2007 Wegman's Rochester LPGA:
Teen Dream

Both Ochoa and Kim birdied the 13th hole, but Ochoa left herself above the hole on 14 and three putted for yet another bogey. She now fell to 6 under par, three shots behind Kim. In-Kyung was playing well, Ochoa seemed unable to do anything right, and time was running out. More and more, it looked like In-Kyung was on her way to her victory.

However, there were other players making moves up the leaderboard. Mi Hyun Kim had all but shot herself out of the tournament on Saturday, but on Sunday she was steady early on, going one under on the front nine to move to 5 under total. On the back, she made birdies on 10, 14 and 15 to leap up to 8 under, just a shot behind In-Kyung. Also playing well was JJ, who went out in one under as well, then made several birdies on the back to shoot a 68 on the day. Her 5 under total would not be enough to win, but it did secure her a top five finish, a more than satisfactory defense of her title.

Kimmie was in a great position at that time. Playing ahead of the leaders, she had the chance to post a great score and force In-Kyung and Ochoa to play well to beat her. Kimmie was not able to make birdie on the par 5 17th hole, though, despite a good opportunity. Then, on the 18th, she hit her tee shot into the woods. She was forced to punch out, but got incredibly lucky when her lackluster chip bounced off a wooden stake and landed in the fairway. Had she not hit that stake she would have been stuck in the deep stuff. She did not take advantage of the break, though, leaving her approach far away from the hole She two putted for bogey and finished the day at 7 under. A decent finish, but probably not enough to win. As it turned out, she finished third, a great result, but a bit disappointing considering what could have been.

With two holes to play, In-Kyung still had a two shot lead over Mi Hyun and a three shot lead over Ochoa. A birdie on the par 5 17th, like she had made the previous day, would probably be enough to secure the win. Ochoa, meanwhile, was pretty much in a must-eagle situation. But amazingly, Ochoa reached the green in two and gave herself a great eagle chance. In-Kyung put her third shot fairly close, too. But then Ochoa had her first success in many holes when she nailed the eagle to cut the deficit to one shot. Which would have meant nothing, however, had Kim made the shortish birdie. But she missed it, and now went to the 18th hole with a precarious one shot lead over a suddenly rejuvenated Ochoa.

Kim responded admirably with a perfect drive, while Ochoa missed the fairway badly. It looked as though Ochoa would not be able to complete her comeback. All Kim had to do was get her approach onto the green and she'd be in great shape. But her adrenaline picked the wrong time to kick in, and she did the one thing she could not afford to do: hit her approach long. She left herself in a terrible lie behind the green with very little green to work with. It would be easy to blow the ball well past the hole. Ochoa was not able to make birdie, but tapped in for par. So if Kim could get up and down, the title was hers. She did the first part perfectly, hitting an exquisite chip from the rough to four feet. The commentators opined that it would be tough to hit that shot on a Tuesday afternoon on the practice green, let alone with the tournament on the line. So it all came down to the final short putt. There was a mild break on it, but it was a very makeable par. But with everything on the line, it was bound to be a challenge. After spending some time looking the line over, she stroked the putt - but it just lipped out. It literally could not have come closer without going in. She sighed deeply, realizing that she would have to beat the best player in the world in a playoff to get this win. Nothing is ever easy, she was heard to say earlier in the round. Little did she know!

So once again, as had already happened several times in 2007, the Koreans were all over the leaderboard, but it looked like a non-Korean might get the title. Only In-Kyung could prevent that. The playoff was to again be on the 18th hole, with the second playoff hole on 10 if necessary, then back and forth between the two holes until a winner emerged.

If In-Kyung was disappointed that Ochoa had made three shots up on her in just two holes, she certainly didn't seem deflated: on the way back to the 18th tee, she was laughing. She showed that she was over the minor disaster by hitting a great drive again on the 18th. She was faced with virtually the same approach shot that she had badly missed the last time she played the hole. She decided to go with the same club as before, perhaps courting disaster, but this time it was the right choice, and her iron perfectly landed hole high, just fifteen feet from the flag. Ochoa was not able to get her approach on the right level, and two putted for par. So once again, In-Kyung had a chance to win the event. And once again, her putt narrowly missed.

They next played the 10th hole, and both players missed the fairway badly. In fact, Ochoa's miss was far worse, but she got a big break when her ball rolled back over the cart path into a decent lie. From where In-Kyung wound up, she could only punch her shot towards the green. Ochoa, also, was not able to reach the green in regulation, but put her third shot right next to the hole. Kim did not put her own third shot shot very close, and her par putt missed by a lot. And so, Ochoa won her first ever LPGA playoff by making the short par save.

In-Kyung was a bit shell shocked, but afterwards took some positives out of the experience. "I'm still 19 years old... Maybe next year, maybe not this year, but next year or many more, I will win lots of tournaments and I can see that clearly right now, and I will work it out," she told the press. "But right now I feel confident with my game, and I played pretty tight with the number one player. I will take that experience and next time I'm never going to let it go." Based on the way she played in Rochester, you can bet she will have many more chances to win in the years to come.