Jenny Chuasiriporn went unrecognized on a recent visit to see one of her Duke roommates in New York City, playing the role of tourist on a trip to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. "I didn't think anyone would know me," she said. "It was nice."

Chuasiriporn became a bit unnerved during an appearance at Camden Yards, playing the role of celebrity on a trip to the mound before a recent Orioles game. "I needed a wedge," she said of a first pitch that was wide and short of home.

She seemed a little uncomfortable with the attention and affection being showered on her one night last week on a trip back to her home club, Hunt Valley, playing the role of honoree as well as favorite daughter. "I guess I'm going to have to get used to this," she said.

This week, Chuasiriporn moves into more familiar territory when she plays the role of contender in this year's U.S. Women's Amateur at Barton Hills Country Club in Ann Arbor, Mich., where she'd like to re-create her performance from last month's U.S. Women's Open.

With one notable difference: She'd like to take home the trophy.

But winning the Amateur, which begins today, might be even more difficult than nearly winning the Open was at Blackwolf Run in Kohler, Wis., where she lost in a 20-hole playoff to Se Ri Pak of South Korea. Then she was the underdog, now she'll be one of the favorites.

"I think I'm playing pretty well, but it's tough to say that you're going out there to win," Chuasiriporn said after the crowd dispersed at Hunt Valley. "I'm not really expecting a lot. So many things have to happen. You've got to get a good draw and then you have to play at the top of your game."

But Chuasiriporn would certainly like to erase the memory of last year's first-round defeat to Shauna Estes, which came a few weeks after she had finished as the low amateur in the Women's Open. Just like this year's Open, it came down to a couple of putts.

"I was a little disappointed with that," she said. "On the 10th hole, I missed a one-foot putt. It was a downhill slider and it went 12 or 13 feet by and I missed the putt coming back. Then I lost the 11th hole. I never really recovered after that."

Reliving her Open

It was a different feeling than the one she took away with her from that sticky Monday afternoon in America's heartland last month. In losing to Pak in the first Women's Open 18-hole playoff to go to sudden death, Chuasiriporn felt elated by how far she went.

But she also has done her share of second-guessing since.

"I guess I sometimes sit back and think what would have happened had I made this putt or that putt," said Chuasiriporn, who had a chance to win on the 18th hole but failed to get up and down for par from just off the green. "There's always going to be the what-ifs."

And Chuasiriporn knows something else. She was a bit relieved.

"It would have been a world of difference had I won," said Chuasiriporn, who was a member of the winning U.S. team at the recent Curtis Cup matches.

"I'm a big believer in things happening for a reason, and maybe had I won, I would have had everyone telling me to turn pro. It's nice to have done so well and have everyone notice. At the same time, I wasn't ready for the responsibility of being the U.S. Open champion."

She welcomes the responsibility of being a role model, having played it for much of her life. The middle of Paul and Edy Chuasiriporn's three children, she and brother Joey, who is 11 months older, have set terrific examples for their younger brother Jimmy, 10.

Jenny Chuasiriporn also realizes the impact that she had in the way she handled both the near-victory and sudden-death defeat at the Open, displaying a wide range of spur-of-the-moment reactions. It was in stark contrast to the implacable Pak.

"I always dreamed of having an effect on my sport, but I didn't think it would happen so soon," she said.

The LPGA is awaiting Chuasiriporn's next appearance on its tour with a great deal of anticipation, but not quite open arms. She turned down sponsor's exemptions at last week's Star Bank LPGA Classic as well as the State Farm Rail Classic later this month because of scheduling conflicts.

Chuasiriporn is just familiarizing herself with the strict rules that govern the LPGA when it comes to players who have yet to go through qualifying school. After she turns pro next summer, she will get only four sponsor's exemptions and would have to win a tournament to be exempt for at least a year.

"My family is talking about going back to Thailand for three weeks next summer anyway, after graduation and the Open," said Chuasiriporn, who is expected to receive her degree in psychology from Duke next spring. "But playing in the Open definitely helped prepare me for what to expect once I turn pro."

Made for LPGA Tour

Considering Chuasiriporn's exploding popularity as a result of this year's Open, she won't have problems securing some lucrative endorsements. That she is an American joining a tour currently dominated by foreign players such as Pak and Annika Sorenstam of Sweden will also help.

"I don't think she'll be forgotten for a long time," said Jay Burton, the agent for LPGA Hall of Famer Nancy Lopez at International Management Group. "It was refreshing to see her innocence when dealing with the media. That will certainly translate into interest by companies looking for her to represent them."

For example, after winning this year's U.S. Women's Open, Pak just negotiated a deal with Samsung for 10 years at $1 million a year.

However uncomfortable she is with the spotlight, Chuasiriporn is seemingly at ease with people. She patiently signed autographs for a steady flow of well-wishers at Hunt Valley before the Tuesday night ceremony, at which she received a plaque proclaiming "Jenny Chuasiriporn Day" in Baltimore County, a birthday cake with her picture on it and balloons.

She showed the off-the-cuff sense of humor she inherited from her father by joking about the size of the banner above her head ("I could wallpaper my apartment with it," she said) and with the fact that there was no bottle of wine to celebrate her coming-of-age birthday. She also thanked her family for supporting her in Wisconsin.

"I want to thank my parents for closing the restaurant," she said. "They might be doing that more in the future. And I want to thank my brother Joey. I was so nervous that there were times when I'd say to him, 'How do I hit this shot?' And he was telling me, 'Three-quarter swing, back in your stance.' He's going to start a school here for caddies. Just kidding."

Paul Chuasiriporn said that his daughter's performance has been good for what is traditionally a slow summer business at the family's Bangkok Place Restaurant on York Road in Govans. "Lots of people want to see where it is," he said.

It was unclear whether Joey Chuasiriporn will be carrying his sister's bag in Michigan this week. Yesterday, he failed to qualify for the men's U.S. Amateur at Woodholme Country Club. But regardless of the role he played in the Open, Joey is confident that Jenny can carry on without him.

"She can handle anything," said Joey Chuasiriporn, a fifth-year senior who plays for Penn State. "She's that's strong, that willful."

It is a quality that Greg Jones, Hunt Valley's director of golf, noticed a few years ago when Jenny Chuasiriporn began moving back from the red tees to the whites and eventually to the blues, and began beating her brother and his friends. Jones also recalled Chuasiriporn shooting in the 60s in a pro-junior tournament at Rocky Point when she was 16.

But Jones and others who have known Chuasiriporn also speak of the grace with which she handles her success. What he saw on television in watching the Open from his office at Hunt Valley was no different from what he has seen ever since the Chuasiriporns started dropping their two older children off on their way to work many years ago.

"Her expressions have now taken the country by storm," said Jones.

Dolores Preston of Cockeysville recalled watching the Open while on vacation in Quebec with her husband Bill. They have been members at Hunt Valley for 13 years and were "rooting madly" for Chuasiriporn. The Prestons were among many club members to attend the party last week.

As Chuasiriporn signed her name to a scorecard, Dolores Preston smiled.

"Now," Preston said, "we don't have to get an autograph next year when you win it."

As a result of the Open, Chuasiriporn got one coveted autograph herself. Among the 125 or so letters and faxes she received was one from President Clinton. "Even with all the turmoil going on," ,, dTC she said. "That's pretty neat."

She then joked that Clinton had offered her a job.

Suddenly, she seemed to be in a role she was most comfortable playing, the one she has played for 21 years.

It is the role of being Jenny Chuasiriporn.

Just Jenny.

Pub Date: 8/11/98