2006 Florida's Natural Charity Championship

Meanwhile, Korean superstar Se Ri Pak, still mired in the slump that had haunted her game for nearly two years, continued her efforts to fight her way back to greatness. In the first round, she had shot a decent even par 72. That score had left her right on the cut line, which meant she was once again in for a battle to make the cut, as she had been in every other tournament she had played in 2006. She had succeeded in making the cut twice, but had also missed it twice, so it was tough to tell which of those she would do at the start of the day. But Se Ri's first round really had not been as bad as the score seemed to indicate; although she was not particularly accurate off the tee, she had made a few birdies and had generally been steady. In round 2, she played quite well, climbing to 4 under par before a crushing triple bogey on the 9th hole knocked her back to one under. Rather than fold, however, she persevered, and quickly climbed back to 3 under. It looked like she would easily make the cut. But on the 16th hole, she took a swing and felt a pain in her side. She had pulled a muscle there, and quickly determined that she would not be able to go on. Regrettably, just three holes away from easily making the cut, she was forced to drop out of the tournament. Se Ri's bad luck just seems to continue unabated.

By the end of the day, the three Koreans were in the lead, but several other top stars were not far behind. Karrie Webb, rejuvenated since winning the Kraft-Nabisco Championship, was tied for third with Hee-Won at 10 under. Annika Sorenstam was at 9 under, and considering her comfort on this course, was very much still a threat. Natalie Gulbis and Juli Inkster were also within striking distance.

On Saturday, weather delays made the day a long and difficult one. The three Korean leaders were paired in the final group. Looking at this group, one would have favored the 4 time winner Hee-Won Han as the player most likely to emerge tops for the day, with perhaps the one time winner Jee Young Lee second. Yim, who had managed several top fives in her career but had never won, was probably most likely to make mistakes.

But in fact the opposite happened. At the end of the day, Yim was one of only two players in the field to shoot a bogey-free round. Her 4 under par 68 was her third consecutive round in the 60s, and third straight solid effort. It left her at 16 under par after the day was done. Hee-Won, meanwhile, was only able to shoot an even par 72, which dropped her from a tie for third to a tie for 9th. Jee Young Lee, however, did far worse. In her first final group since her CJ win, Lee was perhaps not ready for the spotlight, and shot a 4 over par 76.

Unfortunately for Yim, a certain Swedish superstar had a fantastic round on Saturday. Annika Sorenstam finally had one of those rounds she seemed to have every other day in 2005, a round where her putting matched up to her awesome iron play. She shot an 8 under par 64 and moved to 17 under total, one shot ahead of Yim. Sung Ah would still have her chance to play in the final group on Sunday (her first time ever in that situation), but she would have to face Annika Sorenstam, one of the toughest front runners in the history of the game. How strong was Annika when leading an event going into the final round? The last 11 times she had been in that position, she had won… eleven times. Sung Ah had her work cut out for her.

The next nearest competitors were four shots behind Sung Ah. Among those in the group tied at 12 under were Jeong Jang, Karrie Webb, and Hall of Famer Beth Daniel. There were other Koreans with shots at top tens and top twenties, but they were pretty much out of the running for the title, which looked almost certainly to be between Sorenstam and Yim. Among the other well placed Koreans were Young Kim, tied for 11th at 9 under; and Seon Hwa Lee and Soo-Yun Kang, who were tied for 16th at 8 under. For Seon Hwa, being in the top 20 was nothing unusual; she had been in that position every event in 2006 except one. But for Soo-Yun, it marked her first chance in 2006 to get a decent finish. It had been a terrible season for the former KLPGA Player of the Year, and she doubtless hoped a good finish here could jump start her year.

On Sunday, something quite strange happened. Annika Sorenstam played fairly poorly right out of the gate. She made a few bogies, but also a few birdies, and finished the front nine one over par for the day. Sung Ah Yim, meanwhile, showed a few nerves by bogeying the second and fourth holes to fall behind Annika. But a chip-in birdie on the 7th hole allowed her to make a little ground up on the world's number one player. Still, after nine holes she trailed by a shot. The tournament was still well in Sorenstam's hands.

There were some interesting stories among the players who were not in the lead. Perhaps the most bizarre happened to rookie Kyeong Bae. On Saturday, thinking the tournament was over (as the previous event, the Takefuji, had been a 54 hole event that ended on Saturday), she and her father drove back to their home in Florida, over 400 miles from Atlanta. When they got there, they called the LPGA to find out how much money she had made. Imagine their surprise when they discovered that she had a tee time for Sunday, and if she didn't make it, she wouldn't earn a cent! To their credit, they hopped back in their car and drove all the way back to the tournament, probably breaking a few speeding laws along the way. Kyeong made her tee time and shot a 68, which was good enough for a tie for 13th, her best finish of the season. Unfortunately, she probably ended up spending most of her winnings on gas, what with the price of fuel these days, but it was still an impressive display of determination by the young rookie!

As the two leading players reached the back nine, they found they suddenly weren't alone on the top. Both Cristie Kerr and Karrie Webb made a run at them. Yim now not only had to contend with Hall of Famer Sorenstam, she had to contend with 31 time winner and Hall of Famer Webb and 6 time winner Kerr. Keep in mind that Yim had zero career wins to that point. Webb and Kerr would both finish at 14 under par, and the way that both Yim and Sorenstam were struggling, that might be enough to tie or even beat them outright.

Yim in fact bogied on the tenth hole to fall to 14 under. Sorenstam, however, also made bogey there when she was not able get up and down from behind the green. She bogied yet again on the 12th following a three putt, and suddenly found herself tied with her inexperienced foe. Yim continued to hang in there, making clutch pars at times, but was not able to get a birdie to pass Annika. When Annika made a birdie on the 14th to move to 15 under par and a one shot lead, it looked like the start of her victory march. But Yim also made birdie there to again move into a tie for the lead.

Then came the 17th hole, where something happened that has rarely been seen the last few years: Annika Sorenstam made a crucial mistake that cost her the tournament. She hit a frankly terrible drive out of bounds. Returning to the tee, she hit a decent second drive, then got her approach close enough to give herself a good shot at saving bogey. But it was not to be, and she made a devastating double bogey that dropped her to 13 under total. Yim made par to remain at 15 under. But she knew that the final hole was a short par 5 that Annika was capable of eagling. She knew this because she herself had eagled the hole in round one. And if she made a significant mistake, she could even bring Webb and Kerr into the equation. The pressure was intense.

Sorenstam in fact did reach the fringe behind the green in two shots. Yim laid up on her second shot, but put her third wedge shot to five feet. Still, if Sorenstam made her eagle, it would force Yim to make her birdie to beat her. Fortunately for Sung Ah, Sorenstam's eagle shot was not good enough, and though she tapped in for birdie to move to 14 under, that gave Yim two putts to win. She didn't even need that, draining her birdie putt to move to 16 under par and give herself a two shot win. Incredibly, she had beaten Annika Sorenstam, a golfer who had not lost an event when in that position in ages, with an even par round.

Granted that Annika's weak play gave Sung Ah a great chance to win, but full credit to her for taking advantage of the chance and not folding. In fact, in her first ever final group on Sunday, paired with the top player in her sport, she bent but never broke, hanging in there until it was Sorenstam who made the crucial mistake, allowing Yim to claim the trophy. And boy, did she deserve it.

"I can't believe it right now", Sung Ah said following the event, "I just screaming inside". And so Sung Ah Yim became the third Korean in her sophomore season to win on tour in 2006, and the second to collect her first win this year. If this trend continues, expect Young Jo or Sae-Hee Son to claim a title before the year is out.

But in the meantime, Sung Ah Yim's win allowed her to once again match her good friend Joo Mi Kim. Will they continue to egg each other on to greater heights during the coming years? Only time will tell. But in the meantime, the part time University student, who broke down and cried when she won and again when she met Nancy Lopez at the trophy ceremony, can enjoy her brand new Rolex watch awarded to first time winners. And she can go back to school with the knowledge that she entered the toughest test you can face on the LPGA, going toe to toe with Annika Sorenstam, and came out a champion. After that experience, finals ought to be a snap!