LEEderboard Report

The other Korean who played very well on this day was Mi Hyun Kim. Kimmie got herself to 4 under with a birdie tap in on 12 after just missing a short eagle putt. She just missed birdies on 13 and 14, then hit a terrible drive on the 15th hole into the junk. She was forced to pitch out, then hit her long third shot to just over the green. From there, she made a fabulous putt from the fringe to save her par. She stayed at 4 under until 17, when she missed the green, then missed a four foot par save. She ended the day as the top Korean at 3 under.

The early drama of day two involved Se Ri. The course was playing hard, so she still had a good chance to make the cut. But she would probably have to shoot around even par to do it, not easy given the hilliness of this course. But Se Ri was a trooper, and definitely upped the level of her play on this day. It was still hardly vintage Se Ri, but her 1 over par 73 on this day was three shots better than her first round score, and left her at 5 over, which looked good to make the cut. Turned out it was, as the cut fell at exactly 5 over.

The top Korean on this day was once again Mi Hyun Kim, who followed her 69 on day one with another one on day 2 to move herself to 6 under for the event. As it turned out, that was good enough to place her in the final group on the final day. Joining her were two other golfers, both also finishing at 6 under: Paula Creamer and Annika Sorenstam. Needless to say, Kimmie was somewhat overshadowed in the pairing by her two more famous opponents, but Peanut hoped to take advantage of the situation by being the one to come out on top. It would be quite a coup if she could pull it out.

The Lees continued to shine, particularly Seon Hwa. She started the day at 2 under, and managed her own 3 under par 69 to move to 5 under, good for solo fourth after the round was over. Meena did not play as well, only shooting a 73 to finish the day at 1 under. But she still had one day to make a charge. Joining Meena at -1 total was Hee-Won Han, while two more Lees (believe it or not!) sat at even par, which was a tie for 20th: rookie Jee Young Lee and Ji Yeon Lee. Four Lees in the top 20: yet another example of the way the Lees were getting it done in 2006!

Early in round three, Meena decided there were not enough Lees at the top of the leaderboard, and made a charge. By the time the final group had finished ten holes, Meena had moved to 5 under par and was four under for the day. This put her in a tie with Seon Hwa just one shot out of the lead. Once again, Lees looked to make it happen. Meanwhile, the leaders were at six under, and included Kimmie, Annika and Natalie Gulbis.

Seon Hwa reached the par 5 12th in two, then two putted for birdie to move to 6 under and a tie for the lead. A few moments later, the par 5 12th was costly for Peanut. She was in front of the green in two, but hit a lackluster chip 4 feet past, then missed the birdie try. Annika, fortunately for the Koreans, missed an eagle try, but was left with an easy birdie that moved her to 7 under and the lead.

Seon Hwa then struggled a bit on 13 when her drive landed in the rough. She hacked it out of there, but was left with a pitch third shot. She proceeded to hit a dazzling pitch to a couple feet, then saved par to remain at 6 under and one shot back! On 14, she hit her tee shot about 15 feet past the hole, then two putted for another par. But while this was going on, Annika dunked a birdie on 13 from the fringe to move to 8 under. It seemed as if the world's number one player was about to run away with the title again, as she had in 2005.

Her group then reached the par 3 14th, and Sorenstam hit a brilliant iron to about three feet. Kimmie followed that with an even better iron to 2.5 feet. She wasn't giving up yet, either! On the hole ahead of them, Seon Hwa then hit her own approach to about 3 feet. But Lee missed the putt, losing a golden chance to make up some ground! Especially since Annika had missed her short birdie try moments earlier. Kimmie then made hers to move to 7 under, one shot back. So at this point, Seon Hwa was two back, Kimmie one shot back. Either one could still win this thing.

Up ahead, Meena Lee missed a crucial par save on 17 to fall back to 4 under. This pretty much ended her chances to win two weeks in a row, but she would go on to shoot a 70 and a 3 under total, good enough for a tie for 11th. Meena was continuing to get it done for the Lee cause. Jinnie Lee, meanwhile, had faltered with a 4 over par 76, but Jee Young Lee shot a respectable one under par 71 to finish in a tie for 15th. So there would be three Lees in the top 15 at this particular event. The only question now was, how high would the third one, Seon Hwa, go?

Meanwhile, Se Ri Pak finished up her round with her best round yet, a 2 under par 70. On this course in these conditions, that was a very solid result. It was good enough to move her to 41st for the week. Not exactly reason to jump up and down, perhaps, but not bad considering how long it had been since she had played.

Back to the final groups. Sorenstam hit another brilliant iron on 15 to a few feet. This time she did not miss the putt, and moved to 9 under with just three holes to play. Peanut had about a 12 footer for birdie, but missed it, remaining at 7 under. Things looked good for Annika.

But up ahead, Seon Hwa hit her own just about perfect approach to five feet on the tough 16th hole. She dunked the birdie there to move to 7 under herself. With only two holes to go, she still had a chance to win, but it was looking unlikely.

On the 17th, however, Seon Hwa hit her drive into the rough. Being there was a carry to get to the green, she decided it was not worth risking trying to make the green from the rough. She punched out into the fairway, then hit what might have been the shot of the week by nailing her iron right at the flag. Just going for the flag was extremely risky on this hole, but her shot was not only dead straight, it rolled right over the hole, almost going in on the fly. The gallery went absolutely nuts, and even the usually stoic Lee cracked a smile. She would make the par and keep her thin hopes of the trophy alive.

In the final group, Kimmie and Annika both parred 16. Then on 17, they both hit the fairway, but Peanut's approach was not good, flying into the rough past the hole. Annika hit yet another iron to within 8 feet. Annika would go on to miss her birdie but made an easy par. But Mi Hyun hit a weak chip and did not save par, falling to 6 under and ending her chances of winning.

Over on the par 5 18th, Seon Hwa hit a great drive, but decided to lay up. She hit her third within 12 feet, and knew that the only chance she would have to win would be to sink the birdie putt, then hope Annika bogied. Well, she missed it and made par. As it turned out, however, Annika did bogey the hole, so if Seon Hwa had but made the birdie, she might very well have won the event. For the second tournament in a row, Seon Hwa was just short of winning. But a second straight second place finish moved her not only to the top of the Rookie of the Year standings but also to the top of the LPGA money list. A frankly amazing achievement for the young lady.

The next event on the schedule was the Safeway International in Phoenix, Arizona. This is always one of the biggest non-Majors on the schedule; it usually attracts almost every one of the top 50 ladies on the money list, and this year was no exception. If I were to tell you that neither Seon Hwa nor Meena had a particularly good week at this event, then you might suspect that the LEEderboard story was about to come to an end. But you'd be wrong, for yet ANOTHER Lee came to the forefront at the Safeway, and this Lee was not one of the four Lees who had played well in Mexico. Amazingly, it was time for the fifth and final Lee in the LEEgue, Sarah Lee, to step up to the plate and defend the honor of her name. And she did so with impressive results.

In 2005, Lorena Ochoa had led this tournament much of the week, only to cough it up at the end to Annika Sorenstam. Soo-Yun Kang had a great finish as well, and played in the final group on Sunday, but was not able to keep up with her fellow leaders when it counted. Indeed, her one highlight of the day was when she sank her third shot from the fairway for an eagle (and her shot went straight into the hole, no bounces or anything!).

So naturally, much of the attention coming into this week was focused on Sorenstam. But she had a surprisingly tough time in the desert this time around. It was largely her putter that cost her. She started well with a 69, but a 71 in round two followed by a 75 in round three ended any chance she had of winning. She wound up in 19th place.