This final round of the Ping in 2003 had the potential to be just as pivotal. All the contenders were players who had legitimate claims to be the best in the game, either from past achievements (Se Ri, Karrie), current success (Annika), or potential (Grace Park). Whoever could win this one would be sending a bold statement to the world.

Se Ri knew it. She also knew she was going to have to be as aggressive as she's ever been to take this one. The only way to beat Annika when she had a three stroke lead was to seize the day, overwhelm her with brilliance, put pressure on her from the moment she teed it up. And Se Ri, playing two groups ahead of her, did just that, in perhaps the single most brilliant round of golf she has yet fashioned.

Se Ri hits her approach on the 16th hole Sunday
Reuters/Jeff Topping

Se Ri makes an incredible putt on the 17th hole Sunday
Reuters/Jeff Topping

By the time Annika put her first tee in the ground, Se Ri had already trimmed her lead to one shot, thanks to birdies on the first two holes. But it was on four where she really turned it up a notch. A par 5, Se Ri had a long iron's worth of approach to the green for her second shot. Unfortunately, she had a bit of a dogleg to contend with. She grabbed her 4-iron substitute, a club aptly called the 'rescue club', and went to work, fashioning a jaw dropping approach that landed on the green and rolled to three feet, to the utter delight of the crowd. Eagle, and in less than an hour of play, Se Ri had seized the lead from Sorenstam. That is what you call putting the pressure on!

Meanwhile, Karrie Webb stumbled backwards and was never a factor, and Grace Park played solidly but was not making much of a move. Sorenstam continued to hit par after par, but Se Ri missed a makeable birdie on 5, then bogeyed six to fall back into a tie for the lead. On the par 5 8th, however, she once again surged forward, with another great second shot onto the green. This time she had a 25 footer for eagle, which she cozied up to the hole in a putt that seemed to take five minutes to reach the hole. But reach it it did, and by its falling, Se Ri took a two shot lead on the field. She followed that up with an astounding approach to a foot on the 9th hole for yet another birdie and a front nine 30. That's a 30, with a bogey. Hoo boy.

At this point Se Ri had a three shot lead, but she faltered somewhat when she failed to birdie, for the fourth consecutive day, the par 5 tenth. Annika did birdie that one, cutting Se Ri's lead to two. Grace Park also was showing signs of life, birdieing 9, 10 and 11 to move to 19 under and only two shots behind Se Ri. Se Ri would not notch another birdie until the final par 5, the 13th, but she gave that one back with a bogey on 14. Grace moved to 20 under, and the heat was now being applied to Se Ri.

Strangely, that was pretty much all that was heard from Annika. She spent the rest of the round notching pars and finished at 19 under par. But now there was a new player who hungered to join the elite players, Grace Park. And Grace was playing so well that Se Ri, for all she had managed on the front nine, was by no means guaranteed a victory. Indeed, with a birdie on the par 3 15th, Grace moved into a share of the lead; but mere moments later, Se Ri tapped in her own short birdie on 16 to retake the lead, 22 under to 21 under par.

Then came the 17th hole. How many times has the 17th dealt a Korean player a deadly blow in her efforts to win an event? Even Se Ri has not been immune, nearly losing the 2002 Office Depot after a bogey on 17, and ruining a great round at the Samsung in 2002 with a triple bogey on the 17th there. Well, the curse of the 17th hole struck again: Se Ri's drive went left, right into the water. Disaster.

While Grace waited on the tee, Se Ri got a ruling and dropped the ball. This was a very hairy situation. Going for the flag was not an option. There were several trees in her way and some water. Yes, she might make it, but the risk of a high number was too great. So she did the only reasonable thing: hit an 8 iron out to the right. She was on the green, but left with a 45 foot par putt that was not even a guaranteed two putt.

When you get to watch a true champion at work, it is a magical experience. Somehow they are able to raise their game and find the perfect shot just when they need to the most. As mortals watching, we can only imagine what it would be like to be that perfect even once in our lives.

A look at how Se Ri played the 17th hole