Hawaiian Punch

But at the same time, Ochoa made a birdie at 16 to move into a tie for the lead. Joo Mi could not rest for a second. Fortunately for her, she made the clutch par save and held on to a share of the lead, at least for the moment. Now there were basically three golfers with a shot at winning: Kim, Ochoa and Moon. And that group was about to get seemingly smaller.

On 16, Moon hit her approach past the hole, but onto the green. Her first putt, however, was miserable, well short, and she was not able to save par. She fell to 8 under par and had apparently knocked herself from contention.

But Moon was not about to give up so easily. On 17, she hit a middling approach to the center of the green, about 30 feet from the flag. But her birdie putt was absolutely dead solid perfect, and after tracking on line for about five minutes (or so it seemed), it perfectly found the bottom of the cup for a birdie. 9 under with a par five to come.

Meanwhile, Ochoa reached the green of that par 5 in three shots, and had a very short birdie putt to move into the lead. If she made it, Moon would be eliminated and Kim would have to find a birdie somewhere. But Ochoa missed and got into the clubhouse at 10 under. The two Korean ladies still had a chance.

Joo Mi hit her approach on 17 on top of a sprinkler, and after some discussion, got relief from it. She then hit a wonderful chip to two feet for a routine par save. So far so good.

Meanwhile, Moon hit her third on 18 to within two feet for an easy birdie. An enormously clutch shot that got a rousing cheer from the gallery at the green. With that putt, Moon moved to 10 under herself, and now had to wait and see if Kim would knock her out. But Joo Mi was not able to do so, and herself finished at 10 under par. Thus, the three players would face each other in a playoff, winner take all. And now the fun really started!

Moon's wedge ended up about 20 feet away, Kim's about 12. Moon had honors, but knew she probably would have to make the birdie to continue. Fortunately, she had already birdied this hole today as well as yesterday, and that mojo remained with her as she made the improbable birdie yet again. The crowd went wild, and rightly so: it was a fantastically clutch play. Now Joo Mi had to make the birdie or she was out. And wouldn't you know it, she did! She had a somewhat surprised look on her face after that, quickly replaced by a huge grin. That was the putt of a champion, and Joo Mi knew it.

Ochoa had the shortest putt, and knew she had to make birdie herself. But though it was on the same line as Joo Mi's putt had been, Lorena stroked the ball tentatively, and the ball did not go in. Just like that, Ochoa was out, and the two Koreans returned to the 18th tee to play the hole again.

Neither woman had ever been in this position before on the LPGA tour. It would have been understandable if one or both had produced terrible shots at this point. But both hit solid drives, and both laid up into the rough. Perhaps not ideal, but they both had plays.

Moon went first. Her wedge shot rolled a bit, but she was still closer than she had been on the first playoff hole, perhaps 15 feet away. Then it was Joo Mi's turn.

Joo Mi Kim had been clutch all week. She had only made three bogies. She had survived the weak front nine on Saturday, and had kept her head while her playing partners had lost theirs. Now, she stepped up to her wedge in the rough and struck it. It landed short on the green, and rolled…. finally coming to rest about a foot from the hole. An absolutely spectacular shot at just the perfect time. Moon gave the birdie her best try, but just missed. Her par was still outside Joo Mi's birdie. She made that one, but it was academic. Kim had won the tournament on that fantastic approach, and after the tap in, she hugged her temporary caddie in glee. She had won her first LPGA event, one event into her sophomore year!

Not more than five seconds later came the shower. Christina Kim, Jeong Jang and others ran onto the green and doused Joo Mi in champagne and beer. Ironic, considering that Joo Mi had just signed a sponsorship deal in the off season with a Korean beer company. Christina in particular did a bang up job of absolutely drenching Joo Mi, who was so giddy she probably didn't feel it. Then JJ and the gang got an evil idea: they tried to throw Joo Mi into the water next to the green. Joo Mi howled in protest, mainly because the rocks that surrounded the green would be awfully painful to land on. Her friends agreed, but still insisted she jump in. Reluctantly, she scrambled over the rocks. First her caddie jumped in, then she followed suit. She hopped out quickly, but was laughing with such unadulterated joy that I'm sure she wasn't in the least uncomfortable.