2003 Longs Drugs Challenge: Up and Down

On Saturday, Se Ri played in the final group with Gustafson and Jamie Hullett, who had finished Friday at 5 under par. Se Ri and Gustafson had a big advantage over the field, but could they capitalize? Alas, Se Ri returned to her bad play of Thursday on Saturday. In fact, as the round progressed, one became nostalgic for Thursday. But despite some truly terrible golf, Se Ri hung in there.

On the par 5 11th, Se Ri had a bad break that typified her luck this day. She hit a great drive, then a nice approach that looked like it might stop very close to the flag. It landed in front of the green, but unfortunately on a downhill slope that caused the ball to rocket forwards, well past the hole. What started looking like a good eagle chance turned into a dicey birdie chance. She made the birdie, but it looked like she would immediately give it back after a horrible putt read from 40 feet on 12 got her nowhere near the hole. She clutchly saved par from 6 feet, but on 13, after a great drive left her just a sand wedge in, she hit a terrible wedge, then another miserable putt well short of the hole and did not save par. Really a sloppy bogey, in the words of the commentators, that undid her par 5 birdie.

The fun continued on 14 with yet another weak iron shot. Perhaps Se Ri had not had her Wheaties that morning? At least this time she hit a good putt for a tap in par. She did capitalize on the second par 5, hole 15. There, after a 300 yard drive, she hit her second into the greenside bunker, and hit a good out for a quality birdie. But then the bad stuff really started.

Se Ri shot an 8 under par 64 on Friday to
move into the lead
AP Photo/Rich Pendroncelli

Se Ri tees off during round 1
Courtesy: Robert K

Hole 16 is a par 3, and Se Ri hit another abominable iron here. She was up and out of it quickly; you can tell she is not happy with her shot when she does not hold her famous pose after hitting it. Well away from the hole, she hit her chip to five feet and missed the par, giving back her birdie and falling out of a tie for the lead. On 17 she hit her fairway wood very far right; another tee shot without the Se Ri pose. She was in a rotten lie in thick rough, but despite that muscled it onto the green for a routine par (and a good chance at birdie). That was fairly impressive, but of course, it didn't help her that she was in the position of having to hit great rescue shots to stay in place. On the final hole she hit the green in two, but another completely misread putt resulted in a bit of work to save par. She did so, and in the end was tied for second at 10 under. Not bad, but because so many other players were also tied at 10 under, including Jung Yeon Lee and Grace Park, Se Ri did not end up in the final group. Lee did, and she would play with Pat Hurst and Helen Alfredsson, who had pulled a Se Ri by shooting her own 64 on Saturday to take a one shot lead. Se Ri would play with Rachel Teske and Grace Park, who were also all tied at 10 under.

Alas, after an opening birdie, the Se Ri of Saturday returned on Sunday, and before too long, she had dropped all the way back to 8 under par. Meanwhile, Jung Yeon Lee was playing well, and so was Grace, and the leader was at 13 under. It looked for all the world like Se Ri was out of it, and another good opportunity to win had fallen by the wayside.

But the thing about Se Ri is, you can almost never fully count her out, and just when things looked bleakest, she put on one of her patented phenomenal runs to get back into the thick of things. It started for her on the par 5 11th. The pin position was such that you had to hit a mound at the front of the green and pitch it forward from there to have any chance at eagle. On Saturday, pitching it forward from that mound had given her a really tough eagle, but now, with the flag in the back of the green, that's what she wanted to do. And that is what she did do. The ball kept rolling, getting closer and closer, finally stopping about a foot and a half from the hole. What an awesome shot. And just like that, she had the eagle and was back at 10 under.

Grace, meanwhile, was at 12 under, as was Jung Yeon. For the moment, they were still the Korean players with the best chance to win. On the 12th hole, Se Ri just missed a birdie. On 13, though, her approach stopped on the edge of the slope on the green, miraculously hovering there and not rolling down the hill. She was not able to capitalize, as she hit a so so putt to two feet, then had one of those agonizing lipouts on her par save that has haunted her these past few months. This one was a 180 degree lipout, as though the golf gods purposely made it look good then changed their minds at the last minute. Back to 9 under.

Se Ri's not sure how she missed this
putt during round 4
AP Photo/Rich Pendroncelli