LPGA Update

The second day turned into a battle to make the top 16. Seon Hwa Lee, Sung Ah Yim and Sun Young Yoo were not able to rally, and all missed the cut by a mile. They were joined by Meena Lee, who shot a 4 over par 76 to fall to 8 over.

But the other six Koreans were all still involved in the battle to make the top 16. Il Mi Chung struggled a bit on this day, but still shot a good enough score to finish tied for 6th at 2 under par. It wasn't easy; she had three double bogies on the back nine, including a drive that went into the water on the 18th hole. Fortunately for her, she had played extremely well on the front nine, making birdies on 3, 4, and holes 7 through 10. Il Mi was once again the top Korean on the leaderboard.

Se Ri Pak (pictured) had struggles of her own on this day, including a few bogies on the back nine, but she also had an eagle early in her round, and shot her second straight one under par 71 to cruise into the third round. Mi Hyun Kim was also over par on this day, but she, too, made it easily into the third round.

Hee-Won Han had to work a little harder to join those three. She came into the 18th hole 2 under for the day. By this point, +1 was the cut line, and she sat at one under, so all she needed to do was get in the house with a bogey and she'd be fine. All day long she had been in the fairway and hitting greens, but on her approach she pulled it wildly left, landing the ball over by the scoreboard. She had some work to do to even get bogey. But she hit a wonderful pitch from there, landing it in the fringe. It still rolled twenty feet past the hole, but from there she two putted for bogey and scraped into the next round with an even par total.

The Korean who really cruised on this day was Jeong Jang. Jang had to make some ground up after her first round 74, and she did it, shooting a 69 to finish at one under and tied for 9th. That made it five Koreans in the third round, and four failing to advance. One Korean was left whose fate was up in the air: Jee Young Lee (pictured). Lee was playing well; through 12 holes she was three under par for the day, and three under for the tournament. But on the 13th hole she made a triple bogey, and suddenly she was in danger of missing the cut. She birdied 15, and got to 18 at one under par, needing a bogey or better to avoid the playoff for the final spots. She put her second shot into a greenside bunker. All she needed to do was get the ball onto the green and two putt. The one thing she absolutely could not afford to do was leave the ball short. But that's exactly what she did, leaving her bunker shot in some scruffy grass near the green. She could not get it up and down from there, and fell into a six player playoff for the three remaining spots. She had her chances during the playoff, especially on the first hole, where her birdie try all but fell into the hole. But in the end, she was one of the three who were eliminated, while those advancing were Morgan Pressel, Juli Inkster and Lorena Ochoa. Lee was not alone to get eliminated; among those who would not play on the weekend were Annika Sorenstam, the defending champion.

During round three, the pressure immediately went up another notch. Now the players had to worry about making the top eight. Hee-Won Han never really got it going all day, and was fairly easily eliminated. Se Ri Pak was on the cut line much of the day, but when she hit the final few holes, she imploded, making bogies on 13 and 14. She made a birdie on 15 to climb back a little, but the 17th hole let her have it again. Her tee shot went into the water, and just like that, her season was over. It was a great comeback year for her, but she still has some work to do in the off season to climb back to her former heights.

On the other end of the spectrum, Mi Hyun Kim and Il Mi Chung were having fantastic rounds of golf. Chung made three straight birdies early in her round to climb to 5 under par, and another birdie on the 11th hole to move to 6 under. But the highlight of her week came on the 14th hole, when her great approach shot hit the side of the green and rolled back into the hole for an eagle. She wound up shooting a flawless 65 on the day, finishing first at 9 under total. If Il Mi was one of the most obscure players in the field at the start of the week, she certainly wasn't by the time the third round ended. Her 65 tied the low score ever achieved on the Trump course in this event.

Kimmie didn't have any eagles in round three, but played just as amazing a round as Chung. She made three birdies on the front nine, and three more on holes 12, 14 and 15. On the 18th hole, her ticket to the final round well in hand, she dunked a forty foot birdie putt from the fringe to finish with her own 65, one shot behind Chung at 8 under par. So at least two Koreans would be vying for the million dollars, and two were out. That left one player: Jeong Jang. JJ played great at the start of her round; she was 2 under on the front nine, and made two more birdies on 11 and 12 to move to 5 under total. If she could get into the house at that score she would easily make the cut. But she bogied the 14th hole, and suddenly things were looking dicey. The rest of her round was a struggle, but she fought hard. She toughed out a bogey on 16, then made a clutch par save on 17 to remain at 3 under. On the 18th, she put her approach close to the water on the right, but hit a wonderful chip to a few inches for an easy par save. She had finished at 3 under, and was tied for the final spot with Paula Creamer. But Creamer was playing behind JJ, and hit a beautiful approach to a few feet for an easy birdie. She thus finished at 4 under and eliminated JJ from the hunt for the million.

And so, the eight remaining players gathered to take a photo with the million dollar first prize. Two Koreans would be in the hunt, along with Karrie Webb and Lorena Ochoa, the top two golfers on tour in 2006. Could Kimmie or Chung take home the big prize?
Kimmie did not play badly on Sunday, but by the time the players reached the back nine, she was several shots back and seemingly out of it. The surprise leader was rookie Julieta Granada at 3 under, but right behind her was Il Mi Chung (pictured) at 2 under. Chung had a great birdie chance on the 14th hole, but just missed it, then did not get her approach close enough on the 15th hole to give herself a good birdie try. But she really hit trouble on the 16th hole when her drive dribbled into a fairway bunker. She had no choice but to pitch out, then try to save par from the fairway. But her third shot was bad, and she wound up with a double bogey on the hole. Her dream of becoming the million dollar winner was over.

In the end, it was rookie Julieta Granada who surprised everyone and won the million dollars, with Ochoa and Webb surprising no one by finishing second and third. But Kimmie and Chung both got a share of fourth, not bad at all. The new format proved to be exciting, but having such a huge first prize really threw the money list out of whack. In the future, the LPGA should consider making the money unofficial to make it more fair. Granada had a great season, but she is not the fourth best golfer in the league, as her money list total would suggest. If they want to continue to use the money list to indicate a player's relative talent, they need to change this tournament to make the money unofficial. And perhaps the players who finish well in the first three rounds should be rewarded by playing in the final group on Sunday; as it was, they allowed the top players on the money list coming into the week to play in that final group. But those are minor quibbles. The format is exciting, and hopefully next year it will be a Korean golfer who gets to make a million dollar putt to win the Tour championship.