2005 ADT Tour Championship

Meanwhile, Soo-Yun Kang, who had seemingly knocked herself out of the event with a 5 over par 77 on Friday, was staging a major rally. She managed three birdies on the front nine before she had her first mistake, a bogey on 10. Another one on 11 threatened to ruin her entire day, but she righted the ship and birdied the 13th, then parred the rest of the way in. Considering how brutally tough the final three holes were on this day, making pars on all of them was a great achievement. She wound up with a 2 under par 70, which moved her back to even par for the event. At the time, she was only four shots out of the lead, still well in the tournament.

Hee-Won, playing in the final group with Annika, struggled. She was still hitting pretty good irons and drives for the most part, but once again, could not buy a birdie. She made a bogey on the third and 7th holes, but otherwise pars. Sorenstam was having similar problems, with two bogies on 1 and 7. But she rallied with back to back birdies on 9 and 10, and found herself in command at 5 under par. A bogey on 13 knocked her back to 4 under, however.

Kangsy rallied on Saturday.
Here she is shown chipping in
round 2.

Hee-Won and a really big umbrella on
Sunday

The last few holes were quite a test for these two players. Hee-Won reached the par 5 15th hole hoping to make a birdie at last, but promptly hit her drive into a small creek that ran along the side of the fairway. Her third shot was too long for her to reach the green, so she laid up, then hit a nice iron to eight feet. She then proceeded to make the clutch par save, her first putt of any length all day. Annika was not able to get a birdie on this hole despite a shorter putt for birdie than Han's par putt. So the lead remained at one.

Both players continued to grind, making pars on 16 and 17. On the 18th hole, Hee-Won hit a decent drive, but did not make the green in 2. Annika, meanwhile, hit a drive into deep rough, and chose to lay up rather than screw with the water. She hit a wedge for her third but could not save par and fell to 3 under. Hee-Won';s chip from the fringe left her with a fairly tough putt for par. Once again, she came through, making the clutch par save to remain at 1 under, just two shots out of the lead.

As expected, the conditions were tough on Sunday, but with the rain stopping and the wind dying down, not as tough as they had been the previous two days. Hee-Won's driving and wedge game was not quite as sharp as it had been before, but she still managed to get two birdies on the front nine, and no bogies, to move to 3 under. But the real surprise was Kangsy. She came out firing on all cylinders, and almost immediately became a threat to win the whole thing. Kang made birdies on 1, 3 and 4 to move to 3 under herself. Even a bogey on 7 didn't slow her down much, as she made another birdie on 9 to return to 3 under. At that point, Annika was still leading at 4 under, so both Korean ladies were very much in the hunt.

Kang wasn't ready to go away just yet. Her irons were beautiful this day, and she was feeling it with her putter. She made a fantastic tee shot on the par 3 11th, and dunked another birdie to move to 4 under. But Annika shortly thereafter made a birdie herself on this hole to go to 5 under. Kang was hanging in there, but Sorenstam wasn't giving an inch. But the toughest holes on the course were yet to come.

Meanwhile, Hee-Won's game wasn't quite as sharp. She was still hitting her fair share of greens and fairways, but just was not able to make a putt to save her life. So she notched par after par and remained at 3 under. Liselotte Neumann, meanwhile, moved into a tie for the lead at 5 under. There were still a lot of holes left, and anything could happen.

Kangsy finally made a mistake on 13 and made bogey. But she got it right back by making birdie on the par 5 15th. Hee-Won was only able to par that hole. So Kang remained one shot our of the lead, Han two. Annika ended up parring this hole, so things tightened up just a little further.

Kang continued her brilliant play, hitting a great approach to 16 and just missing a birdie chance there. That one hurt, because it would have moved her into a tie for the lead. Hee-Won also parred here. On the treacherous par 3 17th, Hee-Won finally ran out of luck when her tee shot wound up well short of the green and plunked in the water. She went on to get a double bogey, and any chance that she would finish the year with the Trump double was over. She also bogied 18 and finished the week at even par, which would still be good enough for a tie for 6th.

Kang played awesomely on Sunday

Hee-Won and the umbrella again on Sunday

JJ poses with her famous monkey headcover

Meanwhile, Jeong Jang finished the day at 1 over par, which clinched for her the 15th top ten of her season. This meant she would be tied with the ubiquitous Annika for most top tens achieved in 2005. It has been a phenomenal year for the 'Little Giant' all around, and this was a nice capper on the season.

Next, Kang hit a great tee shot on 17 and gave herself a really good chance at birdie. But once again, she was not able to convert and had to settle for par. Annika, meanwhile, made birdie on 16, all but clinching the title for her. If Kang wanted to win, she had to make birdie on 18 and hope the next two hard holes would give Annika trouble. But Kang's approach landed in the bunker near the green, and she had to hit a dicey long bunker shot facing the water. Not the easiest way to end things, but Kang produced a masterful sand shot, then tapped in for par and a 4 under par 68. She had done all she could to win, but in the end it was not enough. At the time, she was in third place, but Neumann would go on to bogey 18 and fall into a tie for second with Kang and Michelle Redman. Annika, of course, won at 6 under for her tenth victory of the year.

But if Annika was untouchable in 2005, Soo-Yun has plenty of reason to be happy. Her second place finish moved her up to 14th on the money list, by far the highest she has ever finished in a season. Last year Jang finished 12th on the money list, and the next season won a million dollars, won a Major, finished fifth on the money list and notched fifteen top tens. In Han's breakout season of 2002, she finished 14th, then the next year finished 4th with two wins and more than a million dollars earned. Could 2005 be the gateway for Kang to a similar breakthrough in 2006?

Regardless of what happens in the future, Soo-Yun, and all the Korean ladies, can be proud of the great job they did on the LPGA tour in 2005. Congratulations to them all, and may they enjoy their well earned vacations!