2005 Office Depot Championship

For the first time since 1999, the LPGA decided to have a Monday finish to an LPGA event that did not involve a play-off. All 79 players who made the cut had to play at least a few holes on this day. The round resumed at 8:00 am Pacific time, and right away, Hee-Won made a birdie on her first hole of the day (the ninth) to move to 10 under. Meanwhile, JJ bogied, fell to 6 under, and though she would try hard, never climbed past that the rest of the day. Still, it would be her 12th top ten of the year, another excellent finish to an event for her in 2005.

Hee-Won had been a model of patience and execution all week, and her brilliance continued on this day. By the end of the week, she would hit over 90% of her fairways and over 80% of her greens in regulation. And when she hit greens, she would often leave herself in exactly the right spot to give herself a good shot at birdie.

Kangsy charged hard on Monday

Hee-Won discusses strategy with her caddy
on Monday

On the 13th hole, Kimmie lost her tee shot and had to go back and retee. She eventually made a double bogey there and fell out of contention. Young Jo, too, was not able to get much done on this day. Both players ended up finishing 9th. Increasingly, it seemed that the only players who were putting any pressure on Han were Kang and Matthew. Matthew made it closer by sinking a 60 foot birdie putt on 13 to move to 9 under. But on the next hole, the final par 5 of the day, she had trouble, only getting on the green in four shots. She then missed a short par save to drop back to 8 under. Advantage Hee-Won.

Hee-Won then reached the 13th hole. This was a long hole, and to reach the tucked flag required a treacherous 200 yard shot over trouble. Hee-Won hit a spectacular wood here, perfectly clearing the trouble. The ball rolled up to within three feet of the hole. Icher, meanwhile, barely hit the green and was left with a 100+ foot putt for birdie. She ended up three putting ,effectively ending her threat to Han. Alas, Hee-Won's birdie lipped out in a 360 degree fashion, but she tapped in the par and moved on.

Up ahead on the 14th hole, Kangsy put her third shot to within a few feet of the hole (indeed, she hit the flag here again; that's how accurate Kangsy was at this point), then made the birdie. So she moved to 10 under, and again was breathing down Han's neck. But when Hee-Won got to this hole, she also put her shot close and drilled the birdie to regain her two shot lead. She could do no wrong.

Kang would not give up, either. On the 16th hole, she took an aggressive line and gave herself a great birdie chance, but her 6 foot birdie try just missed the hole. On 17, another hole with water if you went long, Kang hit a gorgeous iron to the flag, which was placed in the back of the green. Her ball rolled past the flag and settled in the rough. Because she was so near the deep rough, she chose to chip, and removed the flag, hoping she would chip it in (or perhaps she was tired of hitting the flag, having done so twice already this day!). She darn near did hole it, but though she gave it as much body English as she could, it went just past the flag. Par.

Meanwhile, Han kept making textbook pars as well. She was playing the course like a master. Kang could not hope that Han would make a mistake; she had to make birdie to have any chance to win.

On the 18th hole, Kang again hit a great drive, and her approach left her just 8 feet or so from the flag. One more solid chance at birdie. But like on the two previous holes, she was not able to get it to fall. So she finished at 10 under, and now had to wait to see if Han would fall backwards.

Kang fought hard on Monday

Kangsy tried to soak Hee-Won with champagne, but
Han was too quick!

The winner! Don't cut your fingers on that trophy!

It almost happened. On the 17th hole, Hee-Won hit a conservative approach, and her birdie putt was just a couple feet off line. But her par rattled around the hole before falling in; close to a bogey, but a par nonetheless. She then proceeded to play 18 for an easy par, and the two shot win was hers. Her fourth in her career. Kangsy and JJ ran up to her to spray her with champagne (some payback for when Han had helped douse Kangsy at the Safeway Classic), but Hee-Won was too fast for them, and managed to get away before getting too wet.

Hee-Won joyously hefted her bizarre trophy, which was made of blue glass and looked like it would be sharp to the touch (not surprisingly, there are no photos of Hee-Won kissing it). Donald Trump chose not to show up for the ceremony (doubtless the Monday finish was inconvenient for him), but he did send Caroline from 'The Apprentice' in his stead. Hee-Won and her husband then posed for photos, as they had done before when she had won the 2004 Safeway Classic. She has now won two events before she was married, and two since. Her victory leapt her up to 11th on the money list. It was the first time in 2005 that one of the Korean old guard had claimed a win, after wins by five Korean who had never won before. The Korean fans who had come from LA to support the Korean ladies got a show they won't soon forget, and Trump National was baptized in style, with a little champagne on the 18th green and a healthy dose of kimchi power. Cheers!

Fun Facts: This win marked the 50th time a Korean has won on the LPGA tour. It was also the 11th time that Koreans finished in first and second place, and most interestingly, the first time that Koreans won both the LPGA and PGA tournament in the same week. Over on the men's tour, KJ Choi claimed his third career victory at the Chrysler Classic. Oddly, both Korean players are also married (not to each other!), which is rather uncommon among the Koreans on both tours.