2005 CJ 9 Bridges Classic

Several other players finally rebounded and showed what they were capable of. For the first time all week, Annika Sorenstam shot an under par round, a 2 under 70. It moved her to a tie for 14th; she was simply too far behind to win by that point. Grace Park also shot a 2 under par round to move to even for the week and a tie for 6th. Pretty good result in her second title defense of the year. Interestingly, the only better result she has had in 2005 came at her other title defense at the Nabisco Championship. Shi Hyun Han, Il Mi Chung and Hee-Won Han all managed 10th place finishes, while Aree Song, Soo-Yun Kang, Seon-Hwa Lee, Christina Kim and Na Yeon Choi all finished tied for 14th.

By the 14th hole, Jee Young Lee had established a solid lead and looked all but unbeatable. She had followed her birdie on the first hole with a bogey on the second, but had buckled down after that, parring out until a birdie on 8. Another on 12 had lifted her total to 8 under, which was then a five shot lead. Jeong Jang, meanwhile, had amassed five bogies and three birdies by this time, and Kimmie had a single bogey and all the rest pars. No one was putting the pressure on Lee that needed to be applied to beat her. The only person who could lose it for Lee seemed to be Lee herself.

JJ fought hard to get back into the tournament

Jee Young struggled on the last few holes,
but hung in there

Lee bogied 15 to fall to 7 under, but Mi Hyun was her closest chaser at 2 under. On 16, Lee hit a decent tee shot, but was not happy with it. Or perhaps the nerves were finally starting to catch up with her? Her approach flew the green, and her putt from the fringe went five feet past. She was not able to save par and fell to 6 under. But Mi Hyun's great birdie try from 25 feet juuuust missed, giving her a tap-in par. Her fan club didn't care, cheering loudly, which prompted a huge smile from her as she walked off the green. It's hard to remember Mi Hyun smiling this much during a round; she was having a blast, win or lose.

Meanwhile, one hole ahead, Carin Koch put her approach in the greenside bunker, but her third shot sailed perfectly out of the sand, rolled across the green and fell in the cup for a birdie. This moved her to 3 under with a par 5 upcoming. Lee's lead was now only 3 shots. Which may explain the look of relief on Lee's face when she made her bogey putt on 16.

Mi Hyun, meanwhile, had a 25 foot birdie try. Once again, she was close, but not close enough, and tapped in for par. She still sat at 2 under, four shots behind Lee. But on hole 18, Koch was having trouble. Having hit a bad tee shot, she was forced to lay up, and wound up making bogey on the hole to fall back to 2 under. A break Lee needed; had Koch made a birdie, the noose would have definitely tightened around Lee's neck.

Lee hit a decent par try from 45 feet, but wound up still three feet short. Now it was gut check time. If she missed this bogey putt, she would open herself up to attack from Kim, who could still birdie the par 5 to move to 3 under. But Lee made the putt, and breathed a very large sigh afterwards, clutching her chest in relief and smiling. One hole to go.

Kimmie's drive on 18, alas, was disturbed by an idiot who chose that moment to take a flash photo of her. The ball sailed into a deep fairway bunker. She was able to get it out, but had to lay up for her third shot. Now she would have to work to make par, another break for Lee. JJ hit a great drive, and with her second shot landed on the green, giving her an eagle try. She could still potentially reach 2 under but no higher. Thus, all Lee had to do was keep the ball in play and she would have the title. Her drive landed in the rough, but her second shot was fine, and with her third shot, she put the ball on the green. At that point, she said later, she finally for the first time thought she might win the event. She showed this by her wide smile as she walked to the green.

Mi Hyun played well tee to green, but her
putter gave her trouble

Jee Young's dad hugged her as she cried.
Her amazing journey had ended in victory!

JJ missed her eagle try, but dunked a short birdie to move to 1 under. She finished tied for 4th, another great finish for the Ultra Peanut, her 13th top ten of the year. Mi Hyun was faced with a 20 foot par save to collect her best finish of the year, a tie for 2nd. And wouldn't you know, she made it, causing another huge eruption from her fan club and a big smile from her. Perhaps she might have had a chance for the title, but she never was able to make a birdie putt all day. Still, she should be proud of the great finish, which earned her more than $108,000 and moved her to 21st on the money list.

Lee, meanwhile, missed her birdie try, rolling it five feet past. At this point, she had the title, but a bogey on her last four holes would have been a sour way to end it all. Not to worry: she jarred the par, finishing at 5 under and winning her first ever LPGA event played by three shots.

And by so winning, Lee won the biggest prize of her life: not just a $202,500 check, and her second career professional title, and a nice trophy, and a beautiful new hanbok (traditional Korean dress). Most of all, she won a two year exemption on the LPGA tour, a ticket to try her luck with the best women golfers in the world. Lee became the first golfer to win an LPGA event without being a member of the tour since Shi Hyun had done it two years before. In fact, three of the last four women to accomplish this feat have been Korean (Woo Soon Ko won an LPGA event in Japan in 1994, and Karrie Webb won the British Open in 1995). Lee was overcome by the moment on the 18th green, and starting crying. Her caddie, Jeong Jang and Mi Hyun all comforted her and congratulated her on her win. Even her dad came out to hug her, while her mom and younger sister watched from the sidelines and wept.

All week, Lee had benefited from the expertise of her caddie, a local girl who worked at the golf course named Hee Yung Lee (eerily similar to Jee Young Lee, isn't it?). "My caddie helped the most to win this tournament. She read all of the lies correct and I couldn't have done it without her", Lee remarked after the tournament. And as the win was at last cemented, the young caddie also wept with joy at what the two of them had accomplished.

Jee Young's mom and younger sister were
also overcome by the moment

But even if she can't make it to this event, she'll have a lot of time to work on following up that win with a second trophy in the next two years. The last words Mi Hyun said to Lee as she left the green were, "See you next year!" Having a national heroine like Kimmie say words like that must have truly made Jee Young Lee feel like Cinderella, like all her dreams were coming gloriously true. And to have played through all the pressure, the terrible weather, with so much on the line, and gotten the job done makes her completely worthy of this glass slipper. Congratulations, Jee Young Lee… and see you next year!