Volume 1, Number 19 December 3, 2003
 

2003 ADT Tour Championship: Vare is the Love?

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

With two events left, Se Ri had a pretty good lead in scoring average over Grace Park and a huge one over Karrie Webb. Webb would need to win the remaining two events, and probably by large margins over Se Ri and Grace, to have any chance. She did not do that well at the Tournament of Champions, however, and that finished her bid for the prize. Grace, meanwhile, beat Se Ri by five shots there, closing the gap between them. Coming into the ADT Tour Championship, Se Ri still had the upper hand, but it was not the dominating lead she once had. The scores were such that Se Ri needed to be within 6 shots of Grace's final score to be sure to collect the trophy. Not unlikely, but this was Se Ri's fifth straight event, and she was already showing signs of fatigue at the Tournament of Champions the week before. And the ADT is played on a tough course, where finishing around par is a good accomplishment. No rest for the weary this week.

Se Ri in round 1 of this year's ADT Championship

Se Ri started out playing great on Thursday

Se Ri had also been a bit snake bitten at this event in the past. In 2002, she came into it with an impacted tooth that hurt so much she was unable to eat solid food for four days. As a result she was very weak and sickly. She still, amazingly, shot the best score of the day on Thursday, hung in on Friday, then collapsed on the weekend and ended up finishing 7th. In 2001, it had not even gotten that far; she did not even attend the event due to her father's sickness. And in 2003, she was coming into the event as her fifth straight, not a recipe for a good performance.

To make things even tougher, the conditions during round one were nasty: whipping winds played havoc with players' shots and club selections. Just be off line a little and you could find yourself in the water, or in a lie where saving par was very problematic. Not surprisingly, under par scores were hard to find. But one of the players who got off to a great start was Se Ri Pak. She wasn't hitting every green, but still managed birdies on the par 5 3rd and the par 4 6th. Perhaps her greatest play came on hole 9, a par 5 with water along the left side. Her tee shot put her in the rough on the left, her feet a bit below the ball. She still went for the green in two, landing her second shot on the right side of the green and watching with glee as it rolled right over the cup and settled two feet away. She gave the cheering gallery a big smile after that, but she still missed the eagle, alas. Nonetheless, her first nine holes were played in three under par. That put her in the lead. She was even outplaying her playing partner Annika Sorenstam, who was only 1 under through that stretch.

Grace had a far rougher start. In an event where it was imperative for her to keep up with Se Ri, she could not, at least on the front nine. She matched a birdie on the par 5 3rd with three straight bogeys on holes 6 - 8. She did not birdie the par 5 9th, either, and went out in two over par 38.

Se Ri's advantage for the moment over Grace was five shots. Remember, she only needed to be within 6 shots of Grace to clinch the Vare, so that meant Grace had 11 shots to make up to win that trophy. But the event was still young, and the conditions would hit Se Ri hard on the back nine.
It started on hole 10. Se Ri hit her approach to avoid water on the right, but ended up in a terrible lie in the left bunker. So terrible that it was all she could do to get it out. But when she did, it nestled into thick rough near the green, leaving her an even harder shot. If she got too ambitious, she might knock it across the green into the water, so she played it carefully, but still hit her shot well past. She ended up two putting for double bogey, and fell to one under par. On the next hole, her tee shot was well short, and she three putted, and just like that, she was back to even for the day. She made bogeys as well on 12 and 13, falling all the way to 2 over par. Annika was struggling, too, though; indeed, almost everyone was having a devil of a time on the back nine.

Se Ri struggles in the bunker on hole 10 Thursday
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