Volume 3, Number 8, August 17, 2005
 

2005 Weetabix Women's British Open

 Pages 1, 2, 3, 4, Gallery, Results

So, going into the weekend, Jeong Jang had an impressive four shot lead on the field. But more impressive is that she had many of the top names in the game well behind her. Wie was still 8 shots back; Annika was 8 back as well. Creamer, who had won the Evian Masters the previous week in a rout, was ten back. But JJ could hardly rest on her laurels; the hardest stuff was yet to come.

On Saturday, several of the big names, starting earlier because they were a ways back, shot blistering rounds to put a little pressure on the Ultra Peanut. Annika Sorenstam put together her own 66; for the first time in more than a month, everything in her game was coming together. This left her at 8 under for the tournament. Cristie Kerr shot a 5 under to also move to 8 under, and Creamer, who looked dead just a day before, put together a 7 under par round. Michelle Wie, Young Kim and Sophie Gustafson shot 5 under par rounds to put themselves at 7 under. A lot of players were lined up to take a shot at JJ if she couldn't get a good round down herself.

Jeong gave her opponents a little encouragement when she bogied her first hole. But she soon got herself back on track, and the incredible rhythm that had been a hallmark of her game all week reasserted itself. Although she was not hitting a lot of fairways, otherwise her game was sharp, and once again, she gave herself ample birdie chances. It might not have been easy playing with the amateur Louise Stahle, who had a bit of trouble dealing with her nerves on this day. But JJ put it all out of her head and produced some scintillating golf. She made a birdie on 3 to climb back to 10 under, then followed that with birdies on 4, 7 and 9 to go to 13 under total. Nobody else was climbing past the 8 under mark that Sorenstam had established earlier, so now JJ had a five shot lead, with several easy holes yet to come. She did make a mistake on 12 and ended up with bogey, but got close to the green in two on the par 5 15th and collected a birdie there. She was again at 13 under, and all three remaining holes were birdie holes.

The grass was almost as tall as she was in some
places! JJ on Saturday

JJ on day 3

Alas, at this point, the weather took a turn for the worse. With most of her main competition safely in the house, JJ had to play in worse conditions than they had to. As a result, she was not able to collect a birdie on 16 or 17. On 18, she left herself a great chance, but her birdie putt stopped one roll short. So, for a second straight day, she hadn't made a birdie on any of the last three holes. She had a five shot lead on the field, a great place to be, but a seven shot lead would have been a lot more comfortable. Especially since she was trying to get her first ever victory, and a Major yet. And on Sunday, she would be playing with none other than Annika Sorenstam. For her part, Annika was already licking her lips, reminding everyone once again how she had once come back from ten shots back to win an event. Kerr, too, thought it was time for Jang to crack. Of course, when Annika came from that far back, she had been helped by the leader, Pat Hurst, who shot a terrible final round. It was still largely up to JJ whether she won or lost. If she could put together a good round, she would make it almost impossible for any of the chasers to grab the title.

Jang had slept very well on Friday night, but found herself far too nervous to relax on Saturday night. After only getting a couple hours of sleep, she got up early, hours before her tee time, and whiled away the hours playing some Tiger Woods golf on her Gameboy. She enjoyed the game because it helped her to visualize how to read putts, and she liked the feeling it gave her of hitting long drives. In fact, she had been a bit worried about her drives following Saturday's round, and spent quite some time working on them on the range. It would prove to be time well spent come Sunday.

On the final day, several of the Korean golfers who were well back in the field put up great rounds early, as a warning to JJ not to get too complacent. Christina Kim shot a 6 under par 66 which included a hole in one to vault to the top 30 from well back. Grace Park managed her third straight round in the 60s to move into the top ten; it was her first top ten finish in several months.

By the time the final group started, Jang's lead was still solid. But the main contenders had only just started. Still, JJ was not about to get off to the same start she had on Saturday. She remarked later to being intimidated by Annika, to the point where she didn't want to stand next to her. They greeted each other at the first tee... and then did not say another word to each other until the round was over. This was serious business. But JJ was definitely as serious as the world's number one player, and while Annika struggled to save par on the first hole, JJ went right at the pin and bagged a birdie right from the start. JJ then made several more pars, despite having numerous chances to make birdie from short range. But Sorenstam was not making the ground up, nor was anyone else. Annika did make birdies on 3 and 6 to slightly close the gap, but missed a makeable birdie on 7. She then bogied 9, while JJ drained an impressive 40 footer for birdie. Just like that, the lead was 6 shots, with only nine holes to go. But those back nine par 5's still loomed. They could be the difference.

Jeong Jang on Sunday

JJ celebrates a long birdie putt
on the ninth hole on Sunday

While JJ and Annika duked it out, long hitting Swede Sophie Gustafson was making her own move. And she was a player who could definitely go low when she hit the par 5s. Gustafson birdied 10, 12, 13 and 15 to move to 12 under par. She was now only three shots back, and JJ might have been feeling the heat.

Things got hotter when Jang made a bogey on 11. Now the lead was just two strokes. But JJ's drives were relentlessly straight, and she kept giving herself chances for birdies. If she was feeling any lack of confidence, she sure didn't show it.

Michelle Wie, meanwhile, moved herself to 10 under par thanks to birdieing the final two holes, and Young Kim birdied 18 after narrowly missing a long eagle try there. She, too, got to 10 under, her best ever finish in a Major. But Gustafson drove badly on the final two par 5s and was only able to make par on each. She got into the clubhouse at 12 under, but now JJ, with three par 5s to play, was clearly in the driver's seat.

Jang helped herself even more by making the birdie on 15 after a great chip shot to move to 15 under par. Annika kept her hopes alive by also making birdie there. But she was now at 11 under, and needed to really scorch the final few holes to catch JJ. Or JJ needed to choke. But nothing indicated that that was about to happen.
But Annika's world was about to come crashing down. On 16, she hit her second shot into the greenside bunker and left herself one of the toughest lies imaginable. Not only could she not stand in the bunker, but the ball was right next to a deep lip, and she needed to crouch down as much as possible to even reach the ball. Needless to say, she was not able to loft the ball over the bunker lip from there. Her second shot did get out, and she made bogey, but JJ made an easy par and now had a five shot lead over Annika with two holes to play (and a three shot lead over Gustafson's 12 under clubhouse lead). Barring catastrophe, JJ had it.

Catastrophe did not happen. Annika made a birdie on 17, while JJ parred, but on 18, Sorenstam hit her ball so far right she lost it, forcing her to take her third shot off the tee. She ended up with a double bogey on the hole, falling to fifth place in the end. Jang, meanwhile, hit yet another drive down the center of the fairway, hit her second in front of the green, then chipped to within 4 feet. As a final brilliant stroke, she nailed the birdie to move to 16 under par and a four shot win over Gustafson. Wie and Young Kim finished tied for third. JJ had stood up to Annika Sorenstam and beaten her head to head.

Victory! Bo Bae Song douses her World Cup
partner JJ in champagne following her final
putt on the 18th green
Jang was thrilled beyond words at her win, but was still not able to absorb the fact that she had won a Major as her first win. In fact, not only had she won, but she had played nearly flawlessly. She was the only golfer to shoot four rounds in the 60s. She led from start to finish. Neither Annika, nor Wie, nor terrible weather, nor sleepless nights could derail her. It was, from start to finish, a thoroughly brilliant performance, and she was utterly deserving of the Major trophy it earned her.

JJ returned home and gave a press conference at the airport. She let it be known that she hated the nickname 'Ultra Peanut', and wanted to have a new nickname, based on her performance in Britain. The nickname she suggested stuck: the 'Little Giant'. And after her gigantic week in Britain, no nickname could be more fitting.
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