2007 Samsung World Championship

On Sunday, Pettersen did not have a strong start, and was never really a factor for the title. But Ochoa continued her consistency, and tried to shake all her challengers before reaching the turn. She produced three birdies and no bogies to move to 15 under total. But one Korean, at least, was determined to hang with her. Jeong Jang (pictured) made four birdies on the front nine, catching Ochoa at 15 under as they made the turn. Kimmie had an early bogey and was at 10 under at the turn, while Angela shot a 34 and moved to 13 under, still in the hunt but with work to do.

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.

And it gets better, for every other Korean LPGA golfer in the field rallied to produce a good result as well. Jee Young Lee shot a 68 to move to 10 under and finish tied for 6th. Se Ri Pak, Sarah Lee and Seon Hwa Lee all finished tied at 6 under par, which was a tie for 10th. So all seven Korean golfers from the LPGA in the field finished in the top ten. Even Michelle Wie got into the act, shooting only her second subpar round all year, a 71, to move to 18 over and ahead of Hauert for second to last place.

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.