2006 McDonald's LPGA Championship:
Long Live the Queen!

Miyazato soon had problems of her own. On the 7th hole, her tee shot landed in the rough, and her chip up to the green didn't quite make it. Her par save from the fringe was not good enough, and she also missed her bogey. So like Ahn minutes earlier, Miyazato made a double bogey and fell to 6 under. That left Webb all by herself at the top of the heap, but then Webb began to struggle on the par 5 11th. Her tee shot went into a fairway bunker, and her second ended up in the rough. Her third shot also wound up in the rough, and though she got her 4th onto the green, she was not able to nail a 25 foot par save. So she, too, bogied, and fell to 7 under. So just like that, Se Ri and Annika found themselves just one shot out of the lead.

Both superstars took their shots at the lead. Annika had a 15 foot birdie try on 16, but it lipped out; she made par. Then Se Ri put her approach on 10 to about six feet, but she was not able to convert that birdie, either. She had more luck on the par 5 11th, though. After a perfect drive with a three wood, she hit her second to just short of the green, then hit a fabulous pitch from there to inches. One easy birdie tap in later, she was tied for the lead at 7 under par!

And she wasn't done yet. On the par 3 12th, she hit her tee shot about 40 feet short of the flag. But then she hit a wonderful birdie putt that tracked slowly, slowly towards the hole, finally falling on the last roll. Unbelievably after all she had been through, Se Ri now found herself in the lead all by herself at 8 under par. Now that she had grabbed the lead, could she keep it?

Mi Hyun Kim gave it all she had. She played wonderfully, hitting fairway after fairway, green after green, and giving herself many makeable birdie putts. But nothing, absolutely nothing, was falling. Other than an early birdie that moved her to 7 under, she was not able to get anything else to go in. Frustration masked her face. She finally gave herself a four foot birdie chance on 11, but even that one didn't fall. Meanwhile, Sorenstam ended her round on a sour note. After moving all the way to 6 under and nearly getting to 7 under, she parred 17, then three putted 18 for bogey to finish at 5 under. She had the clubhouse lead, but it seemed fairly certain that someone would beat it. So there would be no 4-peat for her.

Cristie Kerr then moved to 7 under on the 17th. She hit a nice drive on 18, and if she could give herself a birdie chance, might be able to join Pak at 8 under. But her approach went left, hit the rocks and shot out into the lake. She would finish at 6 under, eliminating Sorenstam and becoming the new clubhouse leader.

Se Ri had the lead, but immediately ran into trouble off the 13th tee. Her drive wound up in the heavy rough. She was forced to take a drop, and had to call an official to help her. She decided finally to take the ball back along the line of flight (one of her options) until she got back to the fairway. This was a very savvy thing to do; her alternative might have had her spending a lot of time trying to hack the ball out of the soup. But it also gave her a third shot of about 230 yards into a very tricky flag position at the front of the green. She then demonstrated the kind of skill her fans have not seen from her in a long time by hitting a perfect shot to about thirty feet. A really impressive effort from there. Although she was not able to save par, she left herself a tap in bogey, and more importantly, still had a tie for the lead at 7 under with Kimmie and Webb. Her wise decision to take her medicine probably saved her an all-important stroke in the end.

Meanwhile, Webb missed a birdie try on 14, but nearly reached the green in two on the par 5 15th. From there, she got it up and down and moved into the lead at 8 under. Moments later, Kimmie burned the edge on yet another birdie try, her bad luck on the greens continuing. Se Ri then gave herself a birdie chance on 14, but missed it, making par. Now it was her turn to tackle the final par 5 on the course. Like Webb, she reached the area in front of the green in two shots. From there, she hit a superlative chip shot to a couple feet, then cashed in the birdie to move to 8 under. But while she was catching Webb, Webb was busy hitting a tee shot tight on the par 3 17th. It looked like Karrie would soon reestablish her lead via a short birdie try.

A few holes back, a couple of other women positioned themselves to take a run at the two Hall of Famers. On the difficult 13th hole, Shi Hyun Ahn hit a spectacular iron from 186 yards to a few inches, giving herself an easy birdie. She moved to 7 under. Michelle Wie, her playing partner for the second day in a row, had a longer putt, but sunk it as well to also move to 7 under. But it all seemed moot as Webb lined up a putt to move to 9 under. But, unbelievably, she missed it! So she and Se Ri remained tied at the top.

On the 16th, Se Ri missed another fairway and put herself in trouble. She was in nasty rough, and looking at a struggle to make par. But she reached into her bag of tricks, as she has done so many times in the past, and produced magic. This, more than anything else, is what made Se Ri such a fantastic player: her ability to come up with a phenomenal shot just when she needs it most. Her fans had been treated to countless examples of that in the past, starting with her memorable shot out of the water during the 1998 US Women's Open playoff. It was the one ingredient that might be missing from her comeback; how, after all, do you train to do that? But Se Ri had been proving the last two days that her ability to rise to the occasion was intact, and here on 16, she did it again, hitting a jaw-droppingly brilliant shot from the rough to within 4 feet, then draining the birdie putt to move to 9 under and a one shot lead. From the jaws of disaster she had once again plucked success.

Webb had one more chance to put some pressure on Pak. On the 18th she hit the green in two and had an 8 foot birdie putt to tie for the lead and get into the clubhouse at 9 under. But she misread the putt and had to settle for par. She finished at 8 under, so all Se Ri had to do was par the final two holes and she would, in all likelihood, have her fifth Major championship.

But there were still some players who could change that equation. Shi Hyun Ahn was playing the par 5 15th, but was not able to convert a birdie putt and had to settle for par. Wie, however, had a chip for eagle, much like Webb and Pak had had. She made birdie to move to 8 under. Over on 16, Kimmie missed yet another good birdie try from about 5 feet. By now she was doubtlessly pondering ripping her putter to pieces with her teeth. Se Ri then hit her tee shot on 17 to about 20 feet left of the flag, then hit a mediocre birdie try. Fortunately, she kept her wits about her and made a dicey par save. She still had the one shot lead over Wie and Webb. One hole to go.

Se Ri's life got a little easier when Wie missed a two foot par save on the 16th hole to fall to 7 under. But Shi Hyun Ahn put the pressure right back on when she drained a 10 footer on the same hole to move to 8 under herself. This Major had been one of the most tightly contested in LPGA history, and even with just a few holes to go, there were still several players with great chances to win. Se Ri had a chance to make the question moot, though. She hit a great drive with a 3 wood on 18, then hit her approach onto the green, 20 feet from the flag. All she needed to do was two putt, and she was in great shape to win; a birdie would clinch it.

But her first putt was way too fast, steamrolling 7 feet past the flag. She was not able to conjure her magic on her par save, and had to settle for a bogey. She thus finished with a solid 69, her fourth straight round under par, but was not able to deliver the knockout punch to Webb. Assuming one of the next few players did not eliminate her, she would still have to go to a playoff to claim her trophy. And that playoff would include the winner of the first Major of the year. It's never easy winning on this tour.

But when Se Ri talked to a reporter moments later, she was not negative or bemoaning the turn of events. To the contrary, she was smiling, confident. She told the reporter that missing the three putt just meant it would take her a little longer to get the win than she had expected. How different an attitude from the negative one she had suffered from last year! Her confidence leapt off the screen. She was so thrilled to be back contending in a Major, that she didn't want to allow even for an instance the thought that she might have blown it all. It was the swagger of a woman who knows how to win.

Meanwhile, Shi Hyun Ahn gave Se Ri a gift by three putting on the 17th hole to fall to 7 under. Kimmie, meanwhile, was on the 18th green facing a 25 foot birdie putt. If she made it, she got into the house at 8 under, tied for the lead. If she missed it, she could finish no better than third. Well, much as had happened to her the rest of the day, Peanut missed it. She made par, though, her 17th par of the day. Oh, what could have been for the tiny golfer who had never won a Major in her career! If she had putted even halfway decently, she would have run away with this title. Instead, she would have to wait another day.

At this point, Young Kim and Sung Ah Yim had finished, both insuring themselves of 9th place finishes. The only players who could still join the ladies at the top were Ahn, Wie and Ai Miyazato. But Miyazato ruined her chances when she hit her tee shot on 17 into the bunker, then failed to get it up and down. Ahn and Wie were playing 18; a birdie by either one would get them into the playoff. Ahn went first, but she pulled a Kerr and knocked her approach into the water. A disastrous finish that knocked her down to 5th. Wie went next, and hit her approach onto the green some 30 feet from the flag. She had a chance, but her putt was way, way too hard, going maybe 12 feet past the hole. She failed to save par, and fell into a tie with Ahn at -6. So as regulation ended, only two players were still standing. Somehow it seemed fitting that the playoff would be between the two youngest Hall of Famers, players who had met many times on the field of battle: Se Ri Pak and Karrie Webb. Both players had fallen after great starts to their careers, only to find a renaissance in their games in 2006. But Webb had only won this event once, where Se Ri had won it twice. And Pak had never lost a playoff on the LPGA tour before; twice, she won playoffs at the expense of Webb herself. Still, that was the old Se Ri; would this new one be able to keep up that record?