ROANOKE, May 19, 2001 -- Morgan Pressel's first trip to Roanoke for the Scott Robertson Memorial couldn't have come at a better time. After all, she needed to locate a good hideout for a few days.

Heaven knows, the 12-year-old from Boca Raton, Fla., couldn't hide from anybody earlier this week.

"Yes, I'm hoping things quiet down a little bit here," Pressel said Thursday. "Things have been pretty hectic for me since Monday."

That's the day when Pressel, a 5-foot-3, 110-pound seventh-grader, turned the golf world for a flip. In a stunning feat at 6,300-yard Boca Raton's Bear Lakes Country Club, Pressel shot a brilliant 2-under-par 68 to become the youngest player to ever qualify for the U.S. Women's Open.

Despite bogeying the final two holes, Pressel whipped a field of 119 qualifiers - mostly pros more than two times her age - to earn medalist honors and a spot in the Open, which will be played May 31-June 3 at Pine Needles in Southern Pines, N.C.

Little did Pressel realize how big her deal was. Following the round, she hustled back to class at Omni Middle School, then made her orthodontist's appointment to have her braces tightened. Just things 12-year-olds do. You know, normal stuff.

Then came the day after. Suddenly, normalcy was out of bounds for Morgan Pressel and her family. The home phone starting ringing like a Jerry Lewis Telethon line. Lewis didn't call, but Bryant Gumbel, Matt Lauer, David Letterman and Jay Leno did. So did the Golf Channel, ESPN and USA Today.

"We got calls from everywhere, including ones from Sweden and England," Pressel said. "At school that day, I even had a boy I know ask me for 10 autographs so he could sell them. It was just crazy."

Meanwhile, Herb Krickstein stood back and proudly watched his granddaughter grow up in front of his eyes.

"It's been wild . . . her mother [Kathy] had 100 phone calls, literally," said Krickstein, who accompanied Pressel to Roanoke. "I don't think she understood all this would happen, but now she does. She's had a quick upbringing in the world the last few days. But, you know, she handles these things well for a 12-year-old."

Pressel appeared on CBS' "Early Show" on Wednesday morning with Gumbel through a remote feed from Florida to New York.

"Morgan did well," Krickstein said. "I don't think she was nervous, but I do think she was tired because for two nights she really didn't get any sleep because the phone was ringing and she was trying to accommodate everybody, plus friends were calling.

"So I think she was real glad to be coming here to this tournament. I told her if she hadn't been here, she would have done the 'Today' show, so 'thank God you're here.'

"Letterman, Leno, they've all called. You can only do so many, though. You've got to say no, or else you can't get ready for the Open spending all your time on the phone."

Krickstein is not about to let that happen. After all, he's the one who put the first golf club in Morgan's hands at age 5. It was quite a bold move for a man whose family had long played another game - tennis.

Ever heard of Aaron Krickstein? That's Herb Krickstein's boy. In 1984, Aaron Krickstein, at age 16, became the youngest player to win an ATP event and reached the top 10 in the world rankings.

"Uncle Aaron carried my bag on Monday," Pressel proudly said. "I liked tennis, but I just wasn't fast enough to play it."

After taking one look at Morgan's golf swing, Herb Krickstein said throw away the tennis racket, girl.

"Morgan had a natural swing," Herb Krickstein said. "When I saw her swing, I said, 'Hey, we've got to get this girl in golf.' I mean that's where she belongs."

That's pretty obvious now. Pressel's smooth, languid swing routinely powders tee shots 230 yards.

"She's a great player," said Christie Reed, 17, a Coral Springs, Fla., native who has played with Pressel numerous times in tournaments. "What she did kind of surprised me, but I'm sure she'll play well.

"She's pretty much your typical 12-year-old girl. She talked a lot about all the attention in our round [Thursday's Robertson practice round]. I think she just wants to relax and be able to play."

That won't be hard this week. Week after next at the Open, however, will be a totally different story.

"The USGA folks already have warned us about that," Herb Krickstein said.

"I have no idea what that will be like," Pressel said. "I've never been there before."