Hee Wonderful

Hee-Won knew what she had to do. She needed that final birdie, and had only one chance to do it. But the 18th hole had not been playing easy all day. Still, she pressed on, and hit a wonderful drive. She followed that with a jaw droppingly great iron to 5 feet to the far back pin location. Gutsy and brilliant. Then she had to wait for a few moments while the other gals finished up. Christina gave the audience one more thrill by dunking a longish birdie putt and celebrating it heartily. She ended up in a tie for 15th, not bad at all. Then it was Hee-Won's chance, with everything on the line. She had to make it, and this time, she did! Another big cheer, and now she just had to wait and see what happened next.

First, Kung missed a long birdie try on 17, but Lorie had a much shorter one. She spent some time lining up, but couldn't get it to go in. One bullet dodged.

Next, Janice Moodie placed her drive in the trees on the left of 18. When she could not hit her second shot out, that was it for her. Only three players were still standing.

Candie missed the fairway on her final drive, and her approach was quite bad. Though she hit the green, she left herself about 70 feet to the hole. Kane got her approach to within ten feet, though, and if she made that one, she would win. Kung went first, and blew her birdie try 8 feet past the hole. So it was now up to Lorie. If she made this one, the Second Place Curse would continue. But she missed it! There would be a playoff, at least.

Or would there be? Kung did not have a gimme, an 8 footer, for par. And in fact, she missed it with a lip out, then proceeded to miss her bogey as well. An agonizing double bogey, after playing well for 53 holes. It was now down to two players.

Things went really well for Hee-Won on
the 18th hole

Hee-Won did it! Her third career victory!

Lorie herself did not have a gimme, but she made it anyway, and the playoff was set. She and Hee-Won greeted each other at the carts by the 18th green, and gave each other a hug. It was a sweet show of the respect they have for each other. Then they were driven back to the tee, where both hit drives very similar to the ones they had hit moments earlier.

The drama was intense as Hee-Won lined up her iron. Fortunately for her, it was exactly the same shot as she had had before, and she confidently swung at it. The ball's arc was a thing of beauty to watch from the stands, and moments after she struck it, it landed almost right next to the hole. What a brilliant, clutch shot at just the right time! Except for Grace's putt to end the Nabisco, it would be my nominee for the best Korean shot of the year thus far. Three virtually perfect irons in a row on her last three holes. Now it was up to Kane.

But Kane could not get any closer than Kung had before, and her first putt had the same result as Candie's. She did make par, though, forcing Hee-Won to dig deep and make the four footer to win. But that was the easy part. Hee-Won dunked the birdie, and the championship was hers!!! Curse Over!

Later, they presented her with a giant check, and two trophies, one of which she got to take (the glass one), and the other of which is kept at the tourmament site and would have her name engraved on it. She gave a little prepared speech, thanking everyone who helped with the event and the sponsors. It was very sweet. Then the Korean photographers asked for her husband to come out and pose with her. He did, acceding to their request to kiss her on the cheek while they feverishly snapped away.

Hee-Won gets a kiss from hubby Son Hyuk following her win