2000 was an off year for Se Ri, but again, when it came time to play the Farr, her game was top notch. She found herself slugging it out with Annika Sorenstam towards the end, but a crucial missed putt on one of the final holes cost her a chance to go into a playoff with Sorenstam. Still, she finished third, her best finish of the year. In 2001, she came back, no doubt wanting to get her name on the street outside of the clubhouse once more (the champion of the tournament, as one of the honors for winning, gets the street in front of the clubhouse named after her. Judging by the way Se Ri has played, they probably have printed up atlases by now with her name on that street). She played well in round one, blistered the course for a fantastic 62 in round 2, and seized control of the tournament in round 3. But then... she stalled, and Maria Hjorth made a run at her, catching her on the 12th hole. Se Ri finally made a birdie, regained the lead, and fought hard with Hjorth until hole 17, where Hjorth, who could easily reach this par 5 in two, made a bad mistake in a bunker and wound up with a bogey. Se Ri birdied, then birdied the 18th for good measure for her third win in four years. This victory prompted Farr to tell Se Ri, 'The club members are going to start paying you dues. You OWN this course!'

But in 2002, things just did not go Se Ri's way again, and, horrors of horrors, she only finished 7th! As if getting her street back were not motivation enough for her this year, there were several other things driving her on to succeed. Despite playing very well in the last month, she had not won an LPGA tournament since late April. During that time, Grace Park had overtaken her for second place on the money list. As well, her previous event had been a heartbreaking loss in the British Open. It was very nearly her fifth Major, but instead went to her greatest rival.

Se Ri won the Farr a third time in 2001

Se Ri got out to a good start with a 69
AP Photo/Daniel Miller

Se Ri started her week with a pretty decent round, considering. Her first round at the Farr has tended to be around par through the years, and this year was no different: a 2 under par 69 which consisted of four birdies and two bogeys. What was encouraging was the way she did it. Se Ri has had trouble this year with hitting fairways and greens. Her Greens in Regulation percentage, while still very good, is nonetheless several percentage points lower than her usual. And her driving accuracy has gone straight into the toilet, as she has hovered around the 100th position on the list for the entire league. But in the past few events, these numbers have improved, and in this Thursday round, she did quite well, hitting 10 of 14 fairways and 16 of 18 greens. It was only her putting which was off; though she was making good strokes, she would later comment that the ball just was not falling for her. Still, she was in 18th place after the first round, and only 4 shots out of the lead.

In the second round, Se Ri continued her great play. She hit even more fairways than on Thursday: 12, but one fewer green. Her putting was slightly improved, though, and that led to a 4 under par 67. But the best part was that she made not a single bogey. Se Ri had not had too many perfect rounds in the recent past, so this was a welcome sight to be sure. And with that nice round she moved herself into a tie for third, perfectly poised to make a run at the leader, Laura Diaz, who now sat at 10 under par, still four shots ahead of Se Ri.

But what few realized until after the round ended was that Se Ri was hurting. Her stomach was in great pain, a feeling she had rarely had to deal with before. She confessed that she had considered quitting, and only the fact that this was the Farr, her favorite event of the year, kept her going. After the round, her good local friends took her to a hospital for checkups. Fortunately, everything proved to be OK.

Se Ri has had a habit of shooting lights out in either the third or second round at this tournament. This year, her second round was quite good, but not sensational. She saved "sensational" for Saturday.

Se Ri hits an iron in round 2, while playing partner
Soo-Yun Kang looks on
Reuters/Tim Aubry