2003 US Women's Open

Sorry about the title of this section of my report! I couldn't resist, being that the quote from Chicago's 'Saturday in the Park' fit so nicely with what actually happened! Now on with the show!

On the ride in from the parking lot, I was sitting with two Korean news reporters. I had on my third and final variation of the Seoul Sisters shirt, this one a golf shirt with a collar and a nice logo on the back (but nothing on the front). The two fellows asked me about the shirt and both liked it a lot!

My darn tape recorder gave up the ghost halfway through today, but fortunately I was able to scrounge up a notepad to write down some notes. I watched Se Ri's round, then caught up with Grace for her final four, then followed Jeong Jang for the back nine. Because Se Ri had just made the cut, she ended up playing in the third group that went out (7:18 am!), which meant I had to get up really early to watch her. The weather was cool, and there was a lot of dew on the grass.

Hole 1: Caught up with her on hole 1 as she putted for par. She was playing today with Dorothy Delasin, who made a bogey on the first hole and would go on to struggle much of the day.

Hole 2: (par 3). Another awesome tee shot that left her a 6 - 8 foot putt. Good try, but she didn't have the right line. Par. Dorothy missed her two foot par save for another bogey.

Hole 3: This is the hole you must get it into the fairway. It was a good drive with a fairway wood, but it landed in the left fairway and bounced into the rough. She ended up in rough too deep to risk going for the green in two. She laid up, pitched it onto the green about 15 feet from the hole, and missed her par save. +1 on the day.

Se Ri dressed warmly for her early morning
tee time
Seoul Sisters Photo/Eric Fleming

Se Ri and Colin
Seoul Sisters Photo/Eric Fleming

Hole 4: (Par 5). She had about a 260 yard drive off the tee. She went for it in two and was just short, maybe twenty feet in front of the green. She then hit a horrible chip to the back pin placement that rolled off the back of the green. She had to chip it from there, and left herself two feet for par.

Hole 5: (par 3 with lots of water). The flag was behind the water and Se Ri bombed her iron right at it (no wimpiness here). Landed maybe 5 feet from the flag, but she MISSED THE PUTT! Another heartbreaker, I thought for sure she had this one.

Hole 6: She hit a great drive to the right half of the fairway, the ideal spot. Excellent iron, leaving her again a short putt (maybe 12 feet). The flag today was hiding behind the water. She had no trouble flying the water, but just made it onto the correct tier. She still had a tricky downhill putt, though, and she put it past the hole far enough that she missed the par save, too (but barely). +9

Hole 7: (Par 5). Her drive just missed the fairway right, but her iron layup was fine. Boy, she sure hits irons a long way; this one must have been at least 200 yards, maybe more. Her 120 yard third shot left her another putt of about seven feet. When she missed that one (it wasn't even close), I was about ready to give up on follow her.

As I walked up the 7th fairway, I noticed that Se Ri's coach, Tom Creavy, was right in front of me. He was keeping an eye on his star pupil, though what advice he would have for her that night I'm not sure... maybe make more putts? If only we could apply that advice easily!

Hole 8: This is normally deadly, but the pin was on the front of the green today, in one of the few easy locations. Again she hit the fairway, leaving herself about 145 yards. She hit another sterling iron that landed on the green, bounced a little bit, and settled about 6 feet from the flag. You won't get much better a birdie chance on this hole, although it was downhill and fast. Yup, she missed it.

Hole 9: Thankfully, she did not end up in that weird island fairway bunker (the fairway on this hole is split by a row of bunkers). Great drive, in fact, but not so great iron this time, leaving her maybe 20 feet. Once again, a pretty good putt, brushed right by the hole, easy par. It's like a scene from Groundhog's Day: over and over and over, good drive, good iron, just missed the putt. But +2 is not a terrible start on her day, and her game tee to green was certainly good, so maybe she could cash in some birdies on the back...

Hole 10: (par 3). She hit a nice iron with some draw, perhaps expecting the wind to carry it back. It landed on the right fringe, bounced onto the green and rolled right at the hole. She had a 10 footer, but it broke a bit. Nonetheless, she nailed it. Birdie at last! +8

Hole 11: This par 5 she laid up on yesterday, and on Thursday she went for it but hit a cruddy chip and got par. Today she went for it, ending up in almost the same place she had been on Thursday, in the fringe about 40 yards short. Again, she hit a stinky pitch/chip, did not get it close and had to settle for par.

Her wrist wrap is still evident in this photo
Seoul Sisters Photo/Eric Fleming

Hole 12: Another par 3. Se Ri hit another fine iron, made another fine birdie, to move back to +7.

Hole 13: Se Ri missed the fairway right. Somehow she hefted the iron around a tree and landed it in front of the green. For once she hit a halfway decent chip, to about three feet, and made the par save. Whew!

Hole 14: Great curving three wood around the left dogleg. Sweeeet. Today the flag was not guarded by water, and Se Ri pummeled it with her approach. 12 footer, but no dice. Par.

Hole 15: Par 3, nice but not great iron to 20 feet, routine par tap in.

Hole 16: Dead center drive and long. This green has three tiers and the flag today was on the back left one. Se Ri's approach landed just on the border between the tiers. One foot left and it would have rolled next to the hole. She had a tricky downhill putt, but handled it flawlessly. One footer for par.