Magazine 2003 CJ 9 Bridges Classic

Volume 1, Number 17 November 5, 2003

2003 CJ 9 Bridges Classic: Shi Devil

Pages 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, Results

But as it turned out, it would not be a picnic for Se Ri Pak or Laura Davies either. Ahn quickly announced that she would not be pushed around. On the very first hole, Se Ri made a birdie, and Ahn responded with a birdie of her own. She said later that she thought for a brief moment that Se Ri would make a run at her, but got over her nerves when she made the birdie, and would not be nervous again. She followed that birdie with another on 3, but then a bogey on four undid that. Pak had a second birdie on 2, but also bogeyed 4, and so remained three shots behind. And she stayed there until Ahn made a birdie on 8, followed by a Pak eagle on 9 to close to within 2.

As it turned out, there was a player who was going low. Very low. That player was Gloria Park, who caught on fire on the back to such a degree that she blew past the course record with ease. By the time she was done, Gloria had a 10 under par 62, which had moved her all the way from +1 and a tie for 26th to 9 under par and a tie for 2nd. Gloria had set the early standard, and it remained to be seen if the top players would be able to beat it.

Shi Hyun Ahn slugged it out with the legend
Se Ri Pak in the final round

Ahn pumps her fist after a clutch birdie

Ahn made another birdie on 11 to regain her 3 shot lead. Se Ri was just not playing great golf, though she was steady. She hit greens, but did not give herself many great birdie putts. And when she did have opportunities, she did not take them. Neither woman birdied the par 5 12th. Then Shi Hyun had problems on the 13th hole, missing a short par putt to drop to a 2 shot lead at 10 under par. But Se Ri only made par herself.

The 14th hole may have been the turning point. Ahn hit a bad drive that looked to be heading right. It landed in the rough and took a phenomenal forward bounce, as though it had landed on concrete. The bounce was at least 30 yards forward, good enough to get her back into the fairway. Furthermore, it landed on a downhill patch, and rolled and rolled. She came only about 20 yards away from driving the 335 yard hole, and this after a drive that should have put her in trouble! Se Ri landed in the fairway, but her approach was not good and did not give her a reasonable birdie opportunity. Another chance lost. Meanwhile, Ahn had an eagle chip, but hit it well past the hole. She left herself with a 25 foot birdie chance, and somehow, she made it. Despite making numerous mistakes on the hole, Ahn walked off with a birdie, while Pak settled for par. The lead was again three.

Ahn made another potentially huge blunder on 16, when she put her drive into an imposing fairway bunker, then hit a middling shot out. Left with a 30 yard pitch, she stuck it to within 4 feet. A relief, for that took double bogey out of the equation, but she was not able to make par and dropped again to 10 under. By this time, Gloria Park was at 9 under, and Laura Davies joined her moments later by sinking a 25 foot birdie on 16. But Se Ri once again was not able to cash in, hitting her approach to 40 feet and only making par.

Shi Hyun hits another great drive

Still, Se Ri had the honors on the 17th tee, so if she could hit a great tee shot on this 165 yard par 3 hole, she could put a lot of pressure on Ahn to do the same. Davies went first, and hit a terrible tee shot that led to a bogey. Then Se Ri went, but her iron, too, was wildly off the mark. Perhaps her last good chance to put pressure on Ahn and make a move was gone, and Ahn then proceeded to hit her iron to within 6 feet, to the delight of the crowd.