BETHLEHEM -- Alexis Thompson, at 14, is not the youngest player in the field at Saucon Valley. That would be amateur Cindy Feng, who is all of 13 years, five months and the baby of the 30 teenagers competing in the 64th U.S. Women's Open.

But Thompson is the youngest near the top of the leader board, sitting five shots from the 36-hole lead held by Cristie Kerr. Fortunately, with a late tee time today, she won't have to miss Hannah Montana in the morning.

Boy, that must make Juli Inkster feel old.

Both her daughters -- Hayley, 19, and Cori, 15 -- are older than Thompson, who competed in her first U.S. Open when she was 12. Inkster turned 49 a month ago and is the second-oldest player in the field (Rosie Jones will be 50 in November), competing in her 30th U.S. Women's Open.

What's more, she is one of only four players at Saucon Valley -- Laura Davies, Helen Alfredsson and Meg Mallon are the others -- who have been around long enough to have played in the 1992 U.S. Women's Open at Oakmont Country Club.

Inkster, though, remembers the tournament more indelibly than the others: She lost in a Monday playoff to Patty Sheehan, one of her best friends. At the time, she called it the biggest disappointment of her career.

Seventeen years later, despite bouncing back to win U.S. Open titles in 1999 and 2002, Inkster still appears to smart from the defeat.

"I remember her birdieing the last two holes and we had a playoff and I lost the next day," Inkster said outside the clubhouse at Saucon Valley

That's the Reader's Digest version, a succinct synopsis of how it all ended that year, when heavy rains turned the course that played 6,312 yards, second longest in Open history, into Soakmont. But that does not begin to describe the way it unfolded that Sunday afternoon, when Inkster had a three-shot advantage at the turn and a two-shot lead with two holes remaining.

But, after hitting their tees shots at No. 17, a weather-warning horn blew, forcing the two players off the course. The ensuing one-hour, 45-minute delay did not appear to bother Inkster, but it certainly did something to Sheehan, who returned from the delay to birdie the final two holes to tie Inkster and force the 18-hole playoff the next day.

Sheehan, though, benefited from a curious, albeit correct, ruling at the final hole when she was given relief from the rough because she was standing in casual water. Because the "rough" happened to be the shaggy grass that surrounded the cross bunker in the middle of the fairway, Sheehan's nearest point of relief from the casual water was in the fairway, not in the wet, thick grass.

She then hit a 5-iron to 18 feet and made the pressure-packed birdie putt. Inkster did not say so at the time, but the ruling apparently did not sit well with her.

When it was mentioned to her the other day, Inkster began to walk away from the conversation. When she was told that USGA executive director David Fey confirmed it was the correct ruling, she kept walking and said, "Uh ... yeah."

The next day, Sheehan birdied the first hole and shot 72, despite missing all but one green on the back nine. Inkster putted horribly, was five shots back with two to play, and shot 74. Both players were in tears at the end.

Still, Inkster can't wait to go back.

"It's a great golf course," she said. "I'm looking forward to it. I heard they took some trees down. I watched a little bit [of the 2007 U.S. Open], it didn't look that different. Most of the greens, I remember, slope from front to back.

"I'm sure it will play a lot different. I just remember you had to golf your ball, put it in spots and go from there."

Inkster even compared Oakmont to the Old Course at Saucon Valley, though Saucon Valley, which has played host to two U.S. Senior Open championships, has never had a U.S. Open.

"This is the same type of golf course," she said. "It's tough, tree-lined, with small greens, very undulating greens. So, yeah, they're a lot alike."

One difference: Inkster won't be around for the weekend at Saucon Valley. After opening with a 78, she shot 73 yesterday to miss the cut by two shots.

The next time she tees up a shot in the U.S. Open, it will be at Oakmont. She will be 50 then.

Likely, the disappointment will not have dissipated.