Birthday Girl

Aree Song, the youngest player on the LPGA, is in fact so young, that when she decided to try to qualify for the LPGA last October, she was too young to do so. She had to receive a special permission from the LPGA's commissioner, Ty Votaw, as the normal age limit for this is 18 years, and Aree was only 17. Votaw granted that permission. There was no doubt that Aree had the talent, having managed two top tens in Majors before turning pro, one at the tender age of 13. But unlike many other teenage phenoms, she also was clearly mature enough to handle the pressures of being on tour with dignity and strength. And so, with permission in hand, Aree breezed through Q-School and grabbed a coveted exempt card for the 2004 season.

In 2004, the 17 year old has lived up to every expectation. Coming into this week at the Chick-Fil-A Charity Championship, she already had two top tens in her young pro career. None was more impressive than the one she notched the week of the LPGA's first Major of 2004. She battled it out with superstar Grace Park the entire week, but it was on the last hole that she made her mark in history. The island green on the par 5 18th is very hard to reach and hold, but she went for it, kept her shot on the green, then electrified the crowd by sinking the eagle putt to move into a tie with Grace for the title. Grace made her birdie putt to win, but it was a not-so-gentle reminder of what Aree was capable of.

Aree prepares to chow down on her birthday
cake. That doesn't seem like 18
candles on top, though!!

Se Ri was the defending champ

Coming into this week, the defending champion, Se Ri Pak, was not having a banner season to date. In fact, she skipped the Takefuji to work on her game, not a sign of confidence. Fans will remember the amazing performance she put on to win this event last year: after shooting a final round 64 to vault into a tie for the lead at the end of regulation (including a very clutch final hole birdie putt), Se Ri played four scintillating playoff holes, where she put on a clinic about how to recover from bad shots to save par or birdie. It somehow seemed fitting that she won the event with an 18 foot par saver. It was her second win of 2003; she was the first player to manage two wins that season.

What a difference a year makes. Se Ri has certainly not played badly so far; she had four top 16 finishes including two top tens. But she had not been in contention, really, at any of those events, and she was still dogged by her problem with keeping her drives on the fairway. She needed to step it up, and coming back to a course she had played so brilliantly on in the past seemed a good time to do it.

Thursday's first round went well for the budding legend. Usually she does not get off to great starts these days, but this was an exception. Playing in the morning wave, when scoring was not so easy, she managed a solid 68. Her start was particularly good: a 3 under par 33 on the front nine. She then bogied 11, birdied 12 and bogied 17 before hitting the par 5 18th. This hole would produce all sorts of interesting results for Se Ri at this tournament. This day, she hit a great drive, then dropped a 180 yard second shot within 8 feet of the hole for a brilliant eagle that moved her to 4 under and (for the moment) the lead. She would end up with one of the best scores from the morning wave.

But in the afternoon, scoring got a tad easier, and several players took advantage. One of those players was Grace Park, who seemed determined to get another top ten, and maybe a win, after two (for her) so so tournaments. After 12 holes she had three birdies and one bogey for a respectable 2 under par total. But then she turned on the jets, and birdied 13, 15, 17 and 18 to finish at 6 under par. Even better was Christina Kim, who herself, we must remember, is only 20 years old, and as recently as last year was the youngest player on tour. She started her day with three straight birdies, and notched two more and a bogey to open at 4 under 32. On the back nine, she birdied 3, bogied 4, then ripped off three more straight birdies from holes 6 through 8 to shoot a fantasmagoric 65 and claim sole possession of the lead. Christina kept them in stitches in the media tent, and was quite glad that she finally got a chance to get there again. She looked forward to trying to win after missing the cut at her last event, the Takefuji, two weeks previous.

Se Ri watches her approach on the 18th hole.
She would go on to make eagle

Aree made her move into the lead on Friday
(Reuters)

On Friday, a new force suddenly surged onto the radar. It was the aforementioned Aree Song, who had quietly put together a strong 69 on day one to lurk four shots behind Kim. But on Friday, everything clicked for her, and despite not hitting the most amount of fairways or greens that she could, she made every shot count and did not have a mistake. What she did have was six birdies, and her 66 moved her all the way to the top of the leaderboard and a tie for the lead at the halfway point. What made it all the more amazing was that the LPGA record for youngest player to win an event was 18 years, 14 days. Aree, whose 18th birthday would fall on Saturday, had a real chance to break that record and make history.

Se Ri did not do so well. She had three birdies by the 15th hole, but a bogey on 16 knocked her backwards. It was on 18, though, where things really went south. She hit a disappointing leftward hook that splashed in the water. She still gave herself a chance to save par but couldn't do it. On the same hole where she had made eagle on Thursday, she made bogey on Friday. And that was really the difference. Her 71 was exactly three shots worse than Thursday's 68, and left her four shots behind Song.

Other Sisters had better fortune. Jung Yeon Lee once again proved she is the most improved Korean player with a 6 under par 66 that left her at 7 under par, only two shots behind Song. Mi Hyun Kim did almost as well with a 5 under par 67 that left her at 7 under as well. And despite starting with a double bogey on hole 10, Grace righted the ship and made five more birdies and a bogey to shoot 70 and move to 8 under. She was perfectly poised for a weekend run.

Indeed, the only leading player who really struggled was Christina Kim, who followed her 65 with a 2 over par 74. Still, she was only four shots out of the lead and had two more days to work at it.

Christina in round 1