2003 Year in Review

March (con)

Kraft Nabisco Championship: Kid Stuff (March 27 - 30)
Se Ri Pak came into the Nabisco Championship once again having a chance to complete her career Grand Slam. And once again she played well, but not well enough. After three rounds, she still had an outside chance of capturing the crown, six shots behind Patricia Meunier-Lebouc, but only three behind Annika Sorenstam. Alas, she had a terrible fourth round, one of her worst ever in a Major, and plunged to 15th place.

Grace Park also looked primed to have a great Major, but had trouble with her clubs and missed the cut.

But a 13 year old Korean American named Michelle Wie stepped up in a Major way. Michelle had already played a couple of LPGA events in 2002, but nothing prepared people for how she would do here. Unlike Aree Song, who as a 13 year old already had big wins in junior events, Michelle had nothing but a reputation coming into this event. But after averaging 290 yards off the tee and shooting a third round 66, the low score of the day, she catapulted into third place and had a real chance to win. Alas, her final round 76 knocked her down to 9th place, but that finish insured she would get two invites to men's events and five more LPGA sponsor's exemptions before the year was out.

Michelle Wie had a spectacular Nabisco

April

Se Ri rallied at the Office Depot after a
late round eagle

April started as Se Ri defended her first title of the year, and ended with a bang and another great Se Ri victory!

In April, it was announced that Grace Park had completed her undergraduate studies, via correspondence school. She got her degree from Ewha University. She later told me her Major, but she didn't know the English translation of it and I'm still not sure what it was!! Congratulations to her anyway!

Office Depot: Best rebound of the Year (April 2 - 4)
Se Ri Pak was defending at this event, and it was played on the kind of course she loves: tough tough tough! She and Grace were teamed in round 1, but both had tons of trouble: by the 11th hole, Se Ri was five over par, and Grace was not much better off. But then Se Ri rallied, with two birdies and an eagle, and moved to one over par overall. On this course, that was great shape. Grace was not so lucky, finishing round 1 at 6 over par, but she, too, rallied in round 2 with a one under par 71 that vaulted her from 110th to 29th place.

Round 2 was much better for Se Ri, a one under par effort, although she missed an awful lot of putts by the barest of margins. Still, she had a chance, and another rally on Sunday moved her to within just a shot or two of Annika. But she was not able to get the few remaining birdies she needed to close it out, and ended up with a second place tie at one under par.

Takefuji Classic: Soo Yun Makes a Statement (April 15 - 17)
Se Ri had another strong but not strong enough tournament in Las Vegas. Like the previous week, she was in contention towards the end, but just could not beg, borrow or steal a putt during the last round. She finished 6th.

One Korean did make a lot of noise, and that was Soo Yun Kang. She started with a three under 69 that put her into a tie for 8th with Se Ri. Her second round was also great, in terrible conditions that included several delays due to lightning. In round three, she got off to a great start, moving to within one shot of the lead after her 12th hole. But she made some crucial mistakes down the stretch, and had to settle for second. Still, a great effort for the Fashion Model of the Fairways, easily her best ever in an LPGA event.

Meanwhile, Grace had her third consecutive weak performance, reportedly due to her not being able to get used to her new Nike irons. She would soon switch back to Ping, and have few problems for the rest of the year.

Soo Yun notched her first LPGA top ten in Vegas

Meanwhile...

Se Ri makes a clutch putt to get into a playoff
at the Chick-Fil-A.

Chick-Fil-A Charity Championship - An unbelievable Finish (April 25 - 27)
The 'Chick-Delay' was again cursed with tons of rain, and Se Ri had to play a round and a half on Saturday. But proving once again that tough conditions bring out the best in her, Se Ri moved herself into position in the first two rounds, only three shots out of the lead. But while Se Ri got off to a good start on Sunday, elsewhere Suzann Pettersen was shooting an awesome round. She vaulted into the lead, and looked destined to win until she started to struggle just as suddenly as she had dominated.

Eventually the battle ended up Se Ri vs. Shani Waugh, who was shooting a fantastic final round of her own. In fact, Se Ri needed to pull off a great birdie on the last hole to get into a playoff. After that, it took her four more holes, and several more sensational shots, before she finally buried Waugh and collected her 20th career win.

Grace also rebounded with her first top ten in a while. It was a portent of things to come.