Volume 3, Number 9, September 7, 2005
 

2005 Maekyong Women's Open

 Pages 1, 2, 3, Gallery,
Gallery2, Results

After two rounds, Bo Mi Suh remained close to the top. She had an early triple bogey in her second round, but recovered with three straight birdies late, and shot an even par 72 for a 5 under par total.

The lead was now 6 under, held by an 18 year old KLPGA rookie named Ga Na Lee. She followed a 71 on day one with a 5 under par 67 on day 2.

Also tied at 5 under was Bo Bae Song, who shot a 3 under 69 consisting of six birdies and three bogies.

Bo Bae Song in round 1

Ga Na Lee, the new leader

Scores after round 2:
1. Ga Na Lee -6
2. Bo Mi Suh -5
Bo Bae Song -5
10. Jeong Jang 70-71 -3
12. Marisa Baena 71-71 -2
23. Na Ri Kim 68-77 +1
30. Meena Lee 76-70 +2
38. Birdie Kim 73-74 +3

On the final day, the tournament got a little bit tenser.

Birdie Kim set the pace early with a blistering 7 under par 65 (7 birdies, no bogies). This got her into the clubhouse lead at 4 under par total. Teen sensation Na Yeon Choi matched her with her own 65 to also post a 4 under, and for a long while they waited to see if anyone could beat them.

Jeong Jang had three early birdies to move to 5 under, but a late double bogey and bogey derailed her chances, and she wound up at 2 under for the week, tied for 11th.

Bo Bae Song was at 5 under for a while, while Ga Na Lee was at 6. Eventually, the 18 year old Lee made several consecutive bogies to fall to 4 under, but then made a hole in one on 16 (!) and a birdie on 18 to capture the win at 7 under. And yes, she did win the Mercedes pictured on the other page when she made the hole in one! Bo Bae finished tied for second at 5 under. The top Cinderella ended up being Birdie Kim at 4 under.

A cute article later appeared entitled 'I'm sorry to the LPGA Cinderellas', purportedly a quote from Ga Na Lee. Now that's what I call polite: beat 'em, but apologize for doing so!

Anyway, the win has focused a lot of attention on previously little known rookie Lee. Perhaps we all will look back on this as the moment when she first broke through?

After the win, Lee jumped into a pond near the 18th green in celebration!

Birdie Kim in the pro-am

Ga Na Lee enjoys her victory dive
The fun was not over for Birdie Kim. Remember, this was her first trip back to Korea since winning the biggest event in women's golf, and her hometown wanted to make sure she was properly honored. So much like Jeong Jang had done a few weeks earlier, Kim returned to her old high school to celebrate with the students there. As you can tell from the photos, they were thrilled to see her!

She even had time to give a little golf clinic to her high school fans

On September 6th, she participated in another ceremony. This one is for the 'Birdie Kim Global Scholarship'. She has donated $20,000 to a scholarship fund to help other students from her school reach their dreams. Kim and Meena Lee were in the first class of students to graduate from the school's physical education program; it obviously helped both of them achieve great things!
Soon the Cinderellas will be heading back to America, but they all enjoyed having the chance to be back in their homeland, if only for a short while!
Gallery