2007 Sybase Classic

While all that was going on, way back in the field another Korean was going on a rampage. Se Ri Pak has been waiting all year to finally have a great low scoring round. She has been toughest on courses where scoring is hard, but on this day the birdie putts were falling and she was vaulting up the leaderboard. She started the day at 3 under par, and it looked like a top ten would be a good accomplishment. But after going out in 3 under par 33, with three birdies and no mistakes, she had moved to 6 under and even a third place finish was not out of the question. She then ripped off three straight birdies on holes 11 - 13 to move to 9 under, and added another birdie on 16 to move to double digits, only the third player in the field to reach that standard all week. On the 17th hole, she gave herself a twenty foot birdie putt, but just missed it, knocking it four feet by. Alas, here her luck ran out, and she missed the highly makeable par save, making her only bogey of the day. She then parred the final par five to finish the day with a 66. It was still her best round of the year, but had that putt on 17 just fallen, it could have been an even more amazing round. Nonetheless, it was still good enough for a solo third place finish, by far her best of the year and a good omen for the Majors upcoming on the schedule. The only other Korean finishing in the top ten was Young Jo, who wound up by herself in 8th place. Young Kim finished in 11th, just a shot out of the top ten, while the rookies Na On Min, In-Kyung Kim and Jane Park all had excellent results, finishing in the top twenty. Angela Park, the rookie leader, struggled to a 3 over par 75 that knocked her down to a tie for 21st, still a pretty good finish. The Korean rookies were starting to play more at the level that was expected of them at the start of the year.

Back at the top, Sarah Lee was continuing to play well tee to green, giving herself one birdie try after another. Ochoa was keeping the door open by missing her own birdie chances, but Lee just couldn't seem to make the putts that were necessary to make up that deficit. In the end, Ochoa did not make a single birdie after the 11th hole, but neither did Lee, and Ochoa ended up winning the event by three shots when Lee made a bogey on the final hole. It had turned out to be an anticlimactic ending to a tournament where Lee had played as well as she ever had, yet still wound up coming up short for the fifth time in her career. Still, she finished at 15 under par, six shots better than anyone else in the field. Were it not for Ochoa being in prime form, Lee would have easily had her first win on tour. You can second guess the way Lee played the back nine; perhaps she should have been more aggressive, either with her irons or her putts. But the lesson she should take away from this event is that she has the game to win out there, she just needs to catch a few breaks next time. Or perhaps next time, she will be able to play at her top level even longer and eliminate the need for those breaks. At Michelob, she had played fantastically for two rounds before struggling. Here, she had played amazingly for three rounds, and had done decently on Sunday as well. Next time, she might be able to put four great rounds together, and then no one, not even the best in the world, will be able to deny her the trophy. With her talent and increasing confidence, you have to believe that Sarah Lee will soon put 'the icing on the cake' and claim the victories that have long been due her.