Most notably, she has gone past Mi Hyun Kim (who admittedly has not reached her annual run of great tournaments just yet), and is now challenging Se Ri Pak herself for the honors of top Korean player. Grace started the year with a 4th place finish in Tucson, then followed that up with a majestic battle with Se Ri for the Safeway Ping title. Se Ri got the better of her there (barely), but it was a sign of things to come. Grace notched a few more good finishes, then put herself in great position for a win at the Michelob Light Open at Kingsmill. While Se Ri and Annika Sorenstam struggled, Grace took the lead, and seemed ready to notch her first win of 2003. After all, she had never lost when leading going into the final round of ANY tournament. That's right, dating back to infancy. But she got off to the worst of all imaginable starts, going 4 over and seemingly ending her chances to win. But no, she charged back, battling to catch Cristie Kerr when it looked for all the world like Kerr had the title locked up. For an exclamation point, she sunk a 20 foot par save on the final hole to win outright. And with the win, Grace moved to third on the money list, just behind Se Ri and Annika.

Grace celebrates at Kingsmill

Grace nearly won her first Major at the
LPGA Championship

It was at the LPGA Championship, however, where Grace really shone. After a great start, she had two rounds that would have tested the patience of Job. Yet she refused to collapse, and hung in there, while even superstars like Se Ri were having trouble and falling down the leaderboard. Still, things were looking grim, especially since Annika Sorenstam had established a six shot lead over her, and they would be expected to play nearly two full round on the final day. But Sorenstam was not playing great golf, and though it would take incredible skill to do it, a comeback was possible. And a comeback was exactly what Grace pulled off, catching Sorenstam early on the back nine and staying tied with her all the way to the end of the round. Though Grace did not win the playoff, her second place finish was a magnificent testament to her talent, and moved her ahead of Se Ri into 2nd place on the money list.

Se Ri fought back, and a strong finish at the Giant Eagle moved her back ahead of Grace (who did not play badly there herself). But at this week's Rochester LPGA tournament, it was Grace who came out on top in this mano a mano, and once again she reclaimed second on the money list.

Now that we've talked Grace up, we should give Se Ri her fair due. She still leads Grace in Player of the Year points, and has one more win and one fewer missed cut than Grace. More importantly, though: even though Se Ri has not played particularly well the last month or so, her scoring average is still a tad better than Grace's. And this is after her average fell half a stroke from where it had been following her brilliant win at the Chick-Fil-A. There is every reason to believe that Se Ri will get her game back on track soon, and when she does, Grace will have her hands full keeping up.

But even the fact that Grace is keeping up with what might be Se Ri's B+ game when she herself is not playing her best (keep in mind how low her fairways hit % has been this year) is a significant statement of just how much her game has improved. This is still very much an open contest between the two.

Se Ri has two wins in 2003