2003 Safeway Classic: Before the Event (cont.)

I then followed Se Ri's group for nine holes. My assessment is that it was not exactly vintage Se Ri. She hit a number of drives off line, mostly to the right, and spent a lot of time practicing her swing while her amateur partners were playing. But she also hit a few great drives and some nice irons as well. Her putting seemed good, but she did not get many chances to putt, because she would let her partners go first, and usually they would make the necessary birdie before she could go. I had never seen her in a pro-am before, and it was nice to see how she helped everyone line up their putts, pointing to spots in the line to aim at. Her amateurs made a fair number of good putts with her help.

After Se Ri finished nine holes I wandered back to the media center. I asked Paul about the ladies. Although we found Minny's bag, no sign of her did we spy (her bag this week is yellow and green. Bright yellow and green. Very offbeat). But he picked up his cell phone, called Christina, and ten seconds later, there she was. And that's when I got the exclusive interview with Christina you can find elsewhere in this issue!

Christina was absolutely a joy to talk to, just as fun as she seems on the course. We talked about twenty - twenty five minutes. I hope you enjoy it!

Se Ri swings a mean club during the pro-am on Wednesday
SeoulSisters.com photo

Grace looked sharp during the pro-am
SeoulSisters.com photo

Oh, by the way, she also said she has visited this very website several times. If you are reading these words now, Christina, welcome! Thanks for dropping by!

After all that, I caught up with Grace's pro am group, who were playing the 11th hole. On the par 5 12th, I went to a nearby bathroom hut to fill up my water. Grace saw me and started up another conversation. We had a great talk, and during it she promised me she'd do the interview tomorrow (she was going to leave right after the pro-am so there was no time today). I also got several chances to talk to Dave, her caddie. It was very relaxed. And of course, I got more pics of Grace.

Grace was looking pretty solid. Dave said so too, that she had been a bit burned out in the events leading up to the Korean Open, but was now refreshed again. I think she'll be a force this week. He also confirmed that she had been in contention for the Korean Open right up until the last few holes, where a few mistakes knocked her back to third. He told me they had gotten a chance to play with several impressive, talented young Korean players, although he did not mention their names. Clearly the pipeline of Seoul Sister talent has not yet run dry (and as evidence, you can point to the fact that a 17 year old amateur won the Korean Open, beating Grace and Hee-Won Han in the process!).

On the 18th tee, I was impressed again by what a nice person Grace is. This came through in the way she treated her pro-am partners. There was one guy there who had been consistently trying to outdrive Grace but coming up short. Grace gave him a few pointers on one tee, but still he was falling short. Finally, on 18, he hit a monster drive and started taunting Grace. He told her he would give her $20 if she outdrove him, but she had to give him a golf lesson if he was longer. She said in mock anger, 'I've already given you a golf lesson!' which cracked everyone up. Dave added that the lesson had obviously helped, since he had just hit a long drive. Grace then cranked a huge drive herself. It was hard from the tee to tell who was longer, but it turned out when they got close that Grace outdrove the guy by a few yards. She raised her hands up as if she had won the US Open. It was pretty funny.

There was no sign of Mi Hyun Kim today; perhaps she was taking the day off (her pro-am was on Thursday). I did see Gloria Park and Hee-Won Han briefly, and Michelle Wie bumped right past me after an interview; I got her photo while she talked to a Korean media crew that had earlier tried to interview Christina Kim right after my interview with her.

Grace prepares on the range
SeoulSisters.com photo