Friday presented the field with some of the more challenging weather they would face all week, particularly for those unfortunate enough to play in the afternoon wave. Grace had the break of playing in the morning, and as she typically does, recovered nicely from her so so first round with a very good second round 69. This moved her to 3 under par. The leaders, meanwhile, were not able to make much headway in the nasty conditions, and so by the end of the day, Grace sat only a few shots out of the lead.

Se Ri Pak managed another decent but unspectacular round in the wind, a 1 over par 73 that moved her up the leaderboard to 21st place. But the big story of the day was Annika Sorenstam, who could not get her game to behave. She ended her day hitting her approach into the water on the par 5 18th hole, and shot a 76, one of the worst scores for her in recent memory. This all but eliminated her from contention, and opened up the Major to whomever was big enough to take the opportunity.

The most impressive performance of the day was turned in by Jung Yeon Lee, who, despite playing in the wind in the afternoon, shot a 3 under par 69 to move into a share of the lead. Lee had amassed one solid performance after another since the previous September, and once again gave herself a chance to grab her elusive first win. Mi Hyun Kim, too, had moved into contention to 3 under, tied with Grace and the 14 year old Michelle Wie. So those three, Aree and Jung Yeon were all in great position as the weekend approached.

Se Ri's rounds were full of tricky shots
like this one in round 2

Jung Yeon Lee withstood the heat on
day three and finished just one shot out
of the lead going into the final day
(AP Photo)

On Saturday, Grace and Jung Yeon Lee made big moves. Lee went out in 3 under par 33, and notched another birdie on the par 5 11th. By that time she had moved to 10 under par and had a three shot lead over Grace Park. Grace was also four under on the day and was in second place. Wie and Aree Song both ended up shooting 69s to put themselves into contention; the first time two teenagers had been in contention to win a Major in memory.

Alas, Lee could not hang on to her lead. Her big mistake came at the treacherous par 3 14th, where she hit her tee shot into the water and wound up with a five. She also bogeyed the par 3 17th when her tee shot ended up in terrible rough behind the green, and thus finished the day at 7 under par. Grace, meanwhile, was spectacular during the middle of her round with four straight birdies from holes 7 to 10. She ended up the day in a tie for the lead with Aree Song. She, Aree and Lee would be in the final group on Sunday.

Meanwhile, Se Ri shot her third consecutive score around par, and effectively eliminated herself from any chance of contending barring a miracle. It was a disappointing and frustrating end to her quest to become the youngest woman to achieve the career Grand Slam; had she won this week, she would have bettered Karrie Webb's record by three days.

The final day of the Nabisco was as dramatic as you could imagine. Grace said the night before that she was fully ready this time to take the trophy, and she had to be the favorite. But lurking just a little behind was six time Major winner Karrie Webb, and Aree Song and Michelle Wie seemed to have no fear. It would be a tough battle to be sure.

Jung Yeon Lee quickly faded; she bogeyed an early hole and never really was in contention after that. She finished the day with a 3 over par 75. But Aree Song proved far tougher. While Grace, too, made an early bogey on the third hole, Aree birdied the second, and thus had a two shot lead. Michelle Wie also made an early birdie to move into a tie with Grace, but although she made one six foot par save after another coming down the stretch, she only had one more birdie and one more bogey on her card the rest of the day. So the matchup quickly came down to Aree and Grace, with Karrie Webb lurking as a potential spoiler.

Grace had one thing going for her over almost anyone: there is arguably no one more explosive right now than the woman who led the LPGA in birdies the last two years. Grace was capable of lighting it up at almost any time. Song kept making pars, but was not able to increase her lead on Grace.

Grace was determined to win this Major
(AP Photo)