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2003 Safeway Classic: Saturday
8, 9, 10, 11, Gallery, Results
Grace started her day the birdie way
SeoulSisters.com photo
On Saturday, I followed Grace at first. Her group went off the tee at
12 noon; in the next group was Mi Hyun Kim, the group after that had Soo-Yun
Kang, and the group after that Se Ri. So four great players all near each
other, making it convenient to switch from one group to another as necessary!
Hole 1: This is a straight par 4 with trees closing in as the you
reach the 200+ yard area. Grace hit 3 wood off the tee, then hit her iron
to within 5 feet for a birdie. Nice start!
Hole 2: A par 3 with a peanut shaped green, and a severe downhill
to the left. Grace hit her tee shot about five feet to the right of the
hole, but her birdie putt just missed the cup. Par.
Meanwhile, I saw Mi Hyun Kim hit a great approach on hole 1 to about 4
feet, and while waiting for Grace to tee off on hole 3, Peanut hit another
great tee shot on 2 to about three feet. Quite a good start!
This drive wound up in the drink
SeoulSisters.com photo
Hole 3: Straightforward par 4. Good drive here. Her approach was
not that great, and only got to the fringe, but her putt got her next
to the hole for an easy par. Her partners, by the way, were Cristie Kerr
and Beth Daniel.
Hole 4: Another straight par 4. She hit her drive here to the center
of the fairway. Her second was right of the hole, perhaps 15 feet. Par.
Hole 5: Grace whacked her first drive left, towards the lake. Uh
oh. But she couldn't tell if it went into the water or bounced out. So
she walked all the way to the end of the lake and searched for it. No
dice. She and Dave, her caddie, then walked back to the start of the water
hazard and did a drop. Apparently they did not want to go all the way
to the tee to save some 80 yards on this par 5. Her third shot was not
bad; it got her out to the fairway at least. Her 4th, however, was a phenomenal
3 wood. Huge height, great distance. Way, way in the distance it dropped
on the green, some 15 feet from the hole. Then she nailed that putt to
save par. A truly spectacular par save from Grace! Coupled with a bogey
from Daniel, Grace was now only two shots out of the lead!
Hole 6: Her drive was left into the rough. She hefted her second
to within 15 feet of the hole, a makeable uphill putt. But a routine par.
Hole 7: Grace smoked her drive today to make up for the 230 yarder
she hit on this hole yesterday. But when it landed, the ball kicked dead
right, as though it had hit a sprinkler. Still in the fairway, though.
At this point, I hung back at hole 6 to watch Mi Hyun, Kang and Se Ri
come through.
Mi Hyun Kim:
Her approach here stopped about 15 feet short of the hole. Her putt stopped
two rolls short of falling for a birdie. Par.
Soo Yun Kang:
Soo Yun hit a very odd approach here. She did not swing the club much
past parallel, and the ball came in very low, hitting the green and bounding
off the back. Hit a nice putt from the fringe here, though, for an easy
par.
Se Ri Pak:
Not a particularly well handled hole for Se Ri, who left herself a bit
of a par save. Fortunately she made it. At this point she was at 5 under
par, 6 shots out of the lead held by Beth Daniel at 11 under. Grace was
at 8 under, three holes ahead of Se Ri.
Mi Hyun tees off on hole 7
SeoulSisters.com photo
Se Ri wore mostly white on Saturday
SeoulSisters.com photo
Hole 8: By now the wind was starting to kick up, making a tricky course that much trickier. This in particular is a hard hole to play in windy conditions, what with all the water on it. Her tee shot was 25 feet short, but she hit a great putt for an easy par tap-in.
Hole 9: This hole was playing right into the wind. She hit a good drive, but her approach was left and short. At this point, I saw a scoreboard that revealed that Daniel had double bogeyed 9, meaning Se Ri was only 3 shots out of the lead. But her chip stopped well short of the hole, and she missed the par to drop back to 5 under.
Hole 10: Se Ri hit a long drive into the trees on the right. She was forced to punch out, but still got her ball a good ways down the fairway. With about 70 yards to go, she pitched it up, provoking a big roar from the gallery. It turned out to be only about 2 feet from the flag, but she missed it. Yet another gimme putt that Se Ri let get away!
Hole 11: Good tee shot, and ended up with a downhill lie. This time she stiffed the approach; a beautiful iron! While she was waiting to hit, she spotted me and gave me a shy little smile. I wonder if she saw the Seoul Sisters T-shirt I was wearing? Anyway, this time she did not miss the gimme 2 footer, and moved back to 6 under par. In fact, all three Sisters were now tied at 6 under, with Hee-Won at 4 under and Kang at 5 under.
