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Volume 5, Number 8, November 14, 2007 | ||||||||||||||
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2007 Samsung World Championship |
Pages 1, 2, 3, Gallery, Results | |||||||||||||
Alas, at this point, things started to go wrong for the Korean challengers. Ochoa made another birdie on 10 to move to 16 under. She maintained that one shot lead over JJ for the next several holes, and neither made birdie on the par 5 12th. But on the par 3 13th, JJ left her tee shot well short of the hole and three putted to fall two shots behind Ochoa. And that was pretty much it for her challenge to Ochoa. Ochoa made a couple more birdies on 14 and 15, and cruised in for the win at 18 under total. There would be no Korean winner on this day. Still, the event was a great one for the Korean contingent. JJ struggled
the rest of the way, making one more bogey on 17 to finish at 13 under
par. But Mi Hyun Kim, who reached the turn at 10 under, caught fire on
the back. Kimmie told the press that this course was tough for her; with
several par four holes nearly 450 yards in length, there were some holes
she had trouble reaching in regulation. The ninth hole in particular was
hard on her; she bogied it three of the four days. But her putting was
spot on, as it often is, and she took advantage on the back. She made
birdies on 10 and 11 to move to 12 under, then birdied her final two holes
to move to 14 under and solo second place. This moved her again into third
on the money list, which would be the highest she has ever finished if
she could maintain that level (her previous best is fourth). JJ wound
up tied for third at 13 under with Angela Park (pictured below), who shot
a 70 on day four. So even though the win was easily claimed by Ochoa,
the other three players in the top four were Korean.
So in the end, the Korean women had a great week in the desert. The win
eluded them yet again, but they added more top ten finishes to their resumes,
and more money to their pocketbooks. More importantly, they now had some
momentum going into the only event on the LPGA contested in their home
country, the Kolon-Hana Bank Championship, an event the Korean players
had never lost. There was reason to hope that the slump would end at last.
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Gallery | ||||||||||||||