Volume 1, Number 2 March 26, 2003
 

Safeway Ping 2003: Statement Game

 Pages 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, Results
Se Ri Pak is aiming for the top in 2003

Se Ri Pak was in a quandary.

As usual, she had worked incredibly hard during her off season, perhaps harder than she had ever worked before. Her conditioning was supreme. She was not sick or injured. Her mind was rested and focused. More than ever, she was hungry to get herself to the top of the women's golf world.

Yet for the first time in nearly two years, Se Ri found herself with a little unplanned vacation time when she missed the cut at the first event of the year. Not the way to make a statement to the press about your readiness to be number one.

There were several factors explaining Se Ri's predicament (please read the article in this issue giving a few theories), but to Se Ri, the most distressing was her driver. Simply put, she couldn't put her drives in the fairway. Thanks to her incredible ability, she was still able to nail 66% of her greens in regulation, but she was not giving herself nearly as many good birdie opportunities as she was used to. This was a problem she was going to have to nip in the bud ASAP. So she left the tournament and flew out to San Diego, then drove out to the testing facilities of TaylorMade, where she worked through the weekend to get a new driver she could trust.

Se Ri in the bunker in round 1
Reuters/Jeff Topping

It seems like it was time well spent. Se Ri arrived back at Phoenix for the Safeway Ping tournament, ready ro give her season another go. But this time, she was going to face one of the deepest fields she'll face all year. And included in that field was the player Se Ri knew she was going to have to go through to become the best. A player who, thanks to her decision to play in a men's event in May, was being given the treatment of a rock star by the press. Indeed, the press seemed ready to annoint her the victor of this event before a single shot was hit.

Se Ri knew better. She knew she had the game to challenge and best even the number one player in the sport. And so she went out on Thursday morning, intent on drawing first blood. And boy, did she ever! When all was said and done, she had posted a 7 under par 65, which was good enough to give her sole ownership of the lead by day's end.

Some interesting statistics stand out about this round. For one, her driving average was pretty mortal, only 245 yards. Despite the fact she had a new driver that she felt confident with, she still was not apparently willing to hit her full drives with it. But she also managed a very solid 15 greens in regulation. And her putting was extremely on. On her second nine, which was the front nine on this day, she had a stetch of six consecutive one putt holes, and finished the day with only 27 putts.
Of course, the statistic that matters most is the score, and in that department, Se Ri was sterling. Although she was not able to birdie the par 5 tenth (she would not birdie this hole all week), she proceeded thereafter to rip off three consecutive birdies on 11, 12 and 13, and just that quickly moved to the top of the leaderboard. She had her only blemish of the day on the par 4 16th, and thus finished her first nine at a respectable 2 under par. On the back, she added five more birdies, including a stretch of three straight on 4, 5 and 6. She was feeling good, but she knew she could not rest on her laurels.
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