Se Ri Makes History (cont.)

On Saturday, Se Ri truly entered new territory for a woman in the 21st century. As the first woman to make a cut in a men's event since Babe Didrikson in 1945, no one had any idea how she would respond. Now that the 'hard part' was done, would she settle in and play some great golf? Or would her motivation be gone; and we would see her slip slowly down the leaderboard into obscurity? Well, Se Ri now set her sights on a new goal: a top ten. She had managed ten straight top tens on the LPGA tour coming into this event, and she was interested in seeing if she could extend that streak to eleven. There were other goals to try: first woman to break par in a men's event in recent memory? First one to shoot in the 60's? Just what could she accomplish?

She started with a birdie on the opening par 5, then managed pars all the way through to hole 11. So she was not making great progress, but just by making par she was still creeping up the leaderboard. Finally, on the 12th hole, she hit her tee shot to the fringe, then drained the birdie putt to move to 2 under par for the day and even par for the tournament. This was the image that was shown on Golf Channel and several other American TV shows: Se Ri pumping her fist, a supremely satisfied look on her face as the improbable putt fell into the hole.

Se Ri was all smiles after she made the cut,
becoming the first woman in 58 years to do so in a
men's event

Se Ri putts during round 2

Se Ri next tackled the 13th hole. She had had problems on this one yesterday, but on Saturday she hit a great drive, hit her iron to six feet, then drained yet another birdie to move to 3 under par. Still no bogeys on the day against three birdies. Hole 14, a 437 yarder, is one of the harder holes on the back nine. But Se Ri hit her drive dead straight, then put her iron to ten feet. She barely missed that birdie. On the par 5 15th, two woods were followed by another great iron to 6 feet, and another birdie that barely missed.

If you didn't know better, you'd think you were watching a typical Se Ri Pak LPGA round: a lot of fairways hit, iron after iron to within ten feet, a few birdies made and a few missed. Only, this was on a 7000+ yard course, and she was hitting middle and long irons to within ten feet, not 9 irons or wedges. To put it frankly, it was a phenomenal round of golf. And she still had a chance to go lower. But 16 was only a so so hole for her, when her approach wound up 25 feet away from the hole. She completely misread the putt, but fortunately saved par easily. The par 3 17th was into the wind, 180 yards. She landed the ball just before the flag, but it rolled about 8 feet past. Once again, she slightly misread the putt and tapped in the par.

One more hole, and Se Ri could be the first woman in history (?) to shoot in the 60s in a men's event. The par 4 18th is one of the easier holes on the course, but it also has a narrower fairway than most on the course, and Se Ri's drive was left. In fact, she got relief from the cart path, but it still left her with a lie where the ball was close to a foot under her feet. No problem. She hit a masterful short iron to 6 feet to the delight of the crowd. But again, she just missed birdie when the ball broke at the very end and lipped out of the cup. Argh! Looked like she had that one for sure. Still, a three under par, three birdie, no bogey 69 moved her to one under for the event and into a tie for 10th. The leaders had risen to her challenge and moved to 7 shots ahead of her, so winning seemed pretty unlikely, but a top ten was still well within her reach. One more day to go.

Se Ri laughs after making the cut

Se Ri strides confidently on Sunday
AP Photo/Yun Jai-hyong

Se Ri got out to a fantastic start on Sunday. Once again she birdied the par 5 1st, then birdied the par 4 3rd to move to 3 under par for the tournament! What would happen if she had another round like Saturday, only this time made her putts? How low could she go? She had her first bogey in two days on the 6th hole, but hit her approach on 7 to 10 feet and drained a birdie to again move to 3 under par. Several more pars followed. Then on the 10th hole, she hit a mediocre approach 20 feet short of the hole, but drained the putt to move to 4 under par, 3 under for the day. Could she shoot back to back rounds in the 60s?

By this time, two of the leaders had distanced themselves from the crowd, entering double digits. Se Ri was not going to catch them, and indeed, even a top 5 seemed unlikely. But a top ten was definitely doable. At that point she was in 7th place, but she had to hang on and not make too many mistakes. But a bogey on 12 moved her back to 3 under. Then on the tough 13th, she stroked a 45 foot birdie try that stopped just past the hole for an easy par.