Giant Eagle 2003: Other Notes from Vienna

Hee-Won misses the cut
The good stuff had to end sooner or later for Hee-Won Han, and it did this week, as she missed the cut (albeit only by one stroke). The previous week she had led the LPGA Championship into Sunday, but had not been able to hold on and finished tied for 11th. Before that she had three top tens in a row. She has been very consistent all year, but at the Giant Eagle, she was never able to get things going. She had a good first round of 73, considering the conditions, but in much easier conditions on Saturday she shot the identical score. Rest assured we'll be hearing from her again.

Meanwhile, Jimin Kang made her second LPGA field, but also missed her first cut. She got out to a great start, but faltered, and bogeyed the last hole to miss the cut by one shot. Ouch!

Hee-Won at the LPGA Championship
Reuters/Tim Shaffer

Peanut makes sure her friends are all present
Reuters/Ron Kuntz

Mi Hyun's Defense
Mi Hyun Kim's defense of her title ran into some serious problems this year. Namely, she got a bad cold, and was nauseous for much of the week and thus not able to practice. Despite that, she had a respectable run, finishing 21st. For those who don't remember, she won the tournament last year to collect her first win since the 2000 Safeway Classic.

Meanwhile, Mi Hyun's good friend Jeong Jang has quietly had a great couple of weeks. She finished 11th at last week's Major, continuing her habit of getting good finishes in Majors (she also finished 4th at last year's British Open). This week she continued that with an 8th place finish.

Grace on Pace
Grace did not have the greatest start to her tournament, posting a pair of 71s that left her well out of the lead. She recently posted on her LPGA message board that she was exhausted following her brilliant performance at the LPGA Championship. Apparently she got her second wind, for by Sunday she was playing at her usual brilliant level, shooting a 6 under 66 to just miss another top ten (she finished solo 11th). This is what champions do: even when they are not their best, they find a way to get the job done. I think it looks very likely we will be seeing another win or two from Grace this year (and maybe more!).

Grace during round 1
Reuters/Ron Kuntz