Royal Audience

The whole tone of the Skins Game had been a very pleasant one. Montgomery, who has a reputation as somewhat of a grump, seemed in particularly good spirits. He and Se Ri seemed to enjoy talking to each other, laughing frequently at jokes that were often only half audible (after one great shot, Se Ri said something about 'the ladies' that cracked Monty up). Similarly, Tiger and Se Ri had really developed a nice rapport together. The only player who did not seem to join in this love fest was Choi, who by and large kept to himself and said little. I suspect he does not speak English very well, which may explain why he did not talk to Montgomery and Woods, but it is strange that, during the entire tournament, I did not see him once interact with Se Ri, either. Anyway, Monty did manage to get one more good dig at Se Ri before she putted her eagle try, asking her if she was sure about her line (in fact, her line turned out to be good, it was her pace that was off!). As usual, she took the ribbing in good spirit.

Se Ri walks with Tiger and Monty

The crowds were enormous

The last two holes were both long par 4s, made even more treacherous because they were both going into the wind. Hole 17 was 462 yards, as long as many par 5's on the LPGA tour. Se Ri hit a lackluster drive off this tee, about 240 yards, while Tiger murdered one 310 yards into the teeth of the wind. Se Ri's second came up a couple of feet short of the green, although once again it was dead straight. Both Monty and Choi got on the green, about 20 feet from the hole, but Tiger put his 6 feet away. Uh oh.

While Monty was awaiting Tiger's shot, the camera caught him doing something to Se Ri. He suddenly got a very sheepish look on his face. What he was trying to do was sneak her fanny pack open, so he could get at the chemical hand warmer she had inside. Se Ri gladly handed it to him, laughing at his silly attempt to swipe it.

Se Ri's third shot was a putt from the fringe, about 50 feet from the hole. This time she hit it well past, and asked someone (probably Monty) if that was long enough this time; he laughed. Choi then dunked a longish birdie, followed by Monty, so once again, no skin was won.

That meant the last hole was worth four skins. It was a 448 yard par 4, even more into the wind than hole 17. Se Ri this time hit an extremely short 208 yard drive; even Tiger could only manage 250, although his drive went right into the gallery as well, which didn't help. Se Ri's second was a dead straight three wood, this time about 30 yards short. But no one else hit the green, either. Se Ri's pitch was brilliant, stopping right next to the hole. Neither Choi nor Tiger could get their chips as close. Finally, it was Monty's turn, but his chip stopped a half turn from falling in also. That meant there would be a playoff to decide the final four skins. Se Ri had one more chance to get on the board!

All four players would hit out of the greenside bunker. The player who got closest would take the skins, which were worth $51,000. The crowd was tense. Among those in attendance was the leading money winner of the KLPGA, Bo Pae Song, whom many think might become the next big Korean golf star.

Tiger went first, but he hit an indifferent shot that stopped well short of the pin. In fact, it was the worst of the four players. He would end his day with 5 skins.

Next came Monty, and he did much better. His shot rolled about three feet past the flag, setting up a good standard to beat. Se Ri went third. I'd love to report that she pulled it off, but alas, she hit a fairly weak bunker shot, close than Tiger but still about 7 feet short. Last came Choi, who also had not won any skins yet. His bunker shot was great, to within a foot, and just like that he had four skins and third place.

And that's how it ended, with Se Ri the only player to win no skins; Tiger had 5, Choi had 4 and Monty had nine. They all hugged and bonded one more time, and waved to the cheering crowd. Tiger told the interviewer that he had had a great time in Korea, and hoped to come back again. And the fans had gotten a rare chance to see some great golfers play on their home soil.

By the way, the skins money was all given to charity, so everyone won this week. Tiger and Choi headed off to compete in Japan, Monty returned home, and Se Ri prepared for her final event of 2004, the Pinx Cup in early December. Congratulations to them all for a jolly good show!

(Thank you to 'Se_Ri_rules', a fan who assisted in the writing of this article).

Hugs all around following the action