Hall of Fame Day

Se Ri had a lot of ground to make up: ten shots. Even if we assumed that Williams would not hold on for the next two days, Pak still probably had to get to at least 7 or 8 under to be in contention. It was a tall order.

But now her luck started to change. The conditions, for one, got much harder. The greens dried out and firmed up, and the wind started blowing. The result was that the low scores of the first two days evaporated. Indeed, only five players finished under par on Saturday, and one of them was Se Ri Pak.

For Se Ri, you couldn't have a better break than for the conditions to get tough. She loves playing really hard courses in tough conditions. So while everyone else was struggling, Se Ri had two birdies and one bogey on the front nine, then caught fire on the back, notching birdies at 12, 13 and the par 5 15th. She now stood at 5 under par, only three shots out of the lead, thanks to Williams falling back to the field. In fact, Williams would shoot a 7 over par 78 and finish the day out of the lead at 4 under par. So Se Ri had a real chance to put herself in perfect position come Sunday.

But argh, that 17th hole curse came to bite her again! She had to wait nearly ten minutes on the tee of this tricky par 3 hole. Then, when she struck her shot, the wind suddenly came up, halting her ball in midair and dropping it into a bunker, where it plugged just under the lip. It was an incredibly hard shot, and though she got it out of there, she left it in the rough on the other side of the green. She chipped and two putted for a double bogey, and ended the day at 3 under after shooting a 69. She had moved from 29th to 6th, but still stood five shots behind the leaders, Cristie Kerr and Lorena Ochoa.

This is what Se Ri faced on the 17th
Hole. Ouch!

Kangsy ponders what might have been
during a lull in round 3

Grace was not able to get anything going like she usually does on the weekend, and remained mired well back following a one over par 72. She would not be able to defend her title this week. Soo Yun Kang, who had led the first round and been tied for 2nd after two rounds, had a far worse day on Saturday. She went out in 41, including three bogeys and a double on 8. She had another double on 12, and though she was able to make two birdies on 13 and 15, she ended up shooting 76 and falling to a tie for 9th. Christina Kim fared better. She had three bogeys and one birdie on the day and fell to 5 under, which still was good enough to play in the final group on Sunday.

In the end, the leaders got into the house at 7 under par. So Se Ri was four shots back, tantalizingly close to having a shot at the title. But she would need to play another magnificent round like she had on Saturday. It would help if the conditions stayed tough.

Fortunately, Se Ri was just getting warmed up! All season long, Pak-o-philes have waited for a round from her like the one she would have on Sunday. When she gets into the zone and is playing on all cylinders, Se Ri is truly something to behold. But that A Game seems to have hidden itself, except for occasional bursts of brilliance. On Sunday, it came out in full flower and shook the Kingsmill course for all it was worth. Se Ri, the superstar of Korean golf, had arrived at last. Welcome to 2004!

How is this for a stat? 12 of 14 fairways hit. Se Ri does not hit fairways like that very often these days. But on Sunday, her driving was superlative. That in turn allowed her to hit a gaggle of greens (14 of 18), and from there, the putts started falling. She made a birdie right away at 2, a 35 footer at that, and followed it up with another at the par 5 third. She then birdied 5 as well, and now sat at 6 under par. The leader at this point was Lorena Ochoa, who was playing in the group behind Se Ri. She sat at 8 under. But Se Ri still had a lot of time.

Christina Kim, meanwhile, hung in there for a while, but started to make mistakes at the turn. Eventually, she would start to struggle so much that her pace of play slowed down immensely. This would prove to be a big factor on the back nine.

By this point, then, Se Ri was the best chance the Sisters had for a win. She knew the good scores were out there: Hee-Won Han, playing well ahead of her, was in the process of wrapping up a 5 under par 66 that vaulted her into an eventual tie for 4th. But Se Ri stumbled by bogeying 6, then parring the par 5 7th. Still, her confidence was there, and it was at this point that she kicked it up a notch and seized control. On 8, she put her 7 iron to 22 feet and drained a clutch putt, then followed that up with two sensational holes: an iron on 9 that landed on a dime three feet from the hole, and a gorgeous lob wedge from an awkward lie on 11 that rolled to within five feet for another birdie. Se Ri was now at 8 under, and in a tie for the lead with Ochoa. No one else was even close, except for Christina, but her descent started shortly thereafter. But could Se Ri put away the stalwart Mexican star?

Se Ri nails a great shot during round 3

Se Ri saw victory within her grasp on Sunday
(AP Photo)

On 9, Christina started having big problems. She bogied that hole, as well as 10. By this time, their group had started to fall more than a hole behind Se Ri's group, which meant they were put on the clock. If they played slowly now, they could potentially get a two stroke penalty for slow play. Unfortunately, Christina's worst hole was 11, and her slowness incurred the wrath of the timers. She got that penalty, notching a 7 on the hole and plummeting well out of contention. Ochoa was also clearly riled by the situation, and was not able to play the next few holes well. Still, she was well within range to catch Se Ri.

Except that, when Se Ri is playing at her best, and she was doing that Sunday, catching her becomes a very tough proposition. And Se Ri just kept pouring it on. On 14, she put another wedge to within 10 feet for yet another birdie, then bombed her second shot on the par 5 15th over the green into the first cut of rough. A makeable eagle chip, to be sure. Alas, though it was nearly perfect, the eagle just missed the hole, but the tap-in birdie left her at 10 under, now three shots clear of Ochoa. Moments later, Ochoa bogied her hole, and the lead was now, incredibly, four. Se Ri seemed to have it made.

Except that the final three holes are quite tricky on this course. Se Ri hit a slightly wayward drive on 16, but the golf gods this time were with her, and the drive bounced back out of the rough. But her approach was well off (too conservative), and she three putted for bogey to fall back to 9 under. Ochoa, however, was not able to birdie the par 5 15th hole after a terrible drive.

But ahead of Se Ri, a new threat loomed: Hall of Famer Juli Inkster, who had eagled 15 and then put her tee shot on 17 to within three feet. She drained it, and suddenly was two shots behind Pak. And 17 had not been kind to Se Ri this week. This wasn't over yet.

Christina in round 3