Slammed!

On Friday, Se Ri played early, and played very well indeed. The conditions were pretty much the same as they had been on day one: calm, warm, but with treacherous rough if you made mistakes off the tee. She had three birdies on the front nine as compared to a single bogey on the back for a total of 2 under par 70, a great score under the conditions. That moved her to 2 under par total for the tournament. Ochoa also played in the morning, shooting a one under par round to move to 4 under total, a tie with Ahn for the moment. However, it had also been a near disaster for Ochoa, who struggled early only to right the ship later on. Mi Hyun Kim played well, shooting an even par round to remain at 2 over for the tournament and in a tie for 15th. But Sorenstam played even worse on day two than day one, shooting a 4 over par round that left her miles back and pretty much knocked her out of the tournament.

In the afternoon, Shi Hyun (pictured) played her round. She started on the back nine on day two. On the par five 11th, she put her second shot into some tough rough, but hit a nice pitch out to about five feet past the hole. She made that putt to move to 5 under and the outright lead. But the lead did not last long. On the next hole, she missed the fairway and was forced to punch it out of the rough; she made bogey to fall back to 4 under. On the very next hole, she again missed the fairway, and ended up in the deep grass near the cart path. Once again she punched out to about 40 yards short of the green. Her approach was not very good, and she two putted for a second bogey to fall out of her share of the lead. Even worse, she had some of the hardest holes on the course ahead of her. Would she be able to recover from her sudden slump?

On the par 3 14th, she hit a mediocre tee shot, but still landed on the green and was able to save par. On the ultra narrow 15th hole, she hit a fabulous drive, and her approach got her to within about fifteen feet. But she was not able to make birdie from there. On the next hole, she put her drive once again in the right rough, and had no shot to the green from there, so once again she had to punch out. Her third shot was just a little pitch, but it only barely hit the green. She made a crushing double bogey there after missing a very short bogey putt, and looked like she was on her way to falling out of the competition entirely.

But Ahn fought back after that, making a birdie on the par 5 18th (her eagle putt from 50 feet came up half a foot short) to move back to 2 under. She then made three more birdies and two bogies on the front nine (her second nine holes of the day) to finish her day at 3 under total, just one shot out of the lead. Ochoa had that lead, and was tied with Paula Creamer, who had just finished an amazing round of her own (a 5 under par 67) to get to that point.

A couple of other Koreans, who had had success at this event in the past, made bold moves up the leaderboard early in their afternoon rounds. Angela Park had been in contention through three rounds in 2006, all the more surprising considering she was a 17 year old amateur who was just about to start her professional career on the Futures Tour the next week. She stumbled somewhat towards the end of the tournament, but still finished with a very impressive tie for 15th, which got her the invite to participate in the 2007 edition of the event. Park was one over par after the first round, and early in the second round went on a tear, notching birdies in 3 of her first six holes to move to 2 under par. It didn't last, though, and by the end of the day she had produced a 2 over par 74 that dropped her to 3 over for the tournament. Aree Song has been having success at this event since she managed a top ten here at the tender age of thirteen. Her greatest moment came in her loss to Grace Park at the 2004 edition of the event. She had also shot a 73 in round one, but in round two made an early birdie to move to even par. But after she barely missed a birdie on the 18th hole, she struggled again, shooting a 75. She never really contended after that.

The cut ended up falling at 9 over par, but despite that, a number of Korean stars were not around for the weekend. Kimberly Kim, the 15 year old amateur star, was at 10 over par after Friday's action and went home. As mentioned previously, Seon Hwa Lee missed her first cut since joining the tour, also with a 10 over total, and Birdie Kim joined her on the sidelines. Meena Lee and Sung Ah Yim were two more notable Sisters who missed out. On the positive side, the KLPGA stars were both playing well. Hee Young Park (pictured above) shot a 2 over par 74 for a +3 total, still well in the tournament. Ji Yai Shin played better, shooting an even par round on Friday to sit at 4 over total. Grace Park and Soo-Yun Kang were also at 4 over.

A few players really struggled on day two. Jee Young Lee looked set to contend following a day one 70, but shot a 77 on day two to fall all the way to 5 over par. Hee-Won Han also had a ton of trouble, shooting an 81 on day two for a 9 over par total; fortunately, she made the cut on the number, but did not end up making a lot of money in her final event before her child's birth. Perhaps most surprisingly, the defending champion, Karrie Webb, also had a world of hurt on day two. She shot a 77 and fell to 3 over par. She was still in it, but it would be a tough battle to get back to the top from there.

By the middle of Saturday's round, Shi Hyun had again charged to the lead, thanks to birdies on holes 4, 5 and 11 versus just one bogey. She sat at 5 under. But right behind her at 4 under were Ochoa, Creamer, Suzann Pettersen… and Se Ri Pak, who was one of her playing partners for the day. Two Korean stars in prime position to possibly win the first Major of the year, with both Sorenstam and Webb effectively out of it. For Pak in particular, it looked like a golden opportunity: at that point in the contest, she had more Major wins than all the other people in the top ten COMBINED.

Se Ri was doing what she needed to do. She was hitting the ball long and for the most part straight, putting the ball on the green and giving herself a number of birdie tries. She was unfortunately not making as many putts as she would have liked, but otherwise everything was going swimmingly. On the 13th hole, after a perfect drive, she hit a great iron that almost went into the hole on the fly. Her putt put her into a tie for the lead with Ahn at 5 under par.

The par 3 14th had a sucker flag position behind the water. Se Ri, being the bold player she is, went right for it, landing it 20 feet from the flag. She made par. But Ahn also went for it and left her ball short in the water, eventually making double bogey. On 15, Se Ri hit a perfect drive, but her approach was short, and she was not able to get it up and down. She bogied to fall back into a tie for the lead. Ahn gave herself a great chance at birdie, but could not make it.

Pak and Ahn (pictured) had to fight again for par on 16, but Shi Hyun failed to make it, while Se Ri did. On the par 3 17th, Se Ri hit what looked like a perfect tee shot, but it hit a ridge or something en route to the flag and ended up rolling into some high rough near the green. A truly rotten break for her, which was compounded when her next shot hit another ridge and rolled back away from the flag, so that her third shot was actually farther away from the flag than her second had been! Fortunately, she two putted for bogey to avoid too terrible a hit on this hole. Ahn made double bogey there to fall to 1 under for the tournament. But Lorena Ochoa, who played the hole next, would probably have taken either result over the one she was about to have. On day one, it was Sorenstam who had fallen, on day two Webb. Now it was Ochoa's turn to go belly up, and she imploded in a major way on this hole. It started with a bad tee shot that nicked a tree, followed by an ill advised approach that flew the green into the rough beyond. After whiffing the third shot, she hit the fourth shot well past the hole. She ended up with a quadruple bogey 7 from which she never fully recovered. Se Ri's chances were looking better all the time.

On the final hole, Se Ri decided not to go for the green in two despite a decent drive. But her third shot was not very good, landing far away from the flag. Ahn, too, ended up well past the flag, very close to Se Ri's ball. Shi Hyun putted first and amazingly dunked her birdie from thirty feet to end her day on an up note. It had been a tough go: she was in the lead all by herself on the 12th hole, but by 18 she had fallen all the way to even for the tournament. The birdie meant she shot a 2 over par 74, which put her at 1 under for the event. She was still very much in the hunt, and had to keep that in mind.

Se Ri putted next, on the same line as Ahn but a foot closer, and obviously she had been watching Shi Hyun, because her putt was on the perfect line. If anything, it looked like it would not reach the hole, because it crawled along at a snail's pace, getting closer and closer as if in slow motion. Finally, it dropped in the hole on the final roll for a birdie! The crowd went wild, and Se Ri now found herself tied for the lead again with Creamer at 4 under. Creamer was playing in the group behind Se Ri, but bogied the final hole to fall to 3 under. Se Ri ended the day tied for the lead with Suzann Pettersen.

Tied for the lead. Se Ri had played this event ten times, and had never been anywhere near this close to possibly winning it. Everything was lining up her way. Ochoa, Webb and Sorenstam had fallen well off the pace. No one in the top ten had ever won a Major before except her. She would be in the final group, with a share of the lead. When Se Ri had taken a share of the lead into the final day of a 72 hole LPGA event, she had NEVER LOST. And this was the kind of course that was tailor made to her game. She might never have a better chance to win this Major than right here and now. There was only one more day to go. At stake: Se Ri could etch her name on one of the most elite lists in women's golf. Only six players have ever won the career Grand Slam, every one of them a Hall of Famer. Webb, Sorenstam and Inkster were the ones who did it in her era, and considering how her name has been associated with those three champions for the last decade, it would make things really complete if she were to join them in this accomplishment. But: there was still one more day to go.