2003 US Women's Open

I followed Grace for much of her round Sunday, and she made it worth my while by playing some absolutely amazing golf! In fact, I was pretty surprised that so many other players were having problems today, because she made it seem so easy.

Grace is the word:

Hole 1: Her drive was just left, and her approach just short of the green. She putted it but left it about 5 feet short, then drilled the par save. Whew!

Hole 2: (Par 3). She hit her iron to 12 feet right of the flag. She had a downhiller, but was well offline. Saved par from 3 feet.

Hole 3: This is the tough one, and she put her drive on the right side of the fairway. Hit a great iron from there to about 6 feet for a great birdie opportunity. Bingo, birdie! -1 on the day. The only time I saw someone birdie this puppy all week, and a sign of great things to come.

Grace and Dave watch Grace's bad news
tee shot on the fifth hole Sunday
Seoul Sisters Photo/Eric Fleming

Grace loves her irons
Seoul Sisters Photo/Eric Fleming

Hole 4: (par 5). Her drive landed in the right rough. She laid up with an iron, then hit another iron to the hidden pin, about 20 feet away but on the right tier. Left her putt just short and tapped in for par.

As Grace was walking to the 5th tee, she saw me and wished me 'Good morning, Eric!' with a big smile on her face. We talked for a few moments as she walked. I told her she was playing really well so far, keep it up. Nice way to curse her...

Hole 5: The par 3 5th over water turned out to be a nightmare today, with the exact scary hole location I predicted it would have on Sunday. As on Saturday, Grace left her tee shot five feet short of the far shore and splashed it (Danielle Ammaccapane was so short her tee shot landed in the middle of the lake). Grace's pitch landed only three feet from the hole, so I thought she was going to save bogey, but she missed the putt and double bogeyed. +1 on her round. No Hurricane Grace, though.

Hole 6: A beauty of a drive here. The flag was somewhat hidden, but she cut her iron around the water and when it landed, it rolled perfectly in the direction of the hole to 6 feet. Magnificent shot. Then she followed that up by sinking the birdie! She was not about to give up! Back to even par on the day.

Hole 7: Great drive on this long par 5. Laid up to 50 yards. Her pitch was good, but it bounced off the green into the collection area on the left. From there she putted it to about 4 feet and saved par.

Hole 8: The flag today was in the front behind the bunker. A nasty nasty placement. Grace hit a perfect drive, then followed it with her shot of the tournament, an absolutely perfect iron that landed a few feet from the hole and rolled to one foot as the crowd around the green went crazy (I thought it had rolled in for a minute). Birdie tap in. Sensational. -1. Grace was now the only person I had seen birdie hole 3 AND hole 8.

Hole 9: She was right on her drive and landed to the right of the island bunkers (in the right rough). She was the only golfer I saw put it over on that side of the island bunkers all week. This actually gave her a longer shot in but a clear view of the flag. Par.

Hole 10: (par 3). Grace hit a decent iron, but it didn't work left as she wanted. Then she nailed a fantastic 25 foot birdie putt that had serious curve on it. Sweeeeet! -2!

I stopped watching Grace at that point to watch Se Ri, but Se Ri was playing so badly that I ended up leaving her to catch Grace at 16. Unfortunately I stopped taking notes at that point. Grace was again at 1 under when I caught up with her. Somewhere on 16 or 17 she had a birdie; I'm thinking it was 17, but I might be wrong.

Summary:
Grace made exactly one bad swing, and it cost her a double bogey. Had that been decent, we could have been looking at a five under on this unbelievably hard course with nasty Open Sunday pin placements. Even as it was, she played so well, shooting a 3 under 68 for the low round of the day (and one of only a few players who broke par) that I couldn't help but be very proud of her. The round had its repercussions, as she continued to play at a high level at the next two events, notching third place finishes in both. Grace's talent and drive have finally elevated her to the elite status we have always expected she'd attain; and with her rate of improvement, as I told her caddie, the sky may very well be the limit. I'm sure I don't have to tell all of you to stay tuned!

Grace bagged her second straight top ten in a
Major. Congratulations!
Seoul Sisters Photo/Eric Fleming

Se Ri really struggled in round 4
Seoul Sisters Photo/Eric Fleming

A brief word on Se Ri's round Sunday. Simply put, it was the single worst round of golf Se Ri has played since joining the LPGA. Believe it or not, her worst round in an Open championship before this week was a 76, which she shot at Blackwolf Run. This week she had a 77 and an 82, to notch by far her worst finish in the Open of her career. What's more startling is, she finished 21st place here, in the US Open, at this same course, when she was only 19.

I can tell you that Se Ri is a far superior player now to then. My feeling is that her short game just killed her this week. Mired in one of her periodic putting slumps, she was not able to cash in on numerous chances for birdies. And it didn't help that often when she missed a green, she could depend on a bogey.

But the worst moment was one I thankfully missed. That was when Se Ri reached the 14th hole and had the single worst hole of her career. By the time she walked away from there, she had a quintuple bogey 9. That one hole, so atypical of her, probably cost her ten - fifteen spots on the leaderboard.

Congratulations to all the ladies who struggled and fought with this tough course this hot July week. They made us, the fans, proud, with their good attitudes and friendliness, even when facing such an important test of their skills. I hope I'll get another chance someday to watch a Major live, and maybe that time, I'll get to see one of the Seoul Sisters heft one of those massive trophies!