Corning Classic: Ace In the Hole

Day 2 of the Corning proved a bit more challenging weatherwise. The morning groups by and large got done with their rounds without a scratch, but then, in the early afternoon, severe weather hit, and play was suspended for several hours. Jimin and Meena were among the players who played in the morning rounds and were able to complete their second day before the suspension. And they both played well, Jimin carding a 70 and Lee a 71. Hee-Won Han, however, was not able to get her round completed, and had to wait to get her last few holes in. Hee-Won was the top Korean player in the field, but she had not started well, managing a 2 over par 74 in round 1. Fortunately, she did much better in round 2, despite the weather, and ended up with a 3 under par 69. That moved her to an eventual tie for 22nd on the day.

But as it turned out, the rain had a bonus for the afternoon players, who came back to find a course where the greens were much more receptive than before. This allowed those players to score some pretty low rounds. Benefiting from this was none other than Sorenstam, and she ended up with a 68 on the day. By the time the round ended, the leader, Karin Icher of France, was at 8 under, and thus Jimin and Sung Ah Yim, another rookie, were only 3 shots back and well in contention. Joo Mi Kim had shot a 68 of her own to move to 4 under along with Lee, and yet another Korean rookie, Sae Hee Son, sat at 2 under.

Hee-Won Han during round 2

Hee-Won after shooting her best ever
round of 62. You'd be smiling, too!

Day three is known as moving day on the LPGA, but few moving days have been quite as productive as the one Hee-Won Han had here. Quite simply, she ate the course for dinner and spit out the pulpy remains. She started great with birdies on four of her first five holes (strangely parring only the par 5 2nd). One more birdie on 8 and she was 5 under for her round after nine holes, and 6 under for the tournament. But she was just getting started. She birdied the two par 5s on the back as well. Her approach on the second one, hole 14, was brilliant. A short wedge, it took a couple hops then stopped on a dime, to the delight of the crowd. As the TV coverage came on and followed her for the remainder of her round, it quickly became apparent why she had been scoring so well. She was hitting some incredible irons. On the next hole, the par 5 15th, she striped her short iron to a few few left of the pin for another easy birdie. She was now at 8 under for the day, and STILL she wasn't done. On 17, she actually left the ball a bit short. No problem. She put the 20 foot birdie putt in the bottom of the cup as though it were a tap-in. Nine under. She wrapped it all up with another brilliant iron to 4 feet on 18 for yet another birdie and a 10 under par 62. Hee-Won's best ever score by three shots, it also tied the tournament record set a few years earlier by Juli Inkster.

Needless to say, Hee-Won was in a good mood after this fantastic achievement, and was smiling broadly as she hugged her playing partners and walked off the green. She even was rewarded with an interview on TV afterwards, something she almost never gets. And she sure deserved it. Her score was four shots better than anyone else would manage all week. In a word, wow. It had also moved her into a share of the lead at 11 under, although Icher would eventually finish the day at 12 under. Still, Hee-Won would be in the final group on Sunday for the first time in '05, with a real chance to collect her fourth career win.

Although Han had been magnificent, she was not the only Korean who moved on moving day. I bet your guessing that Jimin Kang was one of the others to do so. You'd be right. Jimin managed a four under par round, but it would have been even better if not for an unfortunate occurrence. On the par 5 14th, she had a long putt for birdie which she just missed. She went to address the ball for her par putt, then noticed it move slightly before she struck it. She notified the referee, and was assessed a one stroke penalty. Unfortunately, in golf, once you address the ball, any movement by it counts as a stroke, even if you do not actually hit the ball. So instead of a par, she got a bogey. Regrettable, but she still wound up the day at 9 under, only three shots out of the lead and just one shot behind Annika Sorenstam, who was playing fairly well, but was in fact a bit under the weather and not at her peak. On the LPGA, you gotta take advantage of any chance you get to beat Sorenstam, and this looked like just such an opportunity.

Meena Lee also shot 4 under, and sat at 8 under for the event. She would play in the second to last group with Jimin on Sunday. And Sung Ah Yim, who sat at 7 under, also had an outside chance to win. Only Joo Mi had not been able to make much progress, shooting a 71 to stall at 5 under. But at least three Koreans had some kind of a chance to win going into the final day. And each one of them would make a serious run at it.

Jimin during round 3

Hee-Won made an early move Sunday

The first one to make her presence felt was Hee-Won. Starting the day just one shot out of the lead, she quickly made three birdies in her first five holes to move to 14 under par. But Icher did the same thing and maintained her one shot lead. Hee-Won finished her front nine with a bogey, and thus sat at 13 under, while Icher remained at 15 under. For the moment, the French woman had the advantage.

But Jimin was not just hanging around while this was happening; she managed four birdies herself on the front nine, and thus moved to 13 under par herself. There was still plenty of time for her to catch up to Icher, provided Icher stumbled at all. And Lee had moved to 10 under herself, so was not out of it either.

The first inkling that Icher was not invincible came on the par 3 11th hole.She missed the green, and had some troubles with her chipping after that. By the time she was done, she had double bogeyed to fall to 13 under. Thus, there was now a tie at the top. But Hee-Won was not able to birdie the par 5 12th, and Icher did, moving back to the top at 14 under. Jimin, meanwhile, bogied ten and birdied 12 to get to 13 under herself. She was right there, and in great position to exert some pressure on Icher.

The tricky 13th hole proved to be a landmine for Han and Icher. Up until that point, they had been the two players doing the best, but Icher's double bogey had taken the wind out of her sails. On 13, she again struggled, putting her approach in deep rough, then having trouble chipping out of it. Once again, she wound up with a double bogey to fall to 12 under. Han, meanwhile, put her approach in a very difficult spot on the green. Although she hit a good putt from there, she still wound up three putting for bogey to fall to 12 under also. And just like that, Jimin Kang was in the lead.

But she wouldn't be lonely for long. Meena Lee had reached the turn at 10 under par, but starting on hole 11, she went on a birdie barrage. She would go on to birdie 11, 12, 13 and 14 to move to 14 under par. Her approach on the par 5 14th was particularly memorable, stopping just a few feet from the flag. But Kang was resolute, and put her own approach close. If she matched Lee's birdie, she would join her in the lead.

But that's not what happened. Sometimes certain holes just seem to have it in for you, and that was the case with the 14th for Jimin. On Saturday, she had gotten the one shot penalty here when her ball moved after address. And now, she missed not only the short birdie, but the even shorter par putt. A bogey when she should have had a birdie. Once again, the tide had turned, and now it was Meena Lee who, amazingly, held a two shot lead.

Meena Lee made a charge later on Sunday