Hawaiian Punch

But she would not be the only Korean tied for the lead at the end of Friday; in fact, she would not even be the only 21 year old sophomore Korean tied for the lead. Sung Ah Yim stepped up big with her own round of 6 under par to also move to 9 under total. Yim had known Kim for years; they had competed against each other back in Korea in junior golf. They also had been on the same amateur Korean national team together in the early 2000s, and had teamed to win a medal at the Asian games. But though Yim had a slightly better record in 2005 than Kim had had, she had nowhere near the record in the Korean pro ranks of Joo Mi. But Yim did have one experience on her resume Kim had not had: a real chance to win an LPGA event on the final day. That chance had come at the 2005 Jamie Farr Classic. When Yim reached the final hole, a par five, the score in the clubhouse was 10 under par. Yim reached the green in three, and also was at 10 under par. All she needed was a birdie to win the event outright. The putt was makeable and not overly long, but she not only missed it, she missed the comebacker and thus failed to get into a playoff for the title. Doubtless the bitter experience had taught her a little bit, and she hoped that she would not have a similar result if she once again found herself with a putt to win.

The other player who shone on Friday was rookie Kyeong Bae. Having finished her round well earlier in the day, she returned for her second round, and slowly moved herself to 8 under par for the tournament. With just the par 5 9th remaining, she was in great shape to join her fellow Koreans and Becky Iverson at the top at 9 under par. But she laid up into a fairway bunker, and her third shot flew the green. She hit a fairly awful chip from there, missed a long par save, then also missed a short bogey putt. Perhaps the mental miscue was caused in part by the long day of golf she had had to play. In any event, she never fully recovered from it. Though she would play in one of the final groups on Saturday, she followed her two solid first rounds with a lackluster 74 to fall to a tie for 26th. Hardly a terrible result, but not what she wanted after she had come so close to playing in the final group in her first LPGA event.

Interestingly, her fellow Korean rookies had mostly started out slowly only to see their fortunes improve as the event progressed. Seon Hwa Lee still saw her name misspelled on the Golf Channel, but if it bothered her, it didn't show. She followed a 68 on Friday with a 70 on the final day to finish just out of the top ten in her first LPGA event, a tie for 13th. She was just getting warmed up in Hawaii. Meanwhile, Jee Young Lee rebounded from her first round 75 with a 67 on day 2 and her own 70 on day three; she finished 22nd.

As the final round started, Joo Mi Kim and Sung Ah Yim both found themselves, for the first time, in the final group on the last day of an LPGA event. Soo Young Moon and Kyeong Bae were both playing in the group ahead of them. And a gaggle of veterans were at 5 and 4 under par, including Grace Park, Hee-Won Han, Christina Kim, Jimin Kang and Meena Lee. There were still a lot of Koreans who could win this. What a far cry from the Hawaiian swing in 2005. That year, the only Korean who really had a chance at victory by the final day was Korean American teen Michelle Wie. In fact, the Koreans would not put themselves into contention on Sunday in 2005 until May and the Sybase Classic. The quick start made for a refreshing contrast for the Korean fans watching back home on SBS.

The one name on the leaderboard we haven't talked about yet is Soo Young Moon. Moon is herself a fairly young player, although she already has been on tour for several years. But Moon's career has been haunted by misfortune. In 2003, while playing on the Futures Tour, she was in a terrible car accident that derailed her season. She struggled mightily with injuries thereafter. She showed glimpses of promise in 2004, notching a top ten here and there, and in 2005, she started the season with two early top tens. But again, nagging physical problems set her back. This time it was a wrist injury that sidelined her for most of 2005. Fortunately, she received a medical exemption from the LPGA, allowing her to maintain her exempt status for 2006. She would make the most of it on the final day.

Bae struggled early and never got into it, but Kim, Yim and Moon were still all very much in the tournament as the final group reached the back nine. It hadn't been easy for Joo Mi. She had hit only three greens on the front nine, yet still played the nine in even par. Lorena Ochoa had moved into position to contend, and Moon was only a couple of shots back. Anything could happen.

On the 11th hole, Sung Ah Yim was still tied for the lead at 11 under when she had a vital par saving putt. As she stood over it, something distracted her, perhaps a cameraman clicking a photo at an inopportune time. Whatever it was, it rattled Yim, and she missed her putt to fall to 9 under. On the next hole, Joo Mi took the lead with a great birdie to move to 11 under par, while Iverson remained at 10 under and Ochoa at 8 under. Alas, Joo Mi's lead was short lived. On the par 3 13th, she hit a weak tee shot to the fringe, some 80 feet from the hole, then hit a terrible putt that she left at least 25 feet short. Fortunately, she got her wits about her and two putted from there to salvage bogey. But that caused her to fall back into a tie for the lead. Meanwhile, Yim also missed the green and also made bogey to fall to 7 under. She was in danger of dropping off the map entirely.

Over on 15, Ochoa just missed a short birdie, while Moon made a birdie on 14. Both now stood at 9 under par and were breathing right down Joo Mi's neck. She needed to summon her memories of her winning days in Korea to hold them off.

In some ways, Joo Mi's performance was somewhat surprising. Her usual caddie had taken the week off to be with his wife, who was having a baby. Substituting for him was her swing coach, who had come to Hawaii to monitor Joo Mi's practice and found himself carrying her bag instead. But if Joo Mi was nervous, she hardly showed it. She smiled almost constantly, reacting with glee every time a shot went her way, smiling and waving at the galleries, and earning herself a lot of fans in the process.

Hole 14 looked like it might be a pivotal hole. Yim overcooked her approach into the rough, and could not save par. Her bogey there ended her chances of winning, at least for this event. Iverson put her approach into a bunker, while Joo Mi gave herself a great birdie chance. But Kim's birdie just missed going in, and Iverson hit a great bunker shot, and both walked off with par, still tied at the top.

Iverson, who had not been in a position like this for years, reached her waterloo on the next hole. She hit her tee shot on this par three just a bit long, and it bounded off the green into the rough behind it. Joo Mi got onto the green successfully. So did Yim, who made a birdie, while Kim hit another weak birdie try and left herself a nontrivial par save. But it was Iverson who really bungled the hole. She hit a pitch that landed on the green, then rolled back down to her feet. She reloaded, tried again, and had the same result. Finally, her third shot stayed on the green, but she wound up with a triple bogey 6 that destroyed her chances of winning.