Volume 1, Number 14 September 17, 2003
 
Pages 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, Results

The final day's action started on Saturday, with Beth Bauer, who had not played all that well all year, and an unknown amateur, tied for the lead and slugging it out. But they couldn't rest, because Grace Park was right behind them, just waiting to pull off her usual final round charge. And indeed, Grace did just that. Playing with the hottest player in women's golf over the last month, Hee-Won Han (a dream pairing for the enormous crowd of partisans who followed them), it was Grace who played well. Hee-Won faltered, eventually shooting a disappointing 3 over par 75 that sunk her into a tie for 9th. But Grace went out in 3 under par on the front nine. The leaders, meanwhile, held fast, but were not able to pull away. And so, after nine holes, Bauer sat in the lead at 4 under for the tournament, with Grace and Bo Pae Song only one shot back in second place.

The next three holes were important. In that stretch, Bauer managed to birdie the 11th, Grace the 11th and the 12th, and Song the 10th and the 11th. And so after 12 holes, they all sat tied at 5 under par. It was anyone's tournament.

Meanwhile, Soo-Yun Kang put together another solid even par round ahead of them. It was not going to be enough for her to capture her second Korean Open crown, but it did move her eventually into a tie for 5th, a very respectable showing.

Grace made it tough on the leaders with her
usual final day charge

 

The 17 year old amateur hung tough all week

Aree Song's first foray into the professional ranks was not a bad one. She recovered from her weak first two days to shoot one of the better rounds of the day, a 2 under par 70 (the best round of the day was recorded by KLPGA player Joo Yun Kim, who shot a 67). This moved her into a tie for 9th with Hee-Won at +3 for the tournament.

But now back to the other Song, Grace and Bauer. At this point, Grace started to struggle. Could she hold on and win? She bogeyed 13, to drop out of her share for the lead, then followed that up with a disastrous bogey on the par 5 15th that effectively ended any chance she had to win. A third bogey on 18 ended her run at the title on a sour note. Still, she shot a 2 under 70 for the day, which moved her into solo third place.

Things were looking good for Beth Bauer, but she was never able to get a sustained run going after the 13th. She made several birdies, but followed them up with bogies to remain at 4 under the rest of the day. The least likely winner, Bo Pae Song, was the one who charged to the victory. She shot another sterling 69 and finished at 6 under.

And so, the final results looked like this. Not a bad showing for Grace in one of her first tournaments played in her native country, and Hee-Won, distracted as she was by marriage preparations, could be forgiven for a less than great (but still not bad) performance.

Grace Park
1. Bo Pae Song -6
2. Beth Bauer -4
3. Grace Park -2
5. Soo-Yun Kang +1
9. Hee-Won Han +3
  Aree Song  
Hee-Won Han Grace and Hee-Won
After the tournament, Grace went back home and disappeared from the public eye, but Hee-Won, the new media darling of the Korean press, made several more public appearances. The first one came just a day after the event. She gave a golf clinic in Seoul, which was duly covered by the press. To the right is a photo from that clinic. Apparently, this guy needs a little help with a flying elbow.
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