LPGA Update

Even Se Ri Pak managed to halt her downward slide a little by shooting her first round under par all week. It was a 1 under par 71, and moved her to +4 for the week and solo 31st. She was still having a terrible week, but at least she was nowhere near last place. And as for Christina Kim, she, too, rebounded slightly with a 73. Several players had terrible rounds on this day, including Jennifer Rosales, who shot an 83, so Christina was now nowhere near last place. Small consolation, but a golfer definitely does not want to finish in last place when she is the defending champion! Meena Lee, who had placed herself within shot of a top ten through two days, plummeted to Earth with an 81 that left her at 9 over par, tied for 33rd.

The last few months, the LPGA has been dominated by Annika Sorenstam, Karrie Webb and Lorena Ochoa. It seems like in every event, one or more of those three put up numbers that the rest of the field just can't match, and the event turns into a snoozefest, with the outcome practically a foregone conclusion. The same thing happened this week. With Webb and Sorenstam missing, it was Ochoa's turn to win with ease. After putting up a five shot lead through three rounds, she cruised to the win, shooting a 65 on the final day to card a flabbergasting 10 shot victory. In the process, she clinched the Player of the Year award, ending Sorenstam's reign at the top, at least for the moment. As if that weren't enough, she also broke Se Ri Pak's tournament record of 20 under par, set when she won for the second time here in 2002.

With no Seoul Sister anywhere close to contention, the question became, could any of them clinch a top ten finish and keep the streak alive of having at least one Korean in the top ten at each event in 2006? Well, the Korean gals might have been miles behind first and even second place, but they did keep the streak intact. The top Korean finisher was Joo Mi Kim (pictured above). Joo Mi finished at 4 under par, good for solo 5th place. Thus, she had two of her best results in 2006 in her first event of the year (which she won), and her final event. Jeong Jang was the second best Korean. She shot a 4 under par 68 to move into 6th place at 3 under. She finished early, and by the time she carded her 68, it was pretty clear that she would be top ten. So the pressure was off the ladies early.

Another developing story was that of Jin Joo Hong. Hong had put herself into position to nab a top ten through three rounds, and played well to start this day with birdies on holes 6 and 7 to move to 4 under total. She made two bogies later to fall back to 2 under, but that still left her inside the top ten. But then she made a disastrous triple bogey on the 17th hole , and that was the end of her top ten chances. She did birdie the final hole, however, a touch of class that left her with a tie for 16th finish. Jee Young Lee (pictured) also had a chance at a top ten, but a final round 75 scotched that notion; she finished tied with Hong in 16th at even par.

In the end, three Koreans grabbed top tens: Joo Mi Kim, JJ and one other. The third one finished at 2 under following a 3 under par 69 to capture a 9th place finish. That player was Soo-Yun Kang!! At long last, after a horrendous season of disappointment after disappointment, including the low point of dropping out of her title defense at the Safeway Classic, Kangsy came out firing in the final round. She was four under on the front nine, and made another birdie on 12 to move to 4 under and an easy top ten. But things have not been easy for her all year, and after a bogey on the par 5 13th, she made a double bogey on 15 to fall to 1 under and outside the top ten. But she added a birdie on the next hole, and hung on to grab her first and only top ten of the year. Hopefully she will have a much more pleasant 2007 season.

Se Ri Pak finished her week with her worst round yet, a 78, and she ended up in 32nd place. Christina Kim, who had rallied briefly on Saturday, had one of the worst days of her career on Sunday. She shot a 10 over par 82, free falling to 37th place on the leaderboard. If it weren't for Jennifer Rosales, who amazingly played even worse (she shot a second straight 83 on this day), Christina would have been in last place. With her season at an end, Christina now needs to take stock and figure out where things went wrong in 2006. It was a year that began promisingly for her with her weight loss and a new outlook, but never lived up to its potential for her.

Congratulations to the great seasons the Korean golfers have had this year, and especially to the four Koreans who played this event for the first time. Regardless of where they finished this week, they have all been winners on tour in 2006, and that ain't bad at all!