite shooting a 9-over 79, knew why a swarm of reporters and television cameras waited for her after the round.

"Everybody wants to ask what the pregnant woman shot," Kuehn said.

Ah, but which pregnant woman? As fate _ or the U.S. Golf Association _ would have it, Kuehn walked to the first tee at 8:20 a.m. on Thursday and discovered that she wasn't the only expectant mother in the group.

Kuehn is eight months pregnant with her second child. Jennifer Greggain, a 24-year-old from Puyallup, Wash. playing in her first U.S. Women's Open, is five months pregnant with her second.

Throw in Smriti Mehra from …