Round two was a lot tougher for Grace, but she proved her mettle by refusing to wilt even though things were not going her way. She started the day the wrong way, with a bogey on the first hole. She continued to hit most of her greens and fairways the rest of the front nine, but her putting was not rewarding her with birdies. As a result, she remained one over for her round until the ninth hole, which she again birdied to go out even to start her day. The back nine was not as kind to Grace as it had been on Thursday, however. Her biggest mistake came on the par 5 11th, where she put herself in trouble off the tee and ended up scoring a bogey (and on Thursday she had birdied that hole). She would follow with a birdie on 13 and a bogey on 16 to finish the day at one over 72, and one under for the championship. That in itself was nothing to feel bad about. Indeed, it was a sensational performance. But it was overshadowed by Annika Sorenstam, who went crazy and shot a 7 under 64 to take over the tournament. Suddenly, Grace was 7 shots out of the lead, and looking at a daunting task if she wanted to get back into the running.

Grace drives during round 2; 10 male spectators
treated for hyperventilation
Reuters/Tim Shaffer

Saturday proved to be a washout. The rains came, and came, and after just a short while it became obvious that no one would be able to finish their round in those conditions. Thus the round was postponed until Sunday. They would do their best to get all four rounds completed, but if the weather continued like it was, there was the possibility that the event would be shortened to three rounds. For someone who was seven shots back, that would be the worst possible eventuality. When play stopped, Grace was at even par for the event, having bogeyed her first two holes, then birdied her fourth, and the leaders, Sorenstam and Han, were tied at 6 under, only five shots ahead. Grace was not out of it, but it would take a superlative effort to climb back.

Arriving early on Sunday, Grace gave it her all and made a bit of progress. She bogeyed the 7th hole, but for the third consecutive day scored a birdie on 9, and thus went out in one over par. After another unfortunate bogey on 10, however, she caught fire. Putting the bogey on 11 from yesterday behind her, she hit the fairway this time and claimed a birdie as she had done on Thursday. She also added birdies on the par 3 13th and on 14 (the hole she had eagled from the fairway on Thursday). Grace would par the rest of the way, but her 1 under 70 moved her to 2 under for the event. The good news was that she was only one shot out of second place, and with a little effort she could easily notch her best result in a Major. The bad news was that she was now five shots out of the lead, as Annika, despite having a mediocre one over par round, was at 7 under and seemingly in control of things.

Putting in round 2
AP Photo/Pat Crowe II

To put it mildly, Grace came out firing in round 4. After just a short rest between rounds, everyone was back on the course to complete the tournament. The weather was not great, but it looked like it would cooperate. Grace responded with two early birdies on 2 and three to move to 4 under and second place. Another birdie on 7, and she seemed the only person who had a legitimate chance to catch Sorenstam, who was holding steady at 6 under at the time.

But the par 3 8th hole was not kind to Grace. She walked off of there with a double bogey that seemed to have dealt her chances a serious blow. But the next hole was the par 5 ninth, a hole Grace had birdied all three days, and true to form, she birdied it again. Her front nine was 2 under, and she still was close enough that a great back nine could give her the title.

Grace drives, round 4
AP Photo/Pat Crowe II