2007 McDonald's LPGA Championship:
Passing the Torch

On the second day, Angela Park (pictured) came down to Earth somewhat, shooting a one over par round to drop to 4 under total. She was still tied for 9th, but with a surprising number of golfers going under par on this day, she had lost quite a bit of ground on the leaders. The top player in round two was Suzann Pettersen. Pettersen had nearly won the first Major of the year before a late round meltdown destroyed her chances. On this day she was superlative, shooting a five under par 67 to vault to 8 under total. Right behind her was Karrie Webb at 7 under. The highest placed Korean on the leaderboard was Birdie Kim (surprise, surprise!), who followed her great first day with a decent one under par 71 on day two. She was tied for 3rd at 6 under, still very much in the hunt as the weekend started.

The leaderboard was packed with strong players. Annika continued her improbable play by shooting a 69 on day two to move to 5 under, ahead of any Korean save Birdie. Pressel, Brittany Licicome and Paula Creamer also sat at that level. That's a lot of pretty strong golfers to contend with. But several Koreans were lurking just behind them. Angela and Sarah Lee were both tied at 4 under, while rookie Na On Min had moved to 3 under. Christina Kim shot a 69 and was now at one under, along with Kimmie, Kyeong Bae, In-Kyung Kim and Jee Young Lee. It would be a stretch for one of those ladies to win at this point, but a low round or two could still get them the trophy.

Meanwhile, the cut ended up falling at 3 over par. Michelle Wie, playing in her second event since returning to action, just made the cut on the nose. But she would go on to play horribly on the weekend, winding up in last place, a full 10 shots behind the second to last place golfer. Among those missing the cut were US Women's Amateur winner Kimberly Kim, Grace Park, and rookie Song-Hee Kim.

On day three, the Korean golfers made a play for the record books. While Pettersen and Webb struggled early, Birdie Kim made her move. She had four birdies and a bogey on the front nine, moving up to 9 under par by the turn, which put her just out of the lead. Pettersen had some problems with driving accuracy, putting several of her drives into tall weeds and generating bogies and double bogies as a result. After a birdie on the par 5 11th hole, Birdie Kim, amazingly, was in the lead! Could it be? Could Birdie Kim really win this event? At that moment, she looked firmly in control of her game and emotions.

Meanwhile, another Korean was making a stunning run up the leaderboard. Na On Min (pictured) is an 18 year old rookie who had been an amateur until she gained non-exempt status at 2006 LPGA Q-School. She decided to turn pro and join the tour, but being non-exempt, found it hard to get into fields early in the year. In her very first LPGA event, the Corona Championship, she contended for the title and wound up finishing fifth. She also missed a top ten shortly after that at the SemGroup, finishing 11th. But she had missed the cut at the Ginn Tribute, played the week before this Major. One thing Min had shown is that she could be a trifle inconsistent, but when she was on her game, she could be fantastic. But never before had she been on her game like she was on this day, and the results were downright jaw dropping.

Min started her day with a bogey on the second hole, but after that she was virtually flawless. In the toughest conditions the women had faced all week, with wind and higher rough, Min went to town. She made birdies on holes 3, 5, 6 and 8 to move to 6 under total. After adding two more birdies on 12 and 13, she was at 8 under and suddenly right in the mix for the title. At about the same time, Birdie Kim began to struggle with her game. She made a bogey on the 13th hole, but the real killer was when she made double bogey on the par 5 15th. Another mistake on 18 would drop her down to 5 under total. She theoretically wasn't out of the contest, but in fact she would not play that well on Sunday and would never contend again. Still, it was another learning experience for her, and had to be encouraging after all the terrible golf she had struggled through in the past two years. It does seem as though Birdie is on the right path again.

But while Birdie fell off the radar, Min continued to shine. She made another birdie on the par 5 15th when she reached the fringe in two shots and two putted. She drained yet another birdie on hole 16 to move to 10 under par and a two shot lead. This rookie, in only her 6th start as a professional, was in the lead at one of the biggest golf events in the world. To this point she had been nearly flawless, missing very few greens or fairways. But that was also the moment when she started to realize what was happening, and then it got tough. On the par 3 17th, she missed the green and had to work to make par. Hole 18 would prove similarly challenging, but once again she made par. Thus, she finished with a 7 under par 65, and her 10 under par score would hold up as the top score by the end of the day. An incredible achievement for the youngster, who now found herself in position to set several records. If she were to win, she would become not only the youngest woman to win an LPGA Major (breaking the record Pressel had set a few months ago), she would also become the youngest woman to win any multi-round LPGA event.

But amazingly, she would not be the only eighteen year old Korean who would put herself in the hunt. Angela Park (remember her?) had a flawless round herself on this day. She shot a 4 under par 68, which moved her to 8 under total, just two shots behind Min. It looked for a while like the two rookies would be playing in the final group on Sunday. In the end, though, Pettersen rallied and made a couple late birdies to move to 9 under par. Park didn't have much professional experience herself, although she looked like a seasoned veteran compared to Min. And now both of them were beautifully positioned to make history, for Park, too, would break those two previously mentioned youth records were she to win the crown. Min wound up paired with Pettersen in the final group on Sunday, while Park played with Webb in the next to last group.

Besides Birdie Kim, there were a couple other Koreans who might potentially have made a run at the top. Jee Yong Lee was tied with Birdie for 7th at 5 under after shooting a 68 on the day. Sarah Lee was a shot behind them at 4 under, while Mi Hyun Kim and another Korean rookie, In-Kyung Kim, were tied at 2 under. But in all likelihood, if a Korean was going to take the trophy, it was going to be Min or Park.