California Dreaming

On Saturday, though, it was Hee-Won Han's turn to struggle. She could manage only a single birdie all day, on the par 3 17th, despite having numerous chances to improve her position in the tournament. Meanwhile, she also had a bogey early in her round, and so ended up staying at 8 under. This dropped her to a tie for 7th, and greatly decreased her chances of taking the title. Kimmie, however, had a good round, a 3 under 68, but this left her at 7 under, still well back of the leaders. It looked like it would be another few weeks yet before she could finally get her first trophy of 2004.

Christina, however, was a different story. Her third round started quite well, and by the turn, she was already three under par, with birdies on 3, 6, and 7. Inkster was only able to come up with an even par front nine, but on the back she caught fire for a few holes, and finished her day at 3 under 68 and 13 under total.

What killed both Juli and, later, Christina, was that neither one of them made much happen on the back nine. Indeed, Christina only could make one birdie on those nine holes, and could only par the par 5 15th (this was the only time all week she did not birdie the hole). She got into the house with a 12 under par total. Not bad, certainly: good for third place in fact. But this left her out of the final group, because relatively unheralded Leta Lindley had a great round, which catapulted her into the lead at 14 under par. Christina would not be lonely, however: she would be playing with none other than Karrie Webb, who had moved up to 10 under and had a very real shot at her second win of the year. If Christina wanted to break through in front of her friends, she would have to beat two players with sixty wins between them.

Christina in round 4

Christina had a great day on the greens on Sunday

Christina watches her shot; TV watches her

On Sunday, things didn't exactly start to in a way to give Christina a lot of confidence. Webb promptly birdied her first two holes after putting both approaches mighty close. Christina could make birdie on neither, and bogied the 4th hole to make things worse. Fortunately, she snapped back to form with birdies on 7 and 9, and found herself at 13 under, still with a chance to win.

But events were taking place elsewhere on the course that let everyone know that this was a great day to score. Jeong Jang, who up to this point had played a mediocre tournament, blistered the course with a sizzling 9 under par 62, her career best round and the new course record. But that did not last long. Journeyman Anna Macosko played such a solid round that, for a while, it looked as though this virtually unknown player might even shatter Annika's Sorenstam's all time scoring record. Macosko started her day with birdies on 1, 2, and 6, then caught fire and birdied 8 through 11. After a solitary par, she started another tear, birdieing 13 - 16 to move to an unheard of 11 under par in 16 holes. All she needed was one more birdie to shoot 59; two more, and she would have 58. But her mojo ran out of steam at that point, and she had to 'settle' for a 60.

Clearly, both Hee-Won Han and Mi Hyun Kim took a little comfort in these low rounds, for though it looked like they were out of it at the start of the day, they both played wonderfully on Sunday to move into contention. Kimmie would end up shooting a 5 under par 66 that moved her to an eventual 7th place finish: her 14th top ten of the year. Hee-Won looked far better, though, and was only a few shots out of the lead as the last players hit the turn. Alas, her birdie production slowed down the last few holes, and though she shot a fantastic 6 under par 65, this was only good enough for 4th place.

With Leta Lindley faltering, the race became between Christina and the two Hall of Famers. At first, it was Inkster who had the advantage. By 11, she had a three shot lead and looked like she would cruise in. But Juli started to falter on the last few holes, playing them one over par. Meanwhile, Christina started to rev up her own game. On the par 5 11th, she reached the green in two and two putted for birdie. She put her tee shot on the par 3 12th to within 7 feet, and made that one as well. Webb moved into a tie with her with a birdie on 13, then put her next tee shot on 14 to within a foot. The pressure was on, but Christina was only able to hit her tee shot to 18 feet below the hole. But putting first, she showed she was not about to go away by draining that putt to halve the hole with Webb. By this point, the three top players were all tied.

On 15, it was Christina who upped the ante. On her second shot to this par 5, she bombed her 4 iron to 12 feet, giving herself a golden chance for eagle. Webb was not so close, and two putted for birdie. So if Christina made the eagle, she would take the lead for the first time all day. Alas, the eagle lipped out (curses!) and Christina had to settle for birdie. But this was a turning point, for Inkster would herself only par this hole, and dropped behind Webb and Kim for the remainder of the event.

After pars on 16, the two ladies reached the 17th hole. Christina striped her iron close, giving her a great chance at birdie. Webb was not able to convert her own birdie chance, so Kim once again had a chance to take the outright lead. This time she did not disappoint, and when the birdie dropped, she did a 360 degree turn and huge fist pump which absolutely electrified the crowds. Christina Kim was now just one hole away from her ultimate dream come true. But unlike at the State Farm, it was she who was in the driver's seat; Webb had to make something happen to force the playoff.

Christina was by this time suffering from sweaty palms that made it difficult to even hold on to the club. But she hit a perfect drive, then did her best to drive a dagger into Webb's heart with a superlative approach to 12 feet. But Webb wouldn't go away, putting her own iron to 8 feet. Nothing was settled yet.

Christina spent a fair amount of time sizing up her putt, but she was not able to sink it, putting it two feet past. Now everything depended on what Webb would do. But though Webb had a makeable birdie, and though she was already 7 under on the day, she was not able to make the last putt she needed to put the pressure on. When Webb missed, Christina very nearly lost it right then, as she realized that the win was finally within her grasp. But she recomposed herself and drained the putt she later called 'the longest two footer of my life'. Once it went, and the win was hers (barring an Inkster hole out), she sank to her knees in joy. The crowd erupted, and her father and she hugged in joy. At last!

Christina makes a huge putt on 17

Christina tries to hang in there on 18

Christina collapses after finally sinking the winning putt

As I watched the spectacle, and the later joy with which she accepted her trophy, I could not help wondering: if she gets this excited winning the Longs Drugs Challenge, can you imagine what she will be like at the Solheim Cup? Well, you doubtless won't have to wonder, because her win moved her to third place on the points list for that competition. It's looking pretty likely that Christina will be joining her countrywomen in that event next year, bringing some much needed Seoul Mojo to the proceedings!

Christina's win also qualified her for the Samsung World Championship for the first time, as she moved to 12th on the money list thanks to the $150,000 first place check. She'll also be able to go to the Tournament of Champions this year. Considering she has skipped only one event she was qualified for in two years, an amazing 'iron woman' schedule, you might think she'd be a little reluctant to take on two more events. No way. Christina says, "I'm a trooper you know. I'm still young and fertile and there is no reason for me not to (go).Right now, now I know I have six events left as opposed four and that rocks." And the way she's playing right now, you better not count her out of taking another trophy yet this year. But after her win, it was all she could do to focus on the next thirty minutes: "I'm going to clean out my locker, shake hands, kiss babies, and sign autographs". And then head home for some much deserved rest and celebration. WAY TO GO!