2007 Sybase Classic

On Saturday, Sarah Lee went toe to toe with Lorena Ochoa and matched her shot for shot and then some. Poor Jane Park, the third player in the group, had a bad day, and must have felt like she was 20 over par compared to the brilliance of her two playing partners. The fun started right away. Lee made a birdie on the first hole, and Ochoa made one on hole two to keep pace. Sarah then put her approach on hole three to within a couple of inches for another birdie. Ochoa was also within a couple of feet there for her own birdie. On the fourth hole, Lee hit another amazing approach to about a foot for another tap in birdie, but both ladies reached the par five fifth in two, Ochoa putting her approach to within maybe six feet tops. Lee missed her eagle and tapped in for birdie, but Ochoa made hers. Amazingly, Lee was four under on the first five holes and had gained not a lick of ground on the world's number one player. Ochoa hit her approach on hole six to three feet for yet another birdie and a one shot lead. It must have been incredibly discouraging for Lee to actually be behind despite having played so brilliantly on those holes, but she pushed on. On the seventh hole, Lee hit yet another brilliant iron, this one to five feet, and cashed in her fifth birdie of the day. Ochoa, however, bogied, and the two shot swing put Lee back into the lead, 14 under to 13 under. Ochoa then birdied the ninth hole to move back into a tie with Lee at 14 under par with nine holes completed.

As amazing as the start the two players were having is the fact that no one else in the field was playing even remotely as well. As a result, by the halfway point in their rounds, they had a stunning seven shot lead over anyone else in the field. Juli Inkster later expressed utter astonishment that anyone could be playing so well in such tough conditions. Sarah Lee was certainly proving she had what it took to win a tournament, but her bad luck was that she was running up against Ochoa at the height of her powers. Winning an event is part playing well and part luck, and sometimes the luck goes against you even if you are shooting lights out. But Lee was not about to throw in the towel, and more stunning golf was yet in the offing.

On the tenth hole, Lee did not hit one of her best shots, but it bounced in the rough and rolled to within a couple of feet of the flag. She made yet another birdie and recaptured the lead. On the 11th hole, another par five, Sarah again reached the green in two, while Ochoa put her second shot into rough near the green. Lee was not able to make the eagle (it was a tricky 20 footer with a lot of break), but she easily two putted, making her an unbelievable 11 under on the 11 par fives she had played that week. Ochoa missed her birdie try, and Lee now had a two shot lead. It was the biggest lead she had had on Ochoa all day; was Lorena finally starting to crack under Lee's relentless assault?

At this point, it seemed all but inevitable that the winner of the event would be either Lee or Ochoa, and that the other one would finish second. But there were a few other Koreans who were also doing pretty well. Young Jo had moved to six under, then a birdie on the par 5 11th moved her into a tie for third at 7 under. She would finish the day at that score, setting herself up for possibly her best tournament finish ever. Young Kim had a great run as well, shooting a 5 under par 67 to move to 6 under par and solo sixth place at day's end. In-Kyung Kim shot a 69 and was in a tie for 7th, looking for her first career top ten, while Se Ri Pak and Angela Park were both just out of the top ten. All these ladies looked solid to get top tens for the week with one more decent performance on Sunday.

But the trophy, as mentioned before, was going to go to either Ochoa or Lee, and at the moment, Lee had grabbed the advantage. If she could continue to increase her lead through the end of the day, it might be enough to allow her to eke out the win on Sunday. But if Ochoa made a comeback before day's end, it might cripple Lee's confidence. The next few holes were crucial to her chances.

The 12th hole was a dogleg with a lot of water; it was one of the trickiest holes on the course. Jane Park, who had just made a birdie on 11, showed how treacherous it was when she put her approach into the water here and made double bogey. But Lee went at the flag without hesitation, and ended up narrowly missing her ten foot birdie try. Ochoa missed the flag by a mile and had a tough two putt. Lee had really missed a chance to increase her lead here.

On the 13th hole, Lee hit a great drive with a 3 wood, while Ochoa put her shot into trouble behind a tree. But Ochoa hit her second shot over the tree to within ten feet, serving notice that she intended to pressure Lee all the way. Lee responded with a fantastic iron to five feet for a great birdie opportunity. Ochoa then made her birdie, after which Lee answered with a birdie of her own to maintain her two shot lead. Ochoa must have been wondering what she had to do to take down the feisty Korean rising star.

On the 14th hole, Lee was again perfect tee to green, but missed a makeable birdie. Ochoa struggled tee to green, and missed a short par save to fall to 14 under par. Sarah Lee now had a three shot lead. If she could get it to four or five shots by the end of the day, that might just be the comfort margin she would need to win on Sunday even if her game was not at her top level. On the 16th hole, however, Lee finally hit a bad drive, and had to hit her second shot under a tree limb to the fringe near the green. Could she save par and keep her momentum going? She hit a decent pitch from the rough to four feet, but missed her par save to fall back to 16 under, her lead reduced again to two. Fortunately for her, Ochoa just missed a birdie putt that would have given her a two shot swing.

Lee had another birdie chance on 17 but just missed that one as well. She finished her day with two more pars and a 7 under par 65, her second tournament record of the week. Despite that, she had only a two shot lead over Ochoa going into Sunday, 16 under par to 14 under. They would once again be paired on Sunday, with the tournament on the line. But Ochoa had been impressed by Lee's game, calling her a great player, and saying she looked forward to testing herself against her one more day. Lee also said she had had a great time, and certainly the galleries had enjoyed themselves. It was a case where everyone came out a winner, but on Sunday, one of the two ladies was going home disappointed, and Lee hoped for once it wouldn't be her.

The conditions on Sunday were tougher, and neither lady got out to the kind of start they had had on Saturday. In her first five holes, Ochoa had one birdie, on the par 5 5th, and four pars, while Lee had a bogey on the second hole and the rest pars. Thus, they were now tied at 15 under par. On the next few holes, Lee was playing well tee to green, but just couldn't seem to make a birdie. She would make all pars until a birdie on the par 5 11th. Meanwhile, Ochoa made birdies on 8, 9 and 11 to move to a two shot lead. If Lee were going to win, she was now going to have to overcome a two shot deficit to the world's number one player. But all she needed was a little of that mojo from yesterday and it could be done easily.