Singing the Blues

The other Korean who was getting it done on the course was Gloria Park. She shot a mild 1 under par 71 which left her in the same position she started out the day, 8th place, but 7 shots out of the lead. Really, the only Korean player even in contention was Mi Hyun. Could her long drought at last be nearing its end?

Well, I wish I could report it was, but alas, it wasn't to be. As sometimes happens the day after a player shoots a fantastic round, Mi Hyun struggled on Sunday. She started with four pars, once again unable to make birdie putts when she had the opportunity. But the disaster came on the par 3 fifth: a double bogey that knocked her four shot behind Ochoa. Then it was back to the pars. Her driving was not quite as good today, her approach shots definitely a bit off, and her putts were not falling. She saw her chance at winning slip away by the turn, and there was nothing she could do about it. She made another bogey on the par 5 14th and finished the day with a very disappointing 75. This dropped her into a tie for 6th. That tie was with Gloria Park, who shot a bookend 69 to go with the one she had shot on Thursday. They would be the only Koreans to finish in the top ten this week.

Peanut during the final round
(AP Photo)

But one other player made a little noise. Last week, Hee-Won Han had produced a great final round to vault up the leader board from nowhere into a tie for 4th. This week, she did it again. She started the day at 2 under par and in 24th place. After all pars on the front nine, she caught fire, finishing with birdies on 10, 13, 17 and 18. Her 4 under 68 allowed her to just miss a top ten and finish 11th. But with several good events in a row, Hee-Won is seemingly getting ready to return to her awesome form of last year.

So in the end, in Music City, Mi Hyun Kim produced one hit record, a course record 64; but for a 7th straight week it was not enough top the charts . Here's hoping that chart topper is very soon in the future for the Super Peanut!