Basic Wrap

Sunday came, and Se Ri, now in 6th place, was playing three groups ahead of the tournament leaders. Besides Stupples, she had to worry about Meg Mallon, who had already won twice in 2004, Karrie Webb, who was Se Ri's playing partner, and Jeong Jang, who once again put herself into contention by sitting at 4 under par, 4 shots out of the lead.

Se Ri started the day at 3 under par, but a decent front nine of three birdies and only one bogey left her at 5 under as she made the turn. She then bogeyed 10 and birdied 11. Stupples, meanwhile, was still at 8 under, but Se Ri was now in second place, as other contenders, including JJ and Webb and Mallon, had all struggled to start their days. Webb in particular had imploded, with a round that found her 5 over for the day at one point.

Then the Toledo Mojo started to work its magic, and Se Ri, who looked for all the world like she would be disappointed, saw things begin to go her way. Although she missed a couple of makeable birdie putts, Stupples made a mistake off the tee on the 12th hole, then hit an ill advised second shot that was stopped by a tree. She ended up collecting a bogey on the hole. On the next hole, she lipped out a par save and fell thus to 6 under par; her lead over Se Ri was now only one shot. A few moments later, Se Ri hit a wonderful approach to the green on 16, and drained a ten footer for another birdie to move to 6 under and a tie for the lead. Se Ri had a chance!

The Fans love Se Ri at the Farr

Se Ri climbed into contention on Sunday.
Could she win the event a fifth time?

In all of 2004, Se Ri had only once been in a position to win an event with just a few holes to go. That was in Virginia, and she did in fact collect the trophy that week. Now things were looking great; she had the momentum, while her two nearest competitors, Mallon and Stupples, did not. But a lot depended on which of those three could get through the two finishing par 5s with the best scores. They would determine the winner, as they often did.

Se Ri hit a great drive on 17, but her second shot left her with an awkward shot from a greenside bunker. She had short sided herself, and had little green to work with. All things considered, she hit a pretty great bunker shot which landed close to the flag before rolling about ten feet past it. While this was going on, Meg Mallon managed a chip in on the par 4 16th to move into a tie for the lead. It was her third chip in of the event. When you're facing someone who's getting breaks like that, you have your work cut out for you, and Se Ri could not afford to miss the birdie try. Alas, she did, just barely, and tapped in the par. 18 was now a must birdie.

She proceeded to hit a pretty good drive, and laid up to about 99 yards. For her third shot, she needed to hit a wedge from a rather awkward distance for her. But she had to get it close; she could not depend on both Stupples and Mallon failing to birdie the last two holes.

But her wedge was only so so, and she again missed the putt. The par left her at 6 under. Now she would have to wait.

While she practiced her putting, she periodically glanced at a big screen to follow the action. She dodged one bullet when Mallon just missed her birdie try on 17. Then Stupples overhit her second shot on that hole, and a shot from near a bunker did not get very close to the hole. Still, she missed her birdie try by just an inch. But a miss is a miss, and Se Ri was still in it.

So close! Once again, she missed a lot of makeable putts...

Nice try, but she couldn't quite get the trophy.

Alas, it finally came to an end on 18, when Meg Mallon made a great pitch to a few feet and drained a birdie. That proved the game winner, and Se Ri had to settle for a tie for second with Stupples. Still, it allowed her to cash her biggest paycheck since May, and afterwards she happily remarked that her confidence had returned. Time will tell, but her results were impressive: 39 fairways hit for the week (72%) and 55 of 72 greens (76%). And all this on a course with narrow fairways and small greens. It goes to show how much of her recent slump was due to mental issues as opposed to actually worsening technique. And if it's just a case of Se Ri needing to get her confidence back, we might be seeing her collect a few trophies yet before the year is out. Indeed, the season is still "Farr" from over for Korea's favorite daughter.

Peanut Misses Cut
For the second straight week, Mi Hyun Kim missed a cut. When Kimmie missed the cut at the 2003 British Open, she had at the time the longest active streak of made cuts in the league; something in the neighborhood of 60 straight events. As you can imagine, it had been ages since she had missed two cuts in a season, let alone two straight. In fact, you have to go all the way back to the start of her rookie year of 1999, when she missed three straight cuts, to even find a season where she missed more than one cut. It's especially surprising considering that she finished 4th in this event in 2003. Perhaps she was still suffering a bit from jet lag, having just flown in from the British Open. Hopefully, she will get back to her usually fantastic ways shortly!

Interesting comments
The commentators make a lot of the idea that it is hard to play with a partner who is struggling. They pointed out that Karen Stupples on Sunday was paired with a player, Marilyn Lovander, who ended up 3 over par for the day, and that this in turn might have affected Stupples' play. But no mention was made of the fact that Se Ri was paired with a player, Karrie Webb, who also struggled, shooting a 2 over par 73. This did not do much to slow Se Ri down; her 3 under par 68 nearly won her the tournament. Perhaps if Webb weren't inhibiting Se Ri, she might have won? Or more likely, perhaps the effect a partner can have on a player in her group is not so great as they would have you believe?

All the way, JJ!
Although Jeong Jang was not able to collect her first LPGA win this weekend, she managed a fourth top ten on the year with her 6th place finish. It seems it's only a matter of time before her uncanny accuracy and surprising length (she averaged over 250 yards at the Farr) nets her a Rolex watch for being a first time winner.

Se Ri during round 3

JJ at the British Open