2003 ADT Tour Championship: Vare is the Love?

Saturday was a pretty good day for Se Ri. By and large she made no mistakes, but her putter was not as hot as it had been on Friday. She had birdies on holes 4 and 12. On the par 5 15th, she hit a wonderful second and nailed a 12 foot eagle putt that would prove to be her final one of the year. But it was enough to give her sole possession of the 'eagle title' for the most eagles made on tour in 2003.

Alas, if that were all there was to Se Ri's round, it would have been sweet. But she made one mistake, and it was a doozy. On the par 3 7th hole she hit her tee shot into the water. Then she hit her pitch shot into the water. She wound up with a quadruple bogey 7 on the hole. Just one bad hole, but it was enough to leave her at even par for the day. Meanwhile, Annika, who was again playing with Se Ri, shot a 5 under par 67 with no mistakes, and took the lead. Though Se Ri was still only four shots out of the lead in a tie for fourth, it seemed unlikely she would be able to muster her game to win, short of going really low on Sunday. The win would have given her not just the Vare but the Hall of Fame as well, for she was only two points away, and a win is worth a point, and the Vare Trophy is worth a point. That goal was reachable, but fairly improbable.

Se Ri on Saturday

The Vare Trophy was more in reach at this point for Se Ri than the Hall of Fame. Grace Park, however, was determined not to give up. She shot a 3 under par 69 on Saturday to move up to 4 over par. She was still five shots behind Se Ri and thus 11 shots out of the Vare. All Se Ri needed to do was play a decent round on Sunday and she had it, no matter what Grace did. It was all in Se Ri's hands.

Grace was going to make it interesting on Sunday, though. She played pretty well at first, gaining ground with birdies on holes 3 and 6. But Grace hit her Waterloo on hole 8, where a crippling double bogey knocked her back to 4 over par. Se Ri did not play that well, notching two bogeys and a birdie on the front nine. But she was still at even par, four shots clear of Grace and 10 shots ahead of what she needed to win the Vare.

Then Grace stepped it up a notch. She birdied the par 5 9th and 15th holes, and for good measure made a twenty foot birdie putt on the treacherous 16th to move to 1 over par. She was now only one shot behind Se Ri. But Se Ri had a birdie on 11, and even though she was unable to make any more, she sat at one under par, now two shots ahead of Grace. Grace would finish at one over. She had clinched her tenth straight top ten by shooting back to back 69s on the weekend after playing 7 over par the first two days. Typical Grace!

This meant that, barring a disaster of epic proportions, Se Ri had the Vare Trophy. She made it through 16 without incident. But then came the par 3 17th. The one hole Se Ri had had problems on all week was the par 3 7th, which was similar in nature to the 17th. Se Ri hit her tee shot, but it was off line, and ended up rolling into the water next to the green. She would make a good run at saving bogey, but just missed and tapped in the double. She thus fell into a tie with Grace at one over par. Any chance to win the event and enter the Hall of Fame this day had long since passed. She was still, however, six shots clear of Grace for the Vare Trophy, owing to her previous advantage coming into this day.

Se Ri makes a splash on Saturday

But Se Ri was not done yet. On the 18th, she put her drive into a fairway bunker. Grabbing a long iron, she hit one of the best shots of the week, a fantastic iron that hit the green and arced perfectly towards the hole. A few minutes later, she drilled the final birdie to finish the event at even par, one shot clear of Grace. The Vare Trophy was hers, and her 20th top 10 of the year as well, a new record for her. The second that putt fell, she moved to within one point of the Hall of Fame. Any win next year will get her over that hump and into the Hall (not quite, since she will still have to play ten years to officially make it in). But on this day, the bigger accomplishment was for Se Ri to finally win a post season award. With luck, ending her season with a spectacular birdie and a Vare Trophy will give her the motivation and inspiration she needs to collect a few more accolades in 2004!