2007 Corning Classic: Breakthrough

While all this was going on, young rookie In-Kyung Kim was making her own move up the leaderboard. She put her tee shot on the 11th hole to a couple of feet, then made that birdie to move to 13 under. On the 12th hole, she hit her approach from the fairway to about 6 inches for another tap in birdie to move to 14 under. But Young was not giving an inch, as she drained another birdie on the 9th hole to move to 16 under (so much for Bader putting pressure on her!). Young seemed to be completely comfortable on this course, particularly on the greens, where she made one impressive putt after another. She still had yet to make even a single bogey all week, and looked to be in cruise control. She made her fifth birdie of the day on the par 5 12th after hitting her third shot there to about six feet. That moved her to 17 under and a two shot lead over Bader.

Finally, on the 13th hole, Young Kim made her first mistake of the week. She missed the green, and left her chip shot four feet short of the hole. She had been making putts of that length all week, but missed this one (barely) and tapped in the bogey. Bader, meanwhile, made a 20 footer for birdie on the same hole, and just like that they were tied atop the leaderboard at 16 under. Thirteen had been the hardest hole all week, and it had finally resulted in Young's first bogey of the tournament.

The rest of the round was not as smooth for Young Kim, but she did not make another mistake and got into the house at 16 under par. However, Bader also did this, and they were joined at the top by Paula Creamer, who made a late run to end her day at 16 under. To avoid potential bad weather late on Sunday, the final round would be played in threesomes and would start early, so those three would be in the final group on that day. Just behind them was Mi Hyun Kim, who made a fantastic forty foot birdie putt on the final hole to move to 15 under par. She would be in the second to last group with In-Kyung Kim, who finished the day at 12 under par in solo fifth place. It was certainly possible she could still win the tournament, but the top four had a nice three shot cushion over the rest of the field, meaning anyone else who wanted a shot at the title probably had to go very low on Sunday to do it.

Several other Korean players were in nice position on the leaderboard. Just behind In-Kyung was fellow rookie Na On Min (pictured), who shot a 68 on day three to move to 11 under total. Seon Hwa Lee and Grace Park finished the day at 10 under and were tied for 8th. And Hye Jung Choi was just out of the top ten at 9 under total. So there were lots of opportunities for top tens for Korean golfers. But the big attention doubtless focused on the two Sisters at the top of the leaderboard. Could Kimmie, the player with the most wins among the leaders, make this her ninth career win? Or would Young Kim finally break through and collect her first triumph on tour?

If Young were nervous, she sure didn't show it at the start of her round Sunday. Right from the first tee shot, she played aggressively, with the same level of confidence she had been showing the previous three days. Meanwhile, Bader got off to a terrible start, missing short par saves on two of the first three holes. On the fourth hole, Young made a birdie to move to 18 under, then another on 5 to move to 19 under. But Creamer was keeping pace, and a birdie on that hole moved her to 19 under as well. But on the next hole, Creamer put her tee shot into the trees, and an ill advised aggressive play caused her next shot to hit more trees and stay in trouble. She got a double bogey on the hole. When Young drained a 20 foot birdie on the 7th hole to move to 20 under par, she had a three shot lead over the field, and seemed ready to run away with her first title.

But then she started to struggle. On the next hole, she put her approach into a greenside bunker, then hit a fairly miserable sand shot that did not even reach the green. She made bogey there, only her second of the week. On the next hole, she airmailed her approach shot well over the green and onto the next tee box! She was left with a ten foot par save, which she missed, for her second straight bogey. She had made only one bogey in three rounds, and suddenly she had two in a row. She fell to 18 under, and when Bader made birdie and Creamer par, Young was tied at the top with Creamer at 18 under, with Bader one shot back. Her three shot lead had disappeared in just two holes.

Most of the rest of the round was a pitched battle between the top four golfers on the leaderboard for the title. Kimmie (pictured) entered the fray when she drained a six foot birdie try on 10 to move into a tie for the lead with Creamer and Young. Kimmie had suffered from a stomach virus earlier in the week, but was finally feeling better on the weekend. Now she was in the best position yet to take the title, and after barely missing a birdie on 11, she drained one on 12 to move into the lead all by herself at 19 under. When the final group played this hole, Young struggled off the tee and could only manage a par on this par 5 hole. Creamer, however, put her approach within four feet and made birdie. Bader did likewise. So now it was Creamer and Kimmie atop the leaderboard, with Young and Bader one shot back.

Young was facing a crisis at this point. She had fallen out of the lead, scrambled to a par on the par 5, and on the 13th hole, she hit a terrible approach that rolled up against a tree near the green. She had little green to work with, and chipped her shot some ten feet past the hole. But she hit a marvelous putt and saved her par, avoiding her third bogey of the round. Moments later, Kimmie struck a terrible downhill birdie putt on the par 5 14th that rolled well past the hole, and couldn't save par. So now Creamer was alone atop the leaderboard, with Young, Bader and Kimmie all one shot back.

Holes 13, 14 and 15 proved to be the pivotal holes in the tournament. After Young's great par save on 13, she hit a nice drive on the par 5 14th. Creamer hit a terrible one, but got lucky in that her drive hit a tree and bounced back into the fairway. She did not take advantage of that break and hit another rotten shot, then hit her third well past the hole. She did not get to the hole with her birdie putt, leaving her a downhill six foot par save. She missed that and fell to 18 under par. Meanwhile, Young hit a superlative approach for her third to about a foot for a tap in birdie. The two shot swing put Young on top at 19 under. A hole ahead on the par 3 15th, Kimmie two putted for par while In-Kyung Kim dunked a short birdie try to move to 15 under. Although she would not be in position to win, the young rookie had a great chance for a top five if she kept playing like that. That would, of course, be her career best finish.

On the par 3 15th, Creamer put on the heat with a great tee shot to four feet. Young wound up in a bunker, then hit a so-so bunker shot to within six feet, still further from the hole than Creamer's birdie putt, and on the same line to boot. Once again, Young was being faced with a test: did she have a champion's heart, or would she crumble and allow Creamer to have a two shot swing (which would have given her the lead again)? Young proved that she has what it takes by draining her second clutch par save in the past three holes. After that, Creamer, amazingly, missed her birdie try, and Young remained on top of the leaderboard.

Meanwhile, Kimmie missed a short par save on 16 that knocked her two shots back of Young with two to play: a bad mistake this late in the contest. It looked increasingly like, if a Korean were to win, it would have to be Young. The final group parred 16. On the 17th hole, however, Young made a good strategic move, hitting 3-wood off the tee. This kept her in the short grass. The other two ladies both hit driver and both wound up in trouble. Young then hit her second shot to within a foot of the hole, putting enormous pressure on Creamer and Bader. In the end, Young made her birdie and the other women made par (although Creamer just barely missed her birdie putt from the fringe). Young went to the final hole with a two shot lead.

On the final hole, Kimmie parred and got into the house at 17 under. Both Creamer and Bader put themselves into trouble, easing the pressure even more on Young. Young had a relatively routine par, while Creamer bogied to fall into a tie for second with Mi Hyun Kim. Bader fared even worse, making a double bogey to fall into a tie for fourth with In-Kyung Kim. It was the best finish of In-Kyung's rookie year to date, and moved her into position to challenge Angela Park for top rookie honors. Besides the three Koreans in the top five, Seon Hwa Lee finished tied for 6th at 15 under, while Jeong Jang finished just outside the top ten in 11th at 12 under. Grace Park, meanwhile, looking for her first top ten in years, narrowly missed it, finishing tied for 11th with JJ and a few others. Still, it was by far her best finish of the year, and signaled that she might soon be ready to return to being the top player she once was.

But the spotlight belonged to Young Kim, who tapped in her short par save and collected a three shot win. Almost immediately after the final putt fell, she broke down in tears. She was so misty that she didn't see the phalanx of her fellow Korean golfers run towards her on the green to spray her with soda and water. After that, she gave a charming interview with the Golf Channel in wonderful English, bubbling about how incredible it felt to at last reach this milestone. She enthused that this step meant everything to her, and indeed, it just might. For a long time, Young Kim has been the secret Korean golfer, the one who had tons of potential and who consistently played well, but who never seemed to capture the spotlight. But in Corning, New York, at a tournament well known for giving golfers their first win, Young added herself to the list of Koreans who have won on the LPGA. The secret Korean is a secret no longer!

Thanks to Bob McIntosh for some of the photos used in this report. Check out the Exclusive galleries for many more of his pics!