KAHUKU — Next to player of the year, there's no better honor than being rookie of the year. And it's actually tougher to achieve because there's only one chance at it.

So, it's interesting watching the 2008 LPGA rookies in the SBS Open at Turtle Bay starting off the new season at the Palmer Course yesterday.

Ten of this year's 30 first-timers are playing in the opener, including the two most likely finalists for the 2008 Louise Suggs Rolex Rookie-of-the-Year Award.

That would be Japan's Momoko Ueda and Taiwan's Yani Tseng.

Tseng we all know, although we knew her as Ya-Ni Tseng when she beat Michelle Wie in the final of the 2004 U.S. Women's Amateur Public Links. A long hitter, some say longer than Wie, Tseng made it through qualifying school to earn her playing card.

"Mental endurance," was all that Tseng could say when asked about the qualifying tournament. But she quickly added after surviving, "I'm the happiest person in the world."

"I don't know," said Ueda, who didn't have to go through that experience. She earned a year's exemption by winning the Mizuno Championship last year.

After the first round out of the starting gate for LPGA rookie-of-the-year honors, both are in good position to give it a run.

Tseng shot a 2-under 70 in a round that saw her miss a pair of 2-foot putts, while Ueda, with a swarm of Japanese media tagging along, posted a 71.

Ueda faces the biggest pressure among the rookies.

Just ask Ai Miyazato, Japan's previous media darling. Miyazato, who came to the American tour with great expectations, is still looking for her first LPGA victory. She's 0-for-54 and needs to win soon or be overshadowed by the 21-year-old Ueda.

Ueda became the first from Japan to win an LPGA event since Akiko Fukushima won the 1999 Tournament of Champions in Mobile, Ala. But Ueda, who's coming off a remarkable 2007 with five victories to become the Japan LPGA's youngest money-title winner, won in Osaka, not in the states.

She knows it'll be a different story coming to America. But making the cut in all five LPGA events she has played — in Japan — with a victory and three top-10 finishes, Ueda can't be blamed for being confident about her chances of success.

"This is just the beginning," said Ueda, who hopes to win a minimum of at least one event on the LPGA Tour this year. And she'll get two chances in Hawai'i, counting the Fields Open in Hawai'i next week at the Ko Olina Resort.

"I'm excited about my first year on the U.S. LPGA," Ueda said via a translator. "I am very happy to have the first tournament in Hawai'i. Hawai'i was key to my becoming the player I am today."

Added Ueda, who finished tied for 45th in last year's Fields Open, "I am going to do my best to challenge the tour and perform well. Please remember my face."

Tseng said she was nervous at the start of her round. "But I adapted."

After missing a 2-footer for birdie at No 6, she birdied 9 and 10. Another 2-foot missed putt at 11 led to a bogey, but birdies at 12, 14 and 16 put her at 3-under before she bogeyed 17, misreading a 5-foot putt to save par.

"My goal is to be rookie of the year," said Tseng, who's already looking forward to next week's Fields Open.

She'd like nothing better than to be in the same threesome with Wie.

"That would be good. Fun, too. Match (play) again," Tseng said.