2005 US Women's Open

Two other Korean players and one Korean-American amateur also played well enough to get into the final groups on Sunday. The best of these was virtually unknown Birdie Kim, who managed a remarkable two under par 69 to move to +2 for the event, just one shot out of the lead going into the final round. Birdie's stats were all right but not astonishing. She hit 9 of 14 fairways and 12 of 18 greens. The key was that she ground it out all day, only making one bogey, on the par 3 8th. For the second straight day, she got past the deadly 18th hole with a par (she had made bogey on Thursday). For her efforts, she was rewarded a dubious distinction: a chance to play in Michelle Wie's group, second from last, on Sunday. "Dubious" because the enormity of the crowd following the teenage Wie would cow even the hardiest of veterans. How would it affect a player who had never been in anything even close to this tough a situation before?

Wie, obviously, earned her way into this group by her play on Saturday. Though she was one over par for the day, that left her only one over for the event so far, tied for the lead. One of the players she was tied with was 17 year old Morgan Pressel, another amateur. It's astonishing that so many amateurs were doing so well; if either player were to go on to win, she would become the youngest in history to win the Open or, for that matter, any Major. The current record holder was Se Ri Pak, who was 20 when she won the Open back in 1998.

The third Korean who excelled on Saturday was Young Jo, who shot a 70 to place herself at 2 over for the event. She would play in the third to last group, while Young Kim played in the fourth to last group.

Young Kim worked her way into contention
on Saturday

Michelle Wie did fine on Saturday, but
struggled on Sunday

Sunday at the Women's Open is unlike any other event in women's golf. The pressure continues to escalate, the conditions are often brutal, and even tough competitors can ruin their chances with a single swing of the club. Early on, several contenders struggled and never recovered. One of those players was 15 year old Michelle Wie, who for one of the few times in her LPGA career, played like a 15 year old. She made a double bogey on the first hole after driving into the rough, then had two more bogies on 3 and 4. She calmed down a little after that, but a missed two foot birdie putt on 7. At this point she was 5 over, still not out of it, but in a decidedly precarious position. Meanwhile, her playing partner Birdie Kim was going along quite well. She had a bogey on the first hole, but got that back with a birdie on the par 5 5th. She kept hitting her fairways and greens, and hung in at 2 over.

Young Kim, meanwhile, had a chance to make up for her collapse at the LPGA Championship. Only two shots out of the lead to start the day, she unfortunately got off to a terrible start, and once again, never recovered. She made double bogey on hole one, then three straight bogies, then par on the par 5 5th. She would go on to shoot a miserable 83 that made her final round at the LPGA Championship seem brilliant in comparison. It would end up the worst score of the day, and she fell all the way to 38th place. Another disappointment, but keep in mind how infrequently she has been in a position to win an event on Sunday. The more she puts herself into the mix, the better she will get at handling the pressure. It's just a matter of time for her.

Several other young guns struggled, such as Paula Creamer, who also made several big mistakes earlier and didn't recover. But another "Young" gun, Young Jo, started out weakly but hung in there, notching two straight bogies to start, but then settling down with four straight pars. She would go on to shoot 38 on the front side, leaving her at +5, just a few shots out of the lead.

The players who seized the early advantage were British Open champion Karen Stupples and American amateur Morgan Pressel. For a while, Pressel was at even par, but then started to make mistakes towards the end of the front nine. Pressel made three straight bogies on holes 4 through 6, then sucked it up and parred out the side. She stood at 3 over par. Stupples bogied 5, 6, 7, and 9, and fell to 5 over. She was still in it, but losing ground fast.

At this point, drama was happening at the other end of the course. Starting several hours before the leaders, Lorena Ochoa was in the midst of a great round. A birdie on 16 took her to 3 over par herself. While the leaders started to fall backwards, Ochoa was 3 under par for the day. She parred the par 5 17th, but reached the deadly 18th hole knowing a par might be good enough to win the tournament.

Young Jo had a very solid week at the Open

While others faded, Birdie stayed strong on Sunday

Meanwhile, Birdie Kim was emulating her name on the 7th hole, dunking a 12 footer for birdie to move to 2 over par. Shortly thereafter, Pressel would bogey six, and so would Stupples, and Birdie, for the first time, stood alone at the top of the leaderboard. Now the real test began.

On the par 3 8th, Birdie hit a pretty bad tee shot that left her wedged in the trees. Getting out of there would be challenging enough, let alone making par. But Birdie has many secret weapons that people were not aware of, and one of them is her creativity. As her caddie, Miles Nixon, would say after the match: "Her imagination is unbelievable. She sees things I don't see." And the next thing you knew, Birdie chipped out of the mess close to the hole and saved par. Another clutch moment in a tournament that had been full of them for her.

Shortly thereafter, Michelle Wie would bogey this same hole, effectively ending any chance she had to win. But Wie and Birdie had been friendly all through the round, chatting in Korean to pass the time. As Wie's hopes faded, she encouraged her new friend all the more to excel. It was a remarkably mature thing for Michelle, who was no doubt quite disappointed, to have done.

And so, Birdie played the front nine in even par, and had a one stroke lead as she approached the tenth tee. But the challenge was only really beginning...